How Defining Your Sales Process Can Set Your Team Up for Success

Often I’m asked by sales leadership, “How do I set up my sales team for success?” One of the best ways you can do this is by defining a Sales Process. What does that do for you? The benefits are both internal and external for a Sales Professional.

Internal

If you know each unique stage of your sales process, you then also know the people, resources and the activities you need to create success in each stage of the process. By mapping this out, you will quickly understand where you are short on resources. You will then be able to determine how to fill those gaps so you can give your team the tools they need to successfully move a potential client through the process.

This also will create transparency for the rest of the company on how Sales operates. This will help create better relationships across the organization. Marketing will understand how to help Sales throughout the process. Service will understand the complexity of new business long before it is turned over to them, better preparing them for the on-boarding of new business. Finance will have far more accurate forecasts enabling them to plan cash flow more accurately for the business.

External

I often see Sales Professionals make the mistake of assuming a client has their own internal buying process. As a matter of fact, it is often just the opposite. When a company decides to procure a product or service, often it is left to one person to coordinate. Unless they are a seasoned professional, they often don’t know how to plan out the evaluation of a new vendor. The best Sales Professionals share their Sales Process with them to show them the discreet steps to making a decision. This process can be modified to the client’s needs. Once agreement is reached a clear path is established. This takes the guess work out of the process and creates a more open, frank and functional relationship between the buyer and the seller resulting in better decision making on both sides.

Map it Out

Take the time to map out your sales process. The best way to start is to look back at some of your more recent won and lost sales.

1. Take the time to understand how you first came in contact with them, and how they progressed along to the point of making a decision.
2. Write it up on a whiteboard with your Sales team and members of your operations and marketing teams. This cross functional approach will uncover new insights and create a sense of ownership across your organization for helping bring on new business.
3. Publish the process and integrate it into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and leverage the information to strategize how to bring on new business and to provide transparency to the entire company on how new opportunities are progressing.

Setting your team up for success requires leadership, vision, and most importantly, the tools they need to succeed. By defining your Sales Process, your sales team will be much clearer on what they need to do in order to succeed, and you will have provided them one of the key tools they need to ensure that success.