Assume you've been asked to speak at a gathering. What would you do to prepare?

Would you speak whatever comes to mind on the spur of the moment? Or would you make a well-defined plan that gives your presentation structure?

If you want your audience to benefit from your presentation, you'll probably need to write an outline unless you're a master of improv.

Your B2B sales efforts, like a good speech, require some structure or method.

Effective sales procedures increase conversions, convert more potential customers into closed sales, and guarantee that all of your agents give tremendous and consistent customer experiences, regardless of who they're speaking with.

On the other hand, many sales managers struggle to create scalable sales procedures that regularly bring in repeat business.

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What is the definition of a sales process?

A sales process is a set of repeatable processes taken by a sales team to transition a prospect from a warm lead to a closed customer. A solid sales process provides a structure for salespeople to follow, allowing them to complete transactions consistently.

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Why do you need to create a sales process?

A sales process may be thought of as a road map for your sales staff as they work to convert leads into clients. Your marketing team's lead generating efforts would rapidly waste if you didn't have the map.

A standardized sales process might also assist less experienced salespeople in swiftly learning best practices and what to do at various phases of the sales process.

When you have a proper sales process, you generate more money. When you provide your sales staff with a uniform foundation to operate with, they'll be able to close transactions faster. 

Let's look at the stages or steps that a typical sales process takes now that you know what a sales process is and why you should design one.

The Seven-Step Sales Process

Prospect.

Leads are connected and qualified.

Investigate the business.

Make a compelling pitch.

Deal with any objections.

Complete the transaction.

Continue to nurture and sell.

1. Prospect

Prospecting is the process of identifying fresh, early-stage leads with whom to begin the sales process. It's an essential element of the sales process that most salespeople do daily or weekly.

Online research on sites like LinkedIn or Quora might be part of the prospecting process. It might also happen during conferences or industry gatherings. Prospecting may also be done by requesting current clients or coworkers to suggest people who might be interested in your product or service.

2. Make contact with and qualify leads

Reps initiate contact with those early-stage leads in the connect step of the sales process to obtain information. The second element of this procedure is qualifying new charges, which entails determining whether or not they're a suitable fit for your company and whether or not you should pursue them.

During a "connect" or "discovery" conversation (or occasionally by email if not by phone), a rep may often identify eligible prospects by asking qualifying questions like:

"How do you fit within your company?"

"What do you do daily?"

"Can you tell me what problem you're attempting to solve?"

"What makes this such a high priority for your company?"

"Are you looking at any other options?"

Also Read: Learn How To Cold Email In These 6 Steps

3. Do some research on the firm

The research phase follows, during which salespeople learn more about each prospect and firm.

Research allows your salespeople to put themselves in their customers' shoes, allowing them to provide a more customized and personalized experience, increasing the chance of a sale.

Understanding each prospect's difficulties and wants and establishing your product or service as the answer is critical at this point.

To acquire a comprehensive understanding of the business and its aims, your representative may need to talk with other people in other departments within the firm. A competent sales associate should better understand the firm than the particular prospect who works there.

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4. Make a compelling pitch

The presentation stage is when your salesman gives your prospect a formal product or service demonstration.

Because this stage takes time, it is usually saved for better-qualified prospects later in the sales process, so the connecting and qualifying step is so important. You don't want a sales rep to waste any of their time if it can be avoided.

Customize each presentation to the prospect's individual use case and pain concerns. A sales representative may also invite an engineer or executive to the meeting to illustrate the quality of service the customer would receive if they do business with your firm. This also allows them to address more technical inquiries that a customer service representative might not be qualified to handle.

5. Deal with any objections

Prospects frequently raise problems with your salesperson's presentation and proposal. It's anticipated, which is why this is a distinct phase in the sales process. Your sales staff should handle any objections.

Listening to your prospects' concerns and queries might assist your sales professionals in better tailoring your offering to their needs.

Reps should identify and anticipate any objections throughout their research and presentation preparation, whether it's about cost, onboarding, or other aspects of the proposed contract.

6. Complete the transaction

This stage of the sales process includes any late-stage activity that occurs when a contract nears completion. It might entail giving an estimate or proposal, negotiating, or gaining decision-makers' buy-in, and it varies significantly from firm to organization.

Every salesperson aspires to complete a transaction. It should result in a contract between the prospect and the seller that is mutually advantageous. When a contract is closed, the salesperson is paid a commission based on the price they negotiated with the customer. The account is often handed over to an account manager or customer success representative.

7. Continue to nurture and sell

Although closing transactions is the ultimate aim in sales, sales professionals do not cease working with clients once they have done so. Reps should ensure that customers receive what they ordered, but they should also assist in the transition of consumers to the team in charge of onboarding and customer success.

