7.1 The Importance of the Selling Process

If we begin by looking at the actual reasons why it is so important to understand the selling process, to encourage you to spend the time trying to get to grips with the various steps that it can generally go through. However, even though we are including a number of steps, there is no certainty that each sale will follow on a step by step basis. Sales will normally follow a logical process and if you are unable to understand where to go from one point to the next then how can you expect to be able to close deals when you appear to be lost? This is something that people are able to pick up on with a salesperson and if you are not coming across as being confident, then it hardly inspires the same thing in the buyer and they are not going to be enticed into spending money if that is the case.

In addition, having a sales process established in your company is going to result in you being able to better control your sales team and to also understand where things are in your sales pipeline. It will also make it easier for you to predict the potential outcome and whether or not you should just give up on a potential client or if it is worth pursuing further due to the reaction you are getting. The sales process will always be able to give you a starting point for every attempt to have a successful sale as it allows you to understand what you need to do first in order to potentially open a door for you to complete the sale. Furthermore, it is important that you understand the buyer today is much more aware of the entire process, as well as having better knowledge of the products they are going to be buying.

This does mean that the salesperson needs to be better prepared than ever before simply because of the way in which the buyer is now able to ask a whole host of questions that may never have entered their mind in previous years. With the sales process, it is also important that you keep it as simple as possible because the sales process in itself is already complicated enough without you making things worse. Indeed, what we should stress is that in the next section we will include seven steps as a guide that you can follow, but you may have to include or subtract several stages depending on your own individual needs. The main point to mention is that there has to be some kind of demarcation between each step in the process.

The final part we need to mention regarding the sales process is that this is not something which is actually set in stone and has to be followed to the letter. Instead, it is one thing that has to be updated on a regular basis and to even be adapted according to individual needs. It could even be argued that those salespeople who stick rigidly to the process will run into more problems than they can deal with simply because the best salespeople are those who are flexible. To that extent, while it is undoubtedly very useful to know the average sales process, do not take it as read that this is the way in which you have to act in order to close the deal as this is simply not the case. Keeping that in mind, the general steps we recommend are as follows.

7.2 The Steps of the Selling Process

1. Cold Calling or Prospecting

The first step is often seen as being the cold call and this can be one of the most difficult parts for a number of salespeople. However, with this there are several things you should consider doing as part of this particular section of the process. The key is research and by this we mean researching the kind of people you should be targeting and also thinking about limiting the amount of time you spend calling them to stop annoying the prospect before you are able to move forward.

2. The introduction

The actual introduction is going to be more important than you think simply because you have to make sure that first impressions count or you could lose the sale before you have even had the chance to begin. You need to be prepared and always make sure that you are there on time as being late is not an option. A little tip for you, make friends with the receptionist or the person you make the first contact with as getting them on your side is never going to be a bad thing. In addition, never make promises at the introduction that you know you will struggle to meet, because that is just going to put you in a bad position immediately.

3. The Recommendation

After you have spent time getting to grips with the needs or wants of the potential buyer, the next step in the sales process is to recommend a product or a service that best suits what they are looking for. By doing it in this order it does mean that there are going to be no surprises for the buyer since it will fit in with the information they have already passed onto you. If you are selling a product or service that often requires a second meeting, then the terms and conditions are usually discussed the second time around.

4. The Negotiation

The negotiation part is often the key for so many people as it is the point where they can either make or break the sale. Exactly what you have to negotiate does depend on the product or service you have to offer as well as the kind of questions that the potential buyer may have. For some, the negotiation is based entirely on trying to settle a price, whereas others will negotiate what is included in the product. Furthermore, you may discover that the negotiation phase is quite lengthy with some people simply because of their desire to learn as much as possible about the product before they even contemplate spending any money.

However, from your side of things it is always important to remember that you will never sell a product where you cannot make a profit and if you negotiate with the price, then remember not to go to a price where your cash flow is in danger. Finally, never compromise your integrity no matter how much you want the sale as that shows a sign of weakness on both yourself and your company.

5. Obtaining the Order

Once the negotiation process is complete, the next stage is obtaining the order and getting things signed and sealed. You should never be afraid to ask for the sale at any point and never believe that you need to wait until the end before this is done. However, just because things have been negotiated, it does not mean that your job is done as there can still be a number of hurdles and obstacles for you to get over. Do not be afraid to be quite forceful though, and state how you look forward to hearing from them to take their order because that is not being brash, but instead it shows confidence in your product or service.

6. The Contract or the Agreement

When the customer has indicated
that they wish to proceed with the sale or order, then it is time to get things
finalised, especially after you have ironed out all of the terms and
conditions. The key thing at this point is that if you state you are going to
do something for the customer, that you follow through with it and everybody in
the company is also aware of what has been promised to them. There has to be a
sense of continuity with this or it will reflect badly on you as a salesperson
as well as the company you are working for.

The exact contract or agreement is going to vary slightly from company to company, but you will have been informed as to the paperwork that has to be completed by your sales manager so there will be no problems. Make sure the buyer signs everything as requested and furthermore, that you always deliver to avoid giving them any opportunity to withdraw from the deal.

