Does a Sales Process matter? This is a question posed to The Humble Sale recently. After giving an emphatic “Yes!” in response we were challenged to answer the question Why?
There are various sources providing data supporting the point that businesses with a structured sales process have greater revenue success (we’ve shared some in the list of reasons below). Our answer to “why” hypothesised how this could be…
Our Initial Answer
“Having a structured sales process matters because it removes gimmickry from the selling cycle and in itself becomes a USP, a framework that followed faithfully increases the probability of the prospect and the salesperson achieving their desired outcome. Crucially, it doesn’t stifle creativity or individual skill. In fact, because the Sales Process takes care of how the sales cycle should progress, it removes this consideration from the equation and frees the sales professional to focus on the human being in front of them, giving them more time to be curious, display authenticity and get to the heart of the problem that needs solving.”
Bit wordy we know! Therefore, in the list below we’ve unpacked this a little more and added some other reasons to help our subscribers.
10 Justifications for a Sales Process
Reason 1: It can be a USP in itself
Given that many sales organisations today don’t have a structured sales process, the very fact that you have one can become a powerful USP. Explaining to a customer that you have a tried and tested process to follow, designed to help them get a better outcome, is both credible and professional. Your company will seem well organised and the prospect will start to feel safe.
Reason 2: It progresses the sales cycle
By sharing a framework that has already determined how a Sales Cycle will progress, this key element of deal management is taken care of. Take a very simple Sales Process:
Meet the Prospect > Scope the Problem > Share Potential Solution > Propose Commercials > Sign Contracts
5 Steps in this process. However, if you explain the value of moving through all 5 of them to get to the right outcome, this early buy-in keeps things moving forwards. You never have to worry about momentum, just about doing a good job at each stage!
Reason 3: It focusses the salesperson on the problem
By following a process in this way, your mind as a sales professional is focussed on the customer requirement solely. At each stage of the process, instead of worrying about “what next?” you can focus on “how do I offer best help?” In the Meet stage from our example you can focus on asking excellent questions and developing broad understanding of where they need help. Then at Scope you can dive more deeply into the problem area, really taking the time to consult professionally to shape your thoughts on a potential solution. At the Share stage you can discuss your solution ideas with the customer to assess initial reactions, have them help you tweak your ideas, again improving buy-in. The Propose stage then simply becomes where you confirm everything discussed and Sign speaks for itself, hopefully a formality given the professional job you’ve done all along.
Reason 4: It removes gimmickry and ensures a professional exchange
This structured way of working also means that deals progress when it is right to do so, not because of unnatural sales conversations. Those awful closing conversations, normally driven by month end pressures, become a thing of the past. Price or promotion based conversations go by the wayside. No more talk of special offers and the like (thank goodness). Instead, you, the sales professional, are focussed on the customer’s outcome and the process increases your chances of getting things right.
Do you have enough background information to understand what problem you are solving? No? Then stay at the Meet stage a little longer and ask more questions until you do. Do you have enough detail from your Scope to sit down with your prospect and talk through some concepts? No? Then maybe go back and spend a little more time looking at things with some other customer contacts or in-house experts so that you can be more sure your suggested solution will help. You get the idea…
Reason 5: It allows for greater creativity
You may think that having a rigid Sales Process stifles individual skill or flair. Actually, I have found the opposite to be true. By keeping the sequencing rigid it actually allows the salesperson more freedom to be creative at each stage to provide a better experience for the prospect. If they enjoy and respect how you sell to them they are more likely to award you the business. The choices are endless. Every piece of advice or creativity suggested in the pages of The Humble Sale can be applied within a formal Sales Process.
Reason 6: It improves sales coaching
Having a Sales process that is common throughout your organisation allows for sales coaching more focussed on the sales individual. New recruits are trained on the process you follow and then aside from the occasional refresher, all coaching is focussed on their skills development. Also, it allows situational coaching to be laser focussed on where the sales person needs help. This is because with a Sales Process you can see where their skills need a tweak to keep things progressing. You might discover they need to be more curious earlier in the process, maybe they need to articulate solutions in a more concise manner when sharing, etc. You can see where in the process deals tend to drop out and provide coaching to help.
Reason 7: It improves forecasting
When you implement a structured sales process you will see the forecasting of your team improve. This is because all deals have to follow a logical sequence with no short-cuts. Instead of looking at subjective reasons why a deal will close at a certain time, you simply look at where in the process a deal has progressed.
If the salesperson is currently operating within a Scope stage to use our example, you know they have to move through Share and Propose before they can Sign, so there is a way to go. If they are making a firm call, you can also check in reverse. Have you completed Scope? Or Share? No? Then let’s re-visit the process with the prospect to improve our chances.
Reason 8: It helps your wider organisation understand Sales
You will also find that having a Sales Process de-mystifies Sales for your wider organisation. Other departments will understand how you work more easily and their role in making the process a success. For example, order processing departments may have a planning role in stages towards the end of your process, subject matter experts may need to help Sales at earlier scoping stages. The wider sharing of your process will allow organisational alignment in support of Sales and as result, your customers. For example, in the past I have shared whole pipelines, sorted by Sales Process Stage, with supply chain teams so they can better plan resources and product availability around likely timescales.
Reason 9: It can apply to any product or service
The great thing about a well thought-out Sales Process is that it can apply to any product, service or sector. Therefore if you move roles as a leader you can still implement best practice wherever you go. If you are a salesperson in an organisation with no set Sales Process, you can still implement one for personal success. Also, if you introduce new products or services over time within your business or operate in multiple markets, you can follow the same Sales Process for all of them.
Reason 10: It increases your chances of winning
You don’t have to take our word for this. According to the Harvard Business Review “A business with a standardised sales process can see up to a 28% increase in revenue as compared to those that do not.” They also suggest that 50% of high performing sales organisations admit to having a highly-formalised sales process. Other figures from CSO Insights suggest that in one sector organisations felt having a sales process improved sales performance by over 80%, 30% of which they classified as significant improvement.
How To Start With A Sales Process for Sales Leaders
If you have not yet implemented a Sales Process I’d suggest you take some quiet time out to sit and design one for your business. My starting point would be to think about the complexity of what you sell, what a good customer focussed process would look like and then sketch out the likely stages. If you operate in an industry that is fast moving with lots of lower value products and services you may need a simpler process than say, a large technology firm where scoping or detailed design is crucial.
Think about how you can bring your teams in to each stage. Could you allocate stages between different sales roles (SDR, BDR, Inside, Field, etc)? Alternatively, does your process need to be owned end to end by one individual? When you have an outline bounce it around your teams for their input. It is going to be central to your future success so seek opinion to improve adoption early on.
Of course you can also message us at The Humble Sale. We can share some practical examples we use today.
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