HOW THE MODERN DAY SALES PROCESS LOOKS LIKE, AND WHY THIS IS NOW MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER

Getting people to spend their hard earned money for a product or service has never been a walk in the park. Salespeople have always had to toil in their attempts to lead prospects from the top end of the sales funnel to the bottom, a concept known as the sales process.

But while each generation of salespeople has had its work cut out, specific changes have met the steps taken to close sales. Here, we take a look at what those changes are and how they are relevant today.

The Traditional Sales Process

In times past, the sales process was pretty straightforward. Salespeople were in total control because they had access to most of the information concerning the product or service. They armed themselves with this knowledge and went on the hunt for prospects.

The monopoly salespeople had over information about their product or service meant that the outcome of their meetings with prospects rested heavily on their selling skills. The better you were at selling, the better your chances of closing the sale. People had little access to independent sources of information and could hardly make informed comparisons between products. This approach to sales presented a sales process that looked something like this:

·   Prospecting

·   Initiating contact with the prospect through cold calling

·   Qualifying the prospect's needs

·   Product or service demo

·   Handle prospect's objections

·   Negotiation

·   Close the sale or lose the prospect

The Modern Sales Process

In recent times, there have been drastic changes in the traditional sales process. These changes have formed an entirely different method of interaction between salespeople and prospects. Some refer to this new cycle as the "buying process."

While the traditional sales process still exits, it's fast becoming obsolete because power has changed hands. No longer are salespeople the sole guardians of product or service details. Buyers now have access to quality information, and so they can – independently - make a purchase decision. And this is what the buying process entails for the most part.

The power shift from salespeople to buyers isn't some made-up concept. New-age buyers are continually researching products or services long before they ever contact sales teams. In fact, a study by CEB shows that 57% of the buying process is completed before customers engage salespeople. Forrester Research claims that 74% of B2B buyers conduct more than half of their research online, even before making an offline purchase.

Buyers have made the sales process theirs, and we have the internet to thank for that. Sites are littered with customer reviews, testimonials, and product information. Skim through social media, and you would find people quipping about the quality of a new product or service.

There's so much information that nowadays, people avoid interacting directly with salespeople until they have moved further down a company's sales funnel. And at other times, salespeople would never hear from prospects because they would have slipped out of the funnel and moved on.

A Change of Approach

The changes in buyers' attitudes are why today's methods of approaching and nurturing leads are relevant. Sales teams have only adjusted to the new terrain. And this adjustment has seen them place a premium on giving prospects all the information they need to do their research before making contact. They now play the role of a guide.

You must give prospects adequate information about your product or service on various platforms. You need a substantial online presence that offers rich details about the value you're offering. Otherwise, buyers will go to those who have one. This is because people want to educate themselves before coming to you.

They want to compare products and ensure they are making the right decision. So not putting out enough content about your product or service would automatically take you out of the buyer's focus. It's like not throwing your hat in the mix at all. There's no way you would be picked.

But there's a caveat to providing information to your audience. There are already so many details out there, so you would be better off tailoring your content to your audience's needs. They probably know about your product's features already. Now, you should focus on showing how these features translate to value for them.

Don't be Left Behind

Like it or not, the internet is going nowhere. And as long as it sticks around, buyers will remain in charge of the sales process. You need to pander to their whims to some extent and give them all they need to know to trust you and your product or service. For now, this is the only way forward. The question is: will you take it?