Your sales process is the foundation on which you are able to scale your business. If you want to build a high revenue-producing machine, aka a successful business, you are going to need a strong and predictable sales process.
Over the years, what I have learnt is that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to sales and marketing, even for businesses selling the same products.
Regardless of individual business differences, every sales process needs strong foundations… foundations that allow for clear direction for your reps and for accurate forecasting.
Here’s how you do it…
Developing a Strong Sales Process
The first thing you need is accurate data. You must record all your data in your CRM and do so in a manner that allows you to easily determine which stage of the process a lead is at.
To create these stages you need to ensure that each stage is:
- Easy to understand.
- There are clear differences between each stage.
- Each stage is a meaningful movement towards the sale.
For example, in our business we use:
Initial Assessment Complete – this is when we verify if we can help this business owner and if we want to work with them. Sometimes it’s better to say “no” as Stefan Johansson discusses in this article.
Full Assessment Scheduled – this means they have passed our initial criteria and we have decided we can help them and we want to help them.
Full Assessment Complete – this is the stage between the assessment and producing a marketing plan for the client.
Plan Delivered and Discussed – we have produced the marketing plan and delivered it to our client.
Proposal Preparation – this means that the client likes our plan and we have given them the ballpark cost of implementing the plan into their business and they want to proceed.
Proposal Delivered and Discussed – this means we have worked through the entire proposal with our client so that they fully understand the process and the tactics we will use.
Proposal Accepted – this is when the client signs the proposal and we move to the implementation stage.
Not only are these steps clear and identifiable, they also match the clients’ buying journey. This is critical.
Notice how they are small steps, small increments that lead towards the sale?
Doing it this way means that no red flags are raised by your prospects, as each step is a small increment, as well as being clear and easy to understand. This builds trust.
And as you know, trust is crucial in any sales process.
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Scaling Your Business
The great thing about having a structured sales process is that it allows you to scale your business by giving a framework for your sales reps to work with. This framework gives them direction on:
- Where they ought to be spending their time.
- The goal of each interaction with a prospect.
A strong clear sales process saves you time on training and reduces your frustration caused by dealing with reps who cannot think clearly for themselves. With a strong sales process in place you are one step closer to financial freedom! And this is what I wish for you. Sincerely, Rohan
