This is the blog transcript of our video “How to Build Your Sales Process”. If you’d like to see more of our videos, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here.
Are you interested in building your sales process, but don’t know how or where to start? Or maybe you have a sales process, and are just looking for a little refresher?
There are thousands of sales process guides, tips and tricks – but the best start comes from a solid foundation.
In this video, we’ll review the five steps of a sales process that you need to build out to grow your business.
Hey everyone, I’m Ian Campbell, CEO of Mission Suite. Before we jump into today’s video, do me a favor and hit the subscribe button and ring the bell so that you’re notified whenever we post new videos.
If you’ve been watching my past videos, you probably know at this point that I’ve been working with clients on their CRM needs for the past 10 years. But for about 10 years before I started Mission Suite, I was working with small business owners to help them build out sales and marketing strategies as well.
These days, I have some amazing partners that I work with to help my clients build out sales and marketing strategies, but this is still one of my favorite discussions to have with new business owners.
There are five main steps that you need to consider in building out your sales process, so let’s jump in!
First thing’s first – Initial Contact
This first step is all about relationship building.
Reach out to your leads with an introduction and explain why you’re connecting with them.
If you’re struggling with lead generation, we’ve got a couple other videos that you can check out – How to Use Marketing Automation for Lead Generation and The Community Table session on How to Generate More Sales with Fewer Leads here.
Make sure you’ve done your homework and you know just how this lead was acquired – it’s really awkward when someone asks you how you got their name and you don’t have an answer.
Planning and researching prior to the initial contact and connection are important, so be ready to discuss the reason that you’re reaching out.
Of course, the interaction of this outreach from lead to lead might look vastly different, depending on whether you’re in-person or over the phone, but the outcome should be the same.
You only get one chance at a first impression, and first impressions are one of the most important parts of a successful sales process.
A warm introduction and a clear explanation are key to making a good impression here.
Don’t lead with your pitch, focus on the prospect instead. Look for opportunities to connect, like a common interest or mutual acquaintance. Tools like LinkedIn make it really easy to find those connection points with your prospects.
Use them.
Next, it’s time to start qualifying your lead and their need for your product or services.
To get into this, first you’re obviously going to need to know who your ideal client is, as well as what their needs are. You can’t qualify anyone if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
This is where you’re going to be asking some questions and listening to the answers.
And I mean listening – this means keeping your mouth shut and doing your absolute best to get to know exactly what the issues are that THEY need to solve and how THEY want to solve them.
This isn’t a time for you to be persuading. It’s not a time to start introducing your product or service. This is the time for you to listen and get to know as much about the prospect and their business as possible.
This could be an on-going process and it’s not a step to rush through.
Ask questions like:
- What is your role within your company?
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- What are your business priorities?
- Who are your biggest competitors?
- What does success look like for you?
- What other solutions are you considering?
Make sure that you understand their needs. Ask follow-up and clarifying questions as necessary and listen for context clues so that you can ultimately position your offer to their needs.
If you’re on the same page and they qualify – feel free to move forward. If not, keep asking questions until you understand or disqualify leads that don’t meet your criteria.
Remember, this is a two way street so you can always walk away if they don’t meet your qualifications.
Step 3 – Provide your solution
This is when you get to show your prospect exactly how well you heard their needs and how you can help address those needs.
By this time, you know whether or not you can help the prospect you’ve been working with – you’re not going to waste time putting together a solution proposal and presentation on someone who’s not qualified to work with you.
But now that you’re ready to move forward, it’s time to share your vision.
Share your vision of what it looks like for you to work with a client, and what it would look like if this prospect became a client.
As the saying goes, sell the sizzle, not the steak.
Explain how what you’re offering satisfies their needs and solves their problem according to their version of success.
I can’t stress that enough – this has to align with THEIR version of success, so when you’re presenting your solution, refer back to the needs they identified during all of your previous conversations.
Depending on your presentation style, and what you’re selling, you may need to include some presentation aides. Maybe you’ll give a demo of a software solution, or bring in a sample of a product that they can hold to get a feel for what you’re providing.
If an engineer or an executive is needed to relay technical information, make sure that they’re a part of the conversation. They might be able to help you paint a more compelling picture of what the client’s future could look like if they work with you.
Make sure that your presentation is tailored to the customer and everything you’ve learned about them up to this point.
And remember, don’t oversell it.
Be honest and genuine while presenting. The last thing that you want to do is overpromise and underdeliver.
What part of the sales process is the hardest for you? Drop down into the comments and let us know.
And while you’re down there, give us a like and let us know that you’re getting something out of this video!
Now we get to the fun part – closing the deal.
Now that you’ve presented, it’s time to close the deal.
It’s not uncommon to get objections as the time for decision making comes around. Hopefully you’ve been able to address most of those objections through the course of the rest of the sales process, but