The Sales Process
The sales process is a crucial aspect of any business, even more so for service based businesses like those of psychometricians, it serves as the foundation for converting potential customers into actual ones.
An effective and well-defined sales process is essential for ensuring reliable and predictable revenue streams. Having a clear sales process in place enables a smooth onboarding and training process for new members of your team with business development responsibilities.
A comprehensive sales process should be established for your business that outlines each stage of the buyer's journey, providing insights and key information to assist in answering any questions or concerns that may arise during the process.
It’s important to note that the sales process is not static, but rather one that should be continually reviewed and updated. Incorporating new insights and learnings from the experiences of those who sell within your business is crucial for maintaining a successful and effective sales process.
You may already have a sales process established – this may or may not be documented. However, for those of you who have not taken the time to consider your sales process, here is an overview of our own template:
- Prospecting
- Discovery
- Sales meeting/solution presentation
- Proposal/Quotation
- The close
- Account management
1. Prospecting
As a business psychologist or psychometrician looking to grow your business, prospecting is a key component of acquiring new clients.
Prospecting can often be done remotely, including through phone calls, email correspondence, or leveraging social media platforms such as LinkedIn. It may be beneficial to utilise a combination of these methods, as different prospects may have different communication preferences and utilising multiple channels increases the likelihood of reaching them.
Additionally, using a combination of methods allows you to tailor your approach based on the specific prospect and their needs. For example, a LinkedIn message may be more appropriate for a C-level executive, while an email may be more effective for a department manager.
Prior to initial contact, it’s important to conduct thorough research on the prospect's organisation and potential challenges they may be facing in order to tailor your approach and value proposition accordingly.
2. Discovery
Assessing fit, or the discovery stage, is an essential step in the sales process as it allows you to determine if there is a viable business opportunity between your organisation and that of your prospect. The primary focus of this stage should be on gaining a deep understanding of the prospect's needs and pain points, and determining if your company's solutions can effectively address them.
In the past, the discovery process was typically conducted through a series of phone calls and meetings. However, in today's hybrid world, virtual platforms such as Zoom or video chat have become increasingly popular among prospects. Utilising these platforms allows for a more efficient and convenient discovery process.
The discovery process is also an excellent opportunity to gain insight into the prospect's position in the market, as well as their current challenges, desired outcomes, and implementation timelines. By gathering this information, you can better tailor your solutions and value proposition to meet the specific needs of the prospect.
3. Sales meeting/solution presentation
After a thorough assessment of business fit and qualification of the prospect as a viable opportunity, the next step is to present your solutions through a sales meeting or product demonstration. This is typically the stage where you will "pitch" your offerings to the prospect.
In today's hybrid environment, it’s common for this stage of the process to be conducted remotely. Utilising virtual platforms such as Zoom or MS Teams allows for easy screen sharing, enabling real-time presentations of slide decks or software demos.
When presenting your solutions, it’s crucial to focus on addressing the specific pain points and needs identified during the discovery stage. Additionally, incorporating interactive elements such as asking questions and encouraging active participation from the prospect will help them visualise how your solutions can benefit and be applied within their organisation. Here some example questions to try during the process:
- What specific challenges or pain points are you currently facing in your organisation?
- How do you currently address these issues?
- How would our solutions align with your organisation's goals and objectives?
- What specific results or outcomes are you looking to achieve with our solutions?
- How do you envision our solutions fitting into your current workflow or processes?
- Are there any specific features or capabilities that are important for your organisation?
- How do you see our solutions impacting the performance of your team or department?
- Are there any concerns or reservations you have about our solutions?
- Are there any other stakeholders who need to be involved in the decision-making process?
4. Proposal/Quotation
Creating a Proposal/Quotation
After a successful sales meeting or solution presentation, it's often necessary to provide a written proposal or quotation to the prospect. This serves as a formal document that summarises the understanding of the prospect's situation and how your product or service can assist in addressing their challenges.
