Have you ever imagined creating a step-by-step guide to guide the sales team’s activities and routine, with increased productivity?
Well, that’s the role of a sales process: it’s the shortest path to generating sales, without rework, without loss of margin and in a strategic way.
The most productive companies on the market have their own established and systematized sales method. But, surprisingly, even large organizations can fail in this regard.
In this article, we’ll show you the main steps of a sales process and how you can create yours from scratch!
What is a business process?
The sales process is a step-by-step process that guides the sales team to perform their routine activities with greater agility and precision. With a well-designed sales process, it is possible to increase productivity and improve sales results.
Thus, the business process refers to a series of steps or activities organized and executed to achieve a specific objective within an organization.
These processes can vary widely depending on the industry, the nature of the business, and the strategic objectives of the organization. However, they typically involve activities such as customer prospecting , sales , negotiation, order management, product or service delivery, invoicing, and after-sales support.
At DNA de Vendas, we say that the sales process must meet 4 basic requirements: It must be:
- Teachable : it needs to be taught to the team and can be used by any professional in the sector (not just salespeople, but also leaders and analysts);
- Scalable : it needs to act in a way that supports the increase in demand with the growth of well-structured sales;
- Measurable : indicators need to be clear so that analyses and results are not compromised;
- Predictable : expectations must be clear so that results are achieved within the expected period .
Main benefits of structuring a sales process
Structuring a business process offers a number of significant benefits to an organization. Here are some of the main ones:
- Operational efficiency : Structuring a business process helps define and standardize the steps needed to perform a task or achieve a goal. This can minimize rework, eliminate unnecessary activities, and improve the overall efficiency of operations .
- Consistency and quality : Well-defined business processes ensure that activities are carried out consistently, regardless of who performs them. This helps maintain the quality of the products or services offered by the company.
- Continuous Improvement : A process framework enables the organization to identify areas for improvement and implement changes systematically over time. This contributes to the continuous evolution and improvement of the business operation.
- Visibility and management : By structuring a business process, the company gains greater visibility into its activities and can track progress at each stage. This makes it easier to monitor and manage performance, allowing adjustments as needed to achieve goals and objectives.
- Increased customer satisfaction : Well-structured business processes often result in a better customer experience as they ensure consistent service, faster response times, and high-quality products or services.
- Cost reduction : The operational efficiency resulting from the structuring of processes can lead to a reduction in operational costs, whether through the elimination of waste, the optimization of resources or the reduction of errors and rework.
- Staff empowerment : Clear and well-defined business processes facilitate staff empowerment and training , enabling professionals to understand their responsibilities and perform their tasks effectively.
In short, structuring a business process not only improves the efficiency and quality of the operation, but also contributes to customer satisfaction, cost reduction and the continuous development of the organization.
What are the main steps in a sales process?
Now that you know what a sales process is and its importance, let’s delve deeper into the most common steps of a sales process.
Remember that these steps may vary depending armenia whatsapp data on the type of product/service, complexity of the solution, target audience and market .
1. Prospecting
The main objective of prospecting is to arouse the interest and attention of prospects in order to present your company’s value proposition.
These leads can arrive in two ways. The first, through Outbound, is when there is an active search for contacts. In this case, the sales team can create contact lists, for example, through lead capture tools.
In the Inbound strategy, Marketing focuses primarily insights to improve sales and marketing performance on generating leads . This occurs through the creation of rich content and materials, use of social networks, creation of events, e-mail marketing strategy , among others.
In both strategies , it is important that the leads are aligned with your company’s consumer profile. This is the first qualification that occurs in the process, with the aim of understanding whether this prospect meets all the requirements (SLA) to move forward.
Prospecting can be done by an Inside Sales team or by the sales executive himself, with a pre-qualification script, with the aim of knowing who is who in the organization and, if possible, who has the decision-making and purchasing power.
2. Qualification
Qualification is the stage in which the professional defines whether the client has a need that can be met by your company’s product and/or solution.
However, the main point of attention at this stage is that, often, the prospect himself does not know that he has that need.
Therefore, a good prospecting professional not only andorra business directory validates the need, but makes it explicit to the potential client, showing a reality that they had not yet seen.
Qualification is where you define whether a potential customer is suitable for your solutions. This qualification can be structured using BANT, an acronym imported from the English words:
- Budget : Does your prospect have the budget to purchase your solution?
- Authority : Who has the final decision-making power to authorize the purchase?
- Needs : What company pain points does your solution solve?
- Timeline : When does your prospect want to buy?
A prospect is considered qualified when they meet at least three of these criteria.
Find out more: BANT: what it is, how to use it and how to sell more with this technique
3. Diagnosis
The diagnostic stage serves to validate qualification information and deepen and/or expand the Sales professional’s knowledge about the scenario and challenges that the prospect faces.
At this stage, we seek to validate the premises raised previously, participating more actively in the client’s routine. As the name suggests, this is the time to diagnose and identify the root of the prospect ‘s problem .
