What is a Sales Process and 5 Benefits of Having a Structured Sales Process

Salespeople who follow a sales process will outperform their peers who do not. Now, while each type of business may have a unique way in which they structure their sales process, it remains that a process is necessary to close more sales.

So, what is this process, and why does it help?

Let’s dive into why a sales process is important and how it can help you increase your revenues.

What is a sales process?

A sales process is your customer journey from a lead to paying customer. It is a series of repeatable steps laid out in separate sages that helps a salesperson to convert a lead to a prospect to paying customer. It’s essentially a roadmap that outlines proven processes that you can take that makes the lead generation and conversion process smoother.

All stages of closing a deal can be structured into your sales process. These include:

·      Lead generation: Prospecting and lead generation involves researching people or companies that would be interested in your offer and identifying the decision-makers who you need to contact first.

·      Presentation of value: This stage involves how you determine the value of your product or service to your target market and show that value to your prospects.

·      Closing the sale: Whether the close is a positive or negative outcome, there should be a process for review and adjusting strategy. There should also be a follow-up process to maintain customer satisfaction.

5 Benefits of a sales process

1.  Improves efficiency

Yes, sales is often marketed as a career or business opportunity that allows you to go by your own rules. But, without structure, you will end up spending a lot more time on tasks that could easily be streamlined.

When you have a routine to follow, you improve your efficiency and therefore spend less time on each stage of the journey. Here, you’re getting closer to an automated process that reduces your direct involvement in the process.

As you get your processes more concretized, you’ll end up closing more sales faster.

2.  Increases revenues

Now, who doesn’t love more revenues? If you follow your structured sales process, then you have the chance to improve sales conversion and therefore increase revenue generation.

3.  Provides predictability in revenue generation

Can you forecast your sales numbers without having a process to follow? Especially an entrepreneur involved in sales, you need a process to help you keep track of your sales pipeline so you can budget for your business each month.

With a process, you know how many prospects you need in your funnel to eventually make a sale and therefore, how much potential revenues you can earn.

4.  The ability to assess and improve processes

When you have a clearly defined process, it gives you a better opportunity to assess what is or isn’t working. You can strategize on how to improve your funnel. Revise and update aspects of your process to increase conversions. In so doing, you can continuously improve your sales process.

5.  Increased lifetime value & better customer experience

We’ve spoken before about the lifetime value of a customer. So, you understand how important it is to keep customers happy and give them a seamless sales experience.

With a structured sales process, you can improve your customer’s experience and increase the lifetime value of each customer you convert.

Ready to develop your sales process?

A structured sales process is not just for company sales representatives. It’s also for the entrepreneur selling a business’ products or services. Without a roadmap, you are destined to make your sales process harder than it needs to be, even if you’re talented at sales or your product or service is perfect for your audience.

If you’d like to learn more about building a sales process that will convert more leads, feel free to drop me a note.

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Disclaimer: All views expressed in this article are my own and do not represent the opinions or views of my current employer or any entity whatsoever with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated. This post is for informational purposes only and any advice should be followed at the reader's own discretion.

?2020 by Alex Alleyne | alexalleyne.com | mysalesagency.com | scale-online.com