7. The Invoice

The final step in the sales
process is the part that everybody enjoys, the sending of the invoice or
collecting the actual payment in whichever format that may be. In some
instances, it may be necessary for your job to evolve from sales to managing an
account, or to at least make sure that everything is processed correctly.
However, it is important to add that just because you have sent the invoice,
this should not absolve you from dealing with your customer because it is
essential that you maintain a relationship with them should you be in this kind
of business. Furthermore, once the initial order is being processed it also
provides the alert salesperson with the opportunity to upsell other products or
services, especially when they are quite content with how things have already
progressed.

As you can see, the seven steps of the sales process are easy to follow and they do have a certain amount of logic to them. Now, the speed at which you go through the process is dependent on a number of different things and both you and your customer are responsible for pushing things along at a speed that you both feel comfortable with.

7.3 Understanding where Things can go Wrong

The problem with the steps described above is that they can often sound rather simplistic in their approach and even though that can be a good thing, there is no doubt it can also bring with it a number of issues. For example, it can be common for salespeople to become rather flustered at what is perceived to be a lack of progress on the sales front mixed in with a belief that the potential buyer is somewhat wasting time and dragging their heels. This frustration is something that can ruin an entire prospective deal, simply because this irritation can show and it will immediately turn the buyer away from completing the deal.

At the same time, a failure by the salesperson to correctly explain each part of their product or service is going to further hamper the speed at which things can progress. That is why it is so important for a salesperson to be able to determine if the potential client or buyer has indeed understood what is going on at each point in the process, as this should help to stop any issues further down the line which could hamper things to such an extent that the entire sale can stall completely. In the first section of this module, we mentioned how you cannot look at the process and follow it word for word as that is going to lead to a number of issues as well as increase the chances of something going wrong.

Flexibility is always key for any salesperson and a reluctance to do that will always result in you running into problems and it will become difficult to form a relationship with the potential buyer, which is important if you want to complete a sale. Finally, one problem area is if the salesperson does not confirm they are moving onto the next stage of the sales process by failing to determine if the buyer has met all of the relevant criteria at the first time of asking. As an example, just because the buyer has said that they have the funds available to complete the sale does not mean they will be able to complete the process, so believing you have everything signed up is the wrong thing to do until that payment has been completed.

You should never get ahead of the process and make any kind of assumption because that is where mistakes can be made. You can easily trip yourself up and destroy a potential deal all because you jump forward and apply the wrong pressure at the wrong time and irritate your client. Once again, you must make sure that you can just step back and take your time when moving through the processes and only speed up if that is what the client themselves are indicating they would like to happen.

Remember, the wrong preparation can result in you making a mistake that can undo all of your hard work in an instant. Failing to deal with objections, failing to listen to the client, failing to carry out the correct introduction to both yourself and your product, failing to recommend something that fits in with their needs or wants, and even a failure to negotiate or adequately explain why you are unable to move on a certain point can all play a role in derailing the sales process. As you can imagine, it does mean that this is a nervous time for everybody involved and that is why receiving the correct training is so important.

FACT

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Process[/caption]

Approximately 80% of sales are lost because the salesperson failed to establish an element of trust and credibility with the prospect.

Source: salestalent.com

7.4 The Result of Understanding the Process

So, what is the actual outcome of understanding this process?

Well, it allows the salesperson to keep track of where things are and also when they should perhaps step back from the sale or to push for another product or service in order to close the deal. Clearly this is going to involve you really watching and listening to the buyer to pick up on subtle signs in their body language that can tell you how things are going, and if you were not aware of the process that is generally followed, then how can you expect to dedicate time to understanding the client? Furthermore, it is going to provide you with more confidence in yourself if you understand the direction you need to head in to get anywhere with the sale.

Confidence is something that really does spread to your client as they can pick up on that particular vibe and it is known that this can then drive somebody onto spending money simply because of the feedback they are getting from you. At the same time, being aware of the sales process that is expected from you should also help you to make the correct progress in your sales pitch. It will allow you to know the words to use, the terminology you should use at which point, and even the objections you should expect to come across at any stage in the process. In other words, this sales process is something that can help you with your preparation in achieving the sale, and anything which can help to make life easier should be warmly welcomed by any salesperson.

In addition, any salesperson should be given the correct training to help them through this process and you should never be left alone to work this out for yourself. You should be taken through each step in accordance with the company in question or even the individual product or service. Indeed, having a number of different approaches according to what you are selling is certainly something that you should consider doing as it should improve the conversion rate that you are able to achieve. Finally, understanding the sales process in advance will also give you the opportunity to quiz your sales manager on anything you are unsure of to then be completely ready to get out there and find those clients. Remember, uncertainty about anything will only ever reflect poorly on you and will make it difficult to close a deal as you are not going to be selling something that is completely unique and people can easily decide to go elsewhere. Any mistake is a weakness and it will be soul destroying for you to work hard at various steps of the process only to fail at the end due to something that could have been so easily avoided.

Module Summary

In this module we have focused on the sales process and the different stages you will typically have to go through in order to complete that sale and earn your commission. However, the number of steps you go through, as well as the speed at which it happens, is something that will vary from sale to sale. Furthermore, we need to stress once again that there is no way you should ever assume that a sale is completed until you have the confirmation through, as every salesperson has fallen into the trap of thinking that just because a buyer has said they have the money, they will do as they say. Our final piece of advice is to check with your company as to their own particular methodology of how a sale should progress within their company and do seek advice on how to work through the various steps to make your life easier.