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What is a sales process and why is it important? A process is a series of steps or actions that take place to achieve a desired result; in this case, closing business. We all have processes that we follow every day without even thinking about it. Yet, there are many businesses that have absolutely no sales process in place. Without consistent, actionable, steps that salespeople can be guided by and held to, it is difficult for companies without a sales process to experience regular success.
A key aspect of a process is its universality; everyone in the system must follow the same steps in the same order. If every baseball player comes to the plate with only the intent to hit a home run, it is highly probable that the team won’t find much success. But if those players come to the plate with the intent to get to first base or to move the player on first base to second base then the likelihood for success is much greater because the players are following the same process to get players around the bases and back to home plate – thereby achieving success. It is much harder (not to mention less consistent) to hit a home run than move players around the bases. Are your salespeople hitting for the fences every time or instead following a well-defined, systematic process?
Built-in accountability in your sales process is a must. If your people don’t do what they are assigned or mandated to do, then their success ratio will most likely be low and inconsistent. And sales are easy to measure – one is either closing profitable deals or not.
If your sales aren’t what you want them to be, first evaluate your process. If you don’t have a sales process in place or you suspect that the process you do have needs tweaking, take the time now to create, fix or at least improve it. Then take a look at your individual salespeople and determine who is and isn’t performing; and whether the high performers and low performers are in fact properly engaged in your established sales process.
Clearly, having an established sales process not only acts as a how-to guide to success for your sales team, but also a baseline to evaluate employee performance and compliance.
Interested in learning more about creating and enhancing your sales process? TAB has helped countless business owners do just that. Feel free to contact us at admin@tabdenverwest.com.
By Blair Koch
