A Sales Process is that series of steps a sales person follows in their relationship with a prospect that leads to a completed transaction. OK, it sounds more complicated than it is. If you are a salesperson, you probably already have a Sales Process. Basically your Sales Process is those things you consistently do with all your prospects in order to get them to purchase. For some salespeople their process is very loose and for others it's a well defined set of actions. In the world of sales, it is virtually impossible to be successful without some kind of Sales Process.



Finding a Sales Process?

People that are new to sales may be overwhelmed by the options when trying to find a Sales Process for themselves. Likewise, companies looking for a Sales Process for their team may have a hard time deciding which option works best in their industry and for their group. If your organization has been in sales for some time, flushing out your Sales Process may be equally difficult. There are plenty of programs that outline various models of Sales Process and can offer a good solution for new sales teams. But, if you have been in sales for some time it can be difficult to change what you do to match some ?boxed? Sales Process. You may be better off identifying your existing Sales Process and finding a system that fits well with that.

Stages in a Sales Process

Whether they are loosely or rigidly defined, every Sales Process has Sales Stages. These Sales Stages may be based on a customer-type concept such as Lead, Suspect, Prospect, and Client. Or they may be based on Milestones, which are actual actions in the Sales Process. Milestone based Sales Stages include Identified, Contacted, Qualified, Presented, Proposed, and Closed. Regardless of the type of Sales Stages you use, they are one of the most important tools in the Sales Process to ensure you stay on track and provide the customer the information they need to make a decision. More than that, they can provide you as the salesperson a mechanism for maintaining some control over the Sales Process.

Identifying a Sales Process

This activity is often easier than people think. If you are defining a Sales Process for a team, a good place to start is with your top sellers. Look at the actions that these people do on a regular basis, with every customer, in every sale. Identify the actions or events and label them with a name. These become your Sales Stages. Once you determine the ?steps? in the Sales Process, you can associate activities that go along with them to move customers from one Sales Stage to the next.

Your Sales Process can be as simple or complex as you need. If you have a short Sales Cycle you may find you'll have very few Sales Stages, such as Suspect, Prospect, and Customer. If you are working with long and potentially complex sales you may have three times this many Sales Stages or more. Again, the key to identifying the Sales Process is to find those repeated, successful actions that lead to closed sales.

The Value of a Sales Process

A good Sales Process shows its value in a very short time. There are numerous advantages to having a defined Sales Process, but here are some of the keys:

* Shorter Sales Cycle

* Higher close rates

* Better organization by the salespeople

* A system that can be easily taught

* Better accountability in the Sales Process

* Easier identification of weakness in the process