Last Updated: October 1st, 2022

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sales process

Introduction

Sales process helps you to increase the chances of obtaining a sale by following a systematic approach. A sales process consists of tasks that are performed by salespeople to sell their product or service to customers. Sales processes vary from company to company, but most follow six basic steps: prospecting, lead qualification, pitching your product or service, handling objections (sales objection), closing the sale and nurturing customer for future repurchase.

Sales Process 101

The sales process is the path a customer takes from first contact with your company to becoming a paying customer. It includes all of the activities that take place between first contact and final purchase and beyond. The sales process can be a single step or a multi-step process, depending on how you manage it.

The sales pipeline

The sales pipeline is a visual representation of the stages in the sales process. It shows how many deals are in each stage of the sales process and helps you prioritize your efforts and measure progress. A well-organized pipeline allows you to:

  • Know which customers are ready to buy
  • Find opportunities by assessing customer needs and pain points
  • Prioritize calls with qualified leads

Prospecting

The sales pipeline is an essential part of the process and has three main stages: prospecting, qualification and conversion. Prospecting is finding new leads for your team to work on, with each lead being defined as a potential customer who you’ve identified through research or other means. The idea is that you can approach a large number of potential customers at once but then focus on fewer at any given time.

Prospecting should be done in a structured way to ensure that only qualified leads are followed up on—this means that it’s important to keep track of all prospects so they can be quickly removed if they’re not interested in what you have to offer. As many companies use software such as Freshsales or HubSpot CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems as part of their sales processes too, this helps keep everything organized and makes sure nothing falls through the cracks due to poor record keeping or sloppy communication between departments like sales and marketing teams who may not always communicate well together!

It’s important here though not just because it helps keep things running smoothly but also because this step allows those involved within each department know exactly where each project stands at all times – which ultimately increases productivity over time since there won’t be any surprises when working together closely during later phases like closing deals together.”

Lead Qualification

Lead qualification is a process that helps sales teams determine if a prospect is a good fit for their product or service. Lead qualification includes determining the following information:

Pitching your product

Pitching your product is about addressing your prospects and demonstrating a fit between their pains and your solution. If good lead qualification was done, there’s a bigger chance that your product is the right solution for your customer, and you will be successful.

Prepare answers to key questions you expect, and be ready with prompt answers, to show you know your market.

Handling objections

The sales process is a cycle, and handling objections is a part of it. To be successful in your job as a sales rep, you need to understand each step of the process and know how to handle each objection along the way.

  • Listen carefully to what your customers say. If they express concerns or ask questions about anything related to your product or service, make sure that you listen carefully before responding. If someone has an objection about delivery times or shipping costs for example, then take time out from talking about features of your product in order to address their concern as best as possible before moving on with other topics. Don’t just hear them out; listen carefully!
  • Be prepared for objections by researching what types of objections are common among customers who buy similar products from other companies in your industry.* Consider creating a list of common questions/concerns that may arise during the sales process so that all members of your team are familiar with them (and can respond appropriately).

Closing the sale

Closing the sale is the final step in a sales process. It’s when you ask for the customer’s business, and get them to actually make a purchase, either by signing on the dotted line or agreeing to another form of payment.

Sales Funnel

Nurturing the customer for future repurchase

Nurturing your customers for future repurchase is a great way to increase sales and customer satisfaction. Your main goal should be to provide value to the customer, not just sell them something. Here are some ways you can do that:

  • Listen to what your customers say about your product or service. Use this information as feedback on how you can improve it for other customers in the future.
  • When asking if they like your product or service, don’t ask “yes”/”no” questions; instead try asking open-ended ones like “What did you like most about our company?” or “What would make it easier for us to work with you?” This way they’ll feel comfortable telling their honest opinions while also giving suggestions that will help improve our relationship with them in the future (and maybe even answer some questions we didn’t think of ourselves).
  • If there’s any way possible (in terms of time/money), respond quickly when someone contacts us—even just saying thanks for letting us know about their experience will go a long way toward keeping them satisfied with our brand!

Your sales pipeline can be fine-tuned by applying your customer’s buying decision model.

An ideal customer’s buying decision model is a framework that helps companies understand their customers’ buying process and how to improve it. For example, let’s say you are selling toothpaste. The customer’s buying decision model would tell you that the first step in the customer’s purchasing process is research, followed by evaluation of your product or service and then finally purchase.

Once you know this information, you can apply it to your sales pipeline so that each stage of the pipeline represents one part of the customer’s buying decision process (e.g., research). At each stage in this model, there may be several touchpoints where your company can reach out to customers to learn more about their needs and how they’re feeling about different products or services available on the market today.”

The sales process is an important part of a company’s system for generating revenue.

The sales process is an important part of a company’s system for generating revenue. The steps involved in the sales process help companies find new customers, retain existing customers, and grow their businesses.

The first step in the sales process is to create demand by making sure that potential customers are aware that your product or service exists, what it does, and how it can help them solve their problems. This might involve advertising your business through television commercials or online ads; sending out direct mailings; hosting community events where people can learn about your products or services; or creating brochures with information on how you can help them improve their lives by using your products or services.

Once potential customers have been identified and created interest in what you have to offer them, they must be persuaded that purchasing from you will benefit both themselves and the world at large (if applicable). This step involves creating a message which emphasizes why purchasing from you instead of another provider is important for whatever reason: price savings related to quality/quantity needed versus competitors’ prices; convenience of delivery methods compared with others’; etcetera.”

Conclusion

The sales process is one of the most important aspects of any business. The ability to generate revenue for your company depends on it. It is an essential part of every business, but it can also be very complex and difficult to learn. If you are new to the world of sales or just need a refresher course on how this part works, then this article was written just for you!

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU.

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