In a typical firm with 100-500 employees, an average of 7 people are involved in buying decisions.

Many new businesses may expect this stage to go fairly quickly. “We’ve made our presentation; we’ve handled all their objections. Our product is clearly a perfect fit for their needs and budget. So, it’s a no-brainer – of course they’re ready to buy!” Most of the time, it’s not that simple.?

First of all, objection handling is usually not done in just one session and will overlap with your negotiation process. The reason is that in a typical firm with 100-500 employees, an average of 7 people are involved in buying decisions. And each person may have their own reservations and objections before coming to a consensus.?

Additionally, a large part of the negotiation stage will be about price. This is natural—most businesses want to use the least amount of money possible while still getting quality services and products.?

It’s good practice to have solutions on hand—that won’t put your business in the red—when potential clients attempt to negotiate your asking price.

As you know by now, each business has unique needs when it comes to what to include in its sales cycle. Whatever your needs are for your sales team, don’t be afraid to customize the sales cycle to fit your business model best.

A great way to customize your sales cycle is by providing your team with guidance about what tasks to complete in each stage. By outlining exactly what should happen during each of the stages listed above, you ensure each rep follows a process that works for your company and industry.