Successful sales representatives know that sales involves careful consideration if you’re to reach your goals: closing deals, increasing revenue generation, and driving business growth.
And that requires a structured sales process.
A sales process is like a map, directing your reps through their sales efforts, ensuring they’re effective at every turn. It keeps them on track throughout the customer’s buying journey, leading them efficiently through the sales funnel.
In this article, we’ll explore the ins and outs of the selling process and the key steps to deliver results.
How does the selling process work?
Sales involves a sequence of steps whereby sales representatives move prospects from the role of potential customers into actual buyers.
The nature of sales makes it challenging. Sales reps need to be able to prove that their solution is the best option for that buyers’ problem.
It requires specific skills to build relationships, knowledge of how the company’s unique sales funnel works, and the right tools to help them be more efficient throughout the sales pipeline.
Equip your sales reps with a detailed sales process map, and you empower them to do just that – work optimally to achieve their sales goals.
7 stages of the sales process
On a daily basis, sales involves a series of actions that sales teams follow to nurture relationships. Consider this a framework for finding leads, closing deals, and retaining customers.
1. Prospecting
Prospecting encompasses all the time that your sales reps spend looking for prospective customers – ones for whom your product or service might be just what the doctor ordered. This initial step in the sales process underpins (in fact, determines) everything that follows.
But before you start doing any lead generation, you must first paint a portrait of your ideal customer, considering the following attributes:
- Demographics (company size, industry, location).
- Pain points and challenges they face.
- Goals and objectives.
- Budget and decision-making process.
Your chances of closing a sale increase if your ideal customer profile is concise and well-defined.You can then use the profile to hone your prospecting efforts to generate more high-quality leads.
Once you’ve established your ideal customer profile, use these strategies to find potential leads:
- Leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn to identify decision-makers in target companies.
- Use lead generation tools and databases to find companies that match your criteria.
- Execute on inbound marketing leads with channel specific follow up
- Ask for referrals from existing satisfied customers.
- Collaborate with complementary businesses for mutual lead-sharing.
- Implement a reliable system to manage and track your outreach efforts.
Use your business phone number to maintain professional communication with prospects.
Prospecting isn’t solely about cold calling incoming leads. It’s about figuring out which ones are most likely to become customers. Sales teams can leverage advanced propensity models in CRMs or leverage innovative AI tools for engagement-based follow-up methods, enhancing the overall sales process.
In many cases, it’s better to have fewer quality leads than to handle endless low-quality leads. Financial modeling can help you figure out which potential buyers are worth the trouble and where to allocate resources.
2.Preparation
Preparation is crucial before you reach out to prospects. Aligning marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) with the appropriate channel or product type to match specific personas can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your sales and marketing strategies.
When researching prospects, take time to:
- Examine the prospect’s company website for recent news, products, and services.
- Review their social media profiles for insights into company culture and priorities.
- Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to understand the prospect’s role and responsibilities. You can extract emails from LinkedIn Sales Navigator and use it to personalize your approach.
- Look for common connections or shared interests that could help build rapport.
- Identify any recent company achievements or challenges they may be facing.
Doing this preparation also helps you to tailor your approach to sales. Start by creating a personalized opening statement that shows you know something about their business.
You can also tailor a unique value proposition to address the pain points of that specific prospect and their company. Complement this with case studies or success stories from companies similar to the prospect’s own company or industry.
When you spend time preparing, you show respect for the buyers’ time, without seeming overbearing or arrogant. It also helps to position you as a smart, thoughtful, and credible problem-solver.
3. Approach
With potential customers, the sales approach is often your first direct contact with them – a make or break moment that sets the tone for your entire sales relationship. You want to win their credibility, interest and the opportunity to talk about your product or service further.
Initial contact methods include:
- Email: Craft a concise, personalized message highlighting the value you can offer.
- Phone call: Prepare a brief, engaging script that respects the prospect’s time.
- Social media: Engage thoughtfully with the prospect’s content before reaching out.
- In-person: If attending an event, plan a natural way to introduce yourself.
Video call: This can lend a more personal touch than email, especially for remote prospects.
Regardless of your chosen channel, you want to create a strong first impression.
Lead with a confident opening statement about yourself and your company. Include relevant research to show you’re interested and have done your homework.
Then, start with an interesting opener or hook – a relevant insight or question about them or their business. Be real, personal, and authentic as you begin to earn their trust.
Listen intently, acknowledging and showing genuine interest in what they share. Then, be sure to end with an explicit next step or call to action.
