This post is one in a series designed to help SME businesses benchmark their business and create a best practice business improvement plan across all of their business processes. You can find the links to the full series here.
Why is an effective sales process essential to a successful business?
A clear and effective sales process shows you and your prospective clients the steps that you take with them to help them make an informed personal or business buying decision.
This essential business tool then allows you to manage your business and walk each potential client through the sales process to ensure that you are converting the maximum number of opportunities that come your way.
Your sales process shows the methodology you use to engage with customers, when you will provide certain information and when you will ask them to buy from you. It shows you, your staff and your prospective clients how you engage and helps to clarify what is expected of them and you at each step.
A great sales process will clearly show people how you operate and what is expected of them at each step and importantly why they should invest this time with you and take these steps with you and achieve a better informed buying decision.
How does your business measure up?
Here’s a checklist to help you determine the effectiveness of your business sales process.
- Our sales process is documented internally so that each step that new clients follow when looking to engage with my company is clear
- Our sales process has sales tools associated with the relevant steps to help in that process
- Our sales process is recorded in our CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system or similar tool.
- Our sales process is documented for clients so they are aware of each step
- Our sales process predictably converts prospective to new clients
- We regularly review our sales process with feedback from clients
If you have staff
- Our sales process is known and followed by staff
- Use of the sales process is part of our recruitment and orientation
- Use and understanding of the sales process is part of our ongoing employee engagement
Checking your results
- Question your prospective (those you win and those you lose) clients to see if they relate to an were assisted in their decision making by your sales process
- Question your clients to see if there are other steps or information or flow of the process that could improve how you serve your clients.
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