Continuing to communicate and reinforce value to consumers is also part of the last phase of the sales process. This can lead to possibilities for upselling and cross-selling, and securing referrals from happy customers.

Also Read: 7 Best Email Outreach Tools That You Need To Know

Let's look at how you can make this procedure better.

Level 1: Humming 

When 80 per cent or more of your salespeople meet their monthly quota, your sales process is running well. This is also when you're fast ramping up all of your recruits to goal performance, and your team isn't giving you any wrong input about the sales process.

Level 2: Experimenting 

When your sales process isn't running smoothly, your team will experiment with and try several approaches to see which is the most successful.

For example, in the "connection" stage of the sales process, a team can experiment with different contact modalities to get sales talks started with prospects. When initiating a conversation with a salesperson, they may see if their candidates respond better to a specific email template.

Level 3: Thrashing 

Thrashing occurs when a team moves quickly from one solution to the next inside a sales process. Beating is useless, and you'll want to pull your team out of it as soon as possible if you ever find yourself in it.

For example, in the "presenting" stage, your salespeople may be experimenting with various presentation tactics, making it hard to discover what works best for the bulk of prospects.

Remember that your sales process will never be flawless, but it should be growing all the time to meet the demands of your team, company, and prospects.

If you already have a sales process but haven't yet planned it out, this is where you should start.

Also, Read Lead Generation: Here's How to Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator

How to Set Up a Sales Procedure

Begin from the very end.

Bring in all stakeholders.

Outline the steps in the sales process.

Create a buyer's journey map.

Changes should be implemented, tested, and measured.

The method of stepping through each phase in real-time and understanding how it pertains to your organization, salesforce, and clients is known as mapping your sales process.

This method helps you identify inefficiencies, learn what's working, and match your sales process with your company's objectives. It aids in the development of a long-term growth strategy by your team.

When you map out your sales process, you'll be able to explain the "why" behind every choice you make, which is crucial because your sales process is the foundation of everything your team does. Let's have a look at how to plan out the sales.

1. Begin at the very end

You must know your destination to see where you're going. Setting goals for your sales team is an integral part of the sales process mapping process. Keep your strategy specific yet straightforward.

For example, Fred's Vegan Food Supply is charting its sales process. They've set a 5-percentage-point rise in their victory rate as their target "objective" for the coming quarter.

2. Collaborate with all stakeholders

Your sales staff won't be able to achieve their target independently. Other departments in your company, such as marketing, product, customer service, IT, and others, are involved in the sales process and influence the customer experience. Gather your stakeholders, explain your purpose, and invite them to participate in the process.

For example, Fred gathers his sales team, marketing managers, customer service executives, product designers, and distributors.

3. Outline the steps in the sales process

We went through the phases of the sales process above, and now it's time to go over each one related to your company, goods, and sales staff. Take a look at your previous sales processes. What strategies worked best, and where did prospects dwindle?

Furthermore, how long did each step take on average? With all of your stakeholders on board, you can map out which teams are involved in each stage and what activities they can take, especially your sales team.

For example, Fred's sales team diagrams the six stages of the sales process and notes the activities they take at each level. They also go back over the previous 12 months of sales activity for each phase to see where they may improve their new sales process.

4. Create a buyer's journey map

Next, examine your sales process from the customer's point of view. Make a note of your consumers' activities and responses to your sales process in the same document. Keep your buyer personas on hand to keep your team focused on the consumer.

For instance, Fred's sales team has created a buyer's journey map within their existing sales process. They can discover where their team is experiencing inefficiencies, what steps are functioning effectively, and where they need to improve to accomplish their objective by harmonizing these actions.

5. Make modifications, test them, and track them.

You're ready to put your sales process to work once you've planned it out from both the seller's and buyer's viewpoints. You won't know if the procedure will help you achieve your objective unless you put it to the test.

Fred, for example, implements his new sales procedure with his team. They go through each stage and the activities that should be taken, paying great attention to how their consumers react. They alter the aspects of their procedure that aren't operating as smoothly as they proceed through each phase and towards their new objective.

Using a sales process flowchart, you may identify essential action points now that you have a map.

Flowchart of the Sales Process

A sales process flowchart is a document that outlines the processes that each salesperson should follow to convert a prospect into a customer. A sales process flowchart differs from other papers in that it contains yes/no scenarios with action items based on the customer's reaction.

The chart directs your staff so that consumers get a consistent experience regardless of the representative they speak with.

While sophisticated yes/no situations are possible, a basic flowchart that depicts the process from start to finish is also possible.

Conclusion

To increase conversions and develop long-term connections, follow these steps to create and map a personalized sales process for your company, sales team, and clients. This will also guarantee that your team gives each prospect a consistent, brand-representative experience. Your sales staff will be able to complete more transactions and convert more leads if you create and map out a sales process.