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Is Your Sales Process
Killing Your Results?
By Stuart Ayling
One very important step in maximising results from your sales activities is to consider each of the steps, or contact points, that a prospect will experience with you during your initial contact and sales discussion.
What I'm talking about here is your 'sales process'.
Just like you expect a manufacturer to have a process from start to finish, you should also have a process for how to manage sales opportunities.
For most businesses it is possible to define the most common path you will want to take when dealing with a prospect. That is, your prospects will most likely have similar needs, or have similar characteristics, and therefore you will manage them through the stages in the sales process in a similar way.
So where do you start?
Follow these simple steps to outline your sales process and decide which resources you need to maximise success.
Step 1: Categorise your 'typical' prospects.
Decide on a common profile for them. In other words, picture a typical prospect and how they would make their first
c ontact with you (e.g. inbound phone call, website enquiry, networking event, outbound phone call from you).
Step 2: Identify and write down the steps, or contact points, you need to have with the typical prospect to maximise your chance of a successful outcome.
Note: do not simply make note of the bare minimum contact that your prospect may ask for - such as a phone call where they 'ask for a brochure'. Be explicit and think through each contact point you need to have in your ideal sales situation. Sometimes this
means inserting an opportunity to ask more questions at some point.
Step 3: Think about the documentation, marketing material, or what I call 'sales tools' you will need to effectively conduct each contact point that you have identified in Step 2.
Think about what you are trying to achieve at that point of communication with your prospect. Do you need basic service descriptions or product data? Do you need a case study to persuade the prospect? Do you need to present testimonials?
Step 4: Look for the gaps in the material you are now using as sales tools.
Do you have everything needed to successfully move your prospect through each step in your sales process?
By going through this process of creating your own sales process chart you ill be able to identify potential holes that might prevent you from winning more sales.
You can also use the process to plan ahead for future sales conversations and be fully prepared with information as well as verbal responses to situations you think may occur during the discussion.
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