For DNA, this is the big secret of the best salespeople : they know how to make in-depth diagnoses, without it seeming like a big “interrogation”.
This requirements survey for building a proposal requires a more technical phase, which often requires:
- More than one meeting;
- A technical visit;
- Presence of a technical professional to gather information, in order to have greater precision in the construction of the proposal.
This step is important for formulating assertive solutions on how the client can solve certain problems or improve certain demands.
As a sales professional, you need to understand the customer, niche and variables that influence your operation. Otherwise, you will not be able to gain depth in your diagnosis.
It is therefore a phase of demonstrating the lead ‘s pain points , and then suggesting a solution.
4. Submission of proposal
In the presentation stage, you will gather all the information obtained previously to build a personalized approach focused on your prospect ‘s reality .
This is the stage where you present your offering and describe how it will help your prospect address their biggest challenges. The key to this stage is to have a good diagnosis and get the scope right.
Here, the important thing is to present a solution that truly meets the demands and needs highlighted by the client. Remember, again, that the objective is not to sell at any cost, but to show the value of your product/service.
And this is where most sales executives make mistakes: in scope. They present proposals that add no value when considering the client’s scope. So, pay attention to this point!
Focus on value-based topics, show how your solution can positively impact the business, and present success stories. These value-based approaches are what guide the customer to the next steps.
Also, be careful not to create a monotonous presentation. Get your client involved and encourage them to talk and ask questions! In sales, this is the famous “creating rapport”.
5. Negotiation
At this stage, it is important that you are prepared with good arguments. This is because you will need to overcome objections and make the customer see the real value of your product/service.
This is also the concessions phase. The client will often demand different conditions (whether in terms of value, payment, execution, etc.). Your role, however, is to understand to what extent these concessions are really necessary and viable.
Often, you will notice that the lead is not ready because they cannot yet see the real value in the solution offered. So, pay attention!
Learn more: Sales objections: what they are and how to overcome them
6. Closing
Now that there is a relationship of trust between the client and the sales professional, the closing stage tends to be the fastest of the entire sales process.
In addition to the bureaucratic issue of drawing up contracts, there are also other points that deserve attention.
The most important thing in this context is to align expectations regarding how the project will be served and executed. For example:
- What will be the deadline?
- Through which channels will the company offer support?
- Who will be responsible for customer service?
Always think about offering the best possible experience for your customer!
7. Monitoring and After-sales
Finally, in the monitoring and post-sales phase, the professional remains available to guarantee the results of the process.
Above all, this is a crucial step, as it helps to build customer loyalty . In addition, it is an opportunity to identify areas for improvement in the solution and implementation of the product/service.
Step by step guide to developing your sales process
In the previous topic, we showed you the basic steps of a business process. But what are the activities, rules and routines that must be carried out at each stage for your company to be successful?
Creating a sales process manual is essential for organizing your sales strategy .
The step-by-step process for preparing the commercial process consists of:
- Process definition;
- Process mapping;
- Standardization of processes;
- Survey of indicators;
- Distribution and maintenance.
Understand in more detail each of the following steps!
Process Definition
The first step you should take is to define which processes are relevant to your business and how they fit within your company.
Many sales-related activities also involve other departments such as finance, legal and marketing, for example.
Therefore, it is essential to evaluate these interactions in order to categorize the processes appropriately. At this stage, it is also necessary to assign who will be the leader of each of these processes.
This leader must be an expert capable of describing in detail how activities are carried out.
Process Mapping
In partnership with process leaders, list a step-by-step list of activities carried out within each process, always thinking about the path the customer takes and how the interaction with other areas occurs.
For example: a sale begins with the customer entering the store’s parking lot, then being served by the receptionist, who directs the customer to a salesperson to serve them and place an order.
In this case, the order is another pre-established process that may involve other areas, such as credit analysis and logistics, and must also be mapped.
It is important to ask yourself the following question when mapping processes: is this step really necessary or can we simplify it?
Unnecessary steps can cause confusion and make business processes inefficient. Evaluate the need for each activity and always consider whether it is possible to carry out the process in a simpler way.
Process Standardization
At this point, you should describe in detail how each activity should be performed.
To do this, you must clearly define:
- Responsible : who is the person who will carry out the task?
- Activity : How should this person perform the task?
- Support material : tables, systems or documents that should help in carrying out the task;
- Outputs : what should come out of this task (reports, purchase order, documents, etc.).
Survey of indicators
To ensure that processes are carried out properly, it is important to identify indicators that assess the quality of the team’s work.
Indicators can be in percentage, quantity or figures and some processes may have several associated indicators. The manager’s role is to assess which ones are relevant to determine the quality of execution.
Distribution and maintenance
Processes need updating relatively frequently. A new product, a new system or a new idea may mean that your processes need to be changed.
Therefore, any printed material requires care to keep it up to date. The ideal is to make the process manual available through an online platform.