Remember, this is an opening conversation, not a sales pitch. Your goal is to spur your prospect’s interest and secure an opportunity to engage.
4. Needs assessment
The needs assessment stage is where you drill down into the details of the prospect’s unique challenges, objectives, and requirements.
From there, customer feedback can help you to shape your solution to their particular needs, increasing customer satisfaction.
To uncover valuable insights during this stage, focus on open-ended questions that encourage detailed responses, such as:
- “What are your main priorities for this quarter/year?”
- “How does your current process work?”
- “What challenges are you facing with your existing solution?”
- “What would an ideal outcome look like for you?”
Don’t overwhelm them with questions. Instead, let the talk ebb and flow, using follow-up enquiries to drill down into key points.
Good needs assessment requires asking good questions — and listening to what’s said back.
Focus on the prospect. Nonverbal cues and vocal cues confirm your interest, showing that you are listening. Try to mirror your prospect by building rapport and finding common ground. Take notes on key points to assist you in crafting your presentation and to enable you to refer back to important insights.
Listen as much as you speak. Their answers will help you position your solution in the next steps of the sales process.
5. Presentation
Once you have understood your prospect’s needs, the next step is to show them how your product or service can solve their problems and how it will benefit them.
Craft a compelling value proposition by:
- Tailoring your message to the prospect’s unique situation.
- Focusing on benefits rather than features.
- Using clear, jargon-free language.
- Mirror and know your audience- get technical with technical roles and keep high level for VP and upper management.
- Including relevant case studies or success stories.
Remember to address their unique pain points. Directly connect your solution to the challenges identified in the needs assessment, and quantify the potential impact of your solution where possible.
For example, RingCentral doesn’t just sell telephony systems and business communication software.
Our business phone service and video solutions allow modern companies to maintain communication and collaboration among their remote teams, establish a professional brand image across all channels, and scale communications as their business grows.
Make sure your presentation similarly focuses on what your solution will empower clients to do.
Use visual aids if they are relevant but don’t drown your prospect in graphs and text-heavy PowerPoint slides. Keep things brief and easy to understand, so your audience stays engaged with your presentation.
6. Handling objections
Unsurprisingly, sales involves a lot of objections — it’s par for the course.
How you handle them will either win you a deal or lose you a prospect.
Common objections include price, timing, and lack of need. So if these concerns do crop up, focus on the value and ROI of your solution, emphasize the cost of delay, and revisit pain points you identified earlier.
There are plenty of ways to turn objections into opportunities, too:
- Listen carefully to understand the root of the objection.
- Acknowledge the concern to show you value the prospect’s perspective.
- Ask probing questions to uncover any underlying issues.
- Use objections as a chance to provide additional information or clarification.
Instead of seeing objections as hostile or rude, use them to foster attentive engagement – as a way to grow trust and demonstrate your knowledge.
7. Closing
The final stage is where you help your prospect to make a decision. But, because you have to read the field and play your cards according to your senses, success often depends on the individual sales rep.
This is where those specialist sales skills come in, by learning to recognize buying signals, such as:
- Increased engagement and questions about specifics.
- Discussions about implementation or next steps.
- Inquiries about pricing or contract details.
Sales managers should also support reps to develop effective closing techniques. These include:
- Assumptive close: Proceed as if the sale is already agreed upon.
- Summary close: Recap the benefits and ask for the sale.
- Choice close: Offer options to make the decision easier.
Closing isn’t about pressure—it’s about helping the prospect take the next logical step. You should always close the call by scheduling the next one, or immediately after if it went well. Be confident, but remain consultative in your approach.
Key takeaways
Sales involves a strategy of research, planning, personalization, and problem-solving. Each step in the process feeds off of another in a sequential relationship.
Getting this right is a skill that sales professionals must continuously work on. But keep in mind that sales is an art (as well as a science).
Focusing on solution selling, tailoring offers to each prospects’ unique needs, and taking time to nurture relationships with customers creates a successful sales team.
Frequently asked questions
What does sales involve?
The sales process involves a series of steps for prospecting and generating new leads. To be effective, sales reps should focus on building and nurturing relationships with potential customers and selling solutions that address buyers’ unique pain points.
How long should the sales process take?
The timeframe will vary based on the level of complexity related to your team’s products or services and decision-making capacity. Focus on finding the right rhythm so that you are productive and the prospect is comfortable.
Originally published Sep 10, 2024, updated Oct 31, 2024