It’s essential to include specific details of the deliverables that you are committing to provide and the associated costs. This will help the prospect to better understand the scope of the proposed solution and make an informed decision.
The proposal or quotation should be tailored to the specific needs of the prospect and the solutions presented in the previous stages of the sales process. It should clearly highlight the value and benefits of your solution and how it will help the prospect achieve their desired outcomes.
5. The close
Finalising the Sale
The final stage of the sales process, commonly known as "the close," is arguably one of the most critical. There are various techniques and strategies that can be employed to successfully close a sale, and it's important to determine which approach is most appropriate for your particular solution and prospect. Experimentation may be required to find the most effective approach.
It's worth noting that a collaborative approach throughout the sales process can facilitate a more natural close. When the buyer feels understood and their needs are met, they are more likely to proceed with the purchase. The close is typically confirmed by the exchange of contracts or the receipt of a Purchase Order (PO) number from the new customer.
Here are a couple of examples from authors who have written specifically about closing techniques:
"The Ben Franklin Close" by Anthony Iannarino - This technique involves presenting the prospect with a pros and cons list of making a purchase to help them weigh the decision.
"The Assumptive Close" by Brian Tracy - This approach involves assuming that the prospect is going to make a purchase and taking the necessary steps to move forward with the sale.
"The Alternative Close" by Steve W. Martin - This technique involves presenting the prospect with a choice between two options, one of which is the desired outcome, to guide them towards the desired decision.
6. Account management - Customer Retention and Growth:
Maintaining strong relationships with your customers is crucial for securing repeat business and growing your customer base. Having a well-documented account management process that focuses on fostering and building customer relationships can help you stay on track.
Effective account managers often use account plans that include a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for each customer account. These KPIs can include:
Establishing multiple stakeholder contacts within the customer organisation, to ensure continuity of service in case of personnel changes. This can help you to maintain a reliable point of contact and avoid disruptions in service delivery.
Setting a target for the minimum number of proactive communications with the customer. Depending on the nature of your business, this could be weekly, monthly or quarterly. By staying in regular communication with your customers, you can ensure that their needs are met and that they are aware of any new products or services that may be of interest to them.
Defining a revenue target for each customer account, based on the expected additional revenue to be generated within a given time period (usually a year). By setting revenue targets for each customer account, you can track your progress and make adjustments to your account management strategy as needed to ensure that you are meeting your revenue goals.
Ensuring that your customers are receiving the service they expect and fulfilling the promises made during the sales process is crucial for maintaining customer loyalty. An effective account management process can help to achieve this.
Providing exceptional account management can lead to repeat business from satisfied customers, who may also introduce you to other contacts or divisions within their organisation. This can provide opportunities for new sales and expansion within existing accounts.
It can be beneficial to review and rerun the sales process with existing customers, as they may be open to new products or services that were not relevant to them at the time of their initial purchase. For example, after 12 months of implementing a solution, it may be beneficial to reach out to the customer and gather feedback and observations from end-users. This can be an excellent opportunity to identify new areas for growth and improvement within the account.
Gathering feedback and observations from end-users can provide valuable insights that can help to improve the service and product offering for existing customers. We can often provide additional recommendations or make adjustments to how you use our services and products to show you where step-change improvements can be made.
Implementing this approach with existing customers can also help to establish good, repeatable habits that can be applied to new prospects. Sales is always about solving problems and delivering value, and incorporating this approach can help to ensure that customer needs are continuously met.
The template above can serve as a good starting point for defining your own sales process. However, you may already have a sales process in place, but simply may not be aware of it.
When developing your sales process, it's helpful to keep the end goal in mind and work backwards. Analyse past successful opportunities from the last 3 years, and look for patterns. Utilise your CRM system, if you have one, to examine the length of time spent in each stage of the sale. Identify commonalities and differences between buyer personas and your sales process, and document each step.
CRM software company HubSpot offers a useful template structure to assist you in mapping out your current sales process and identifying areas for improvement.
With a clear and effective sales process in place, you'll be well-equipped to close more deals and drive growth for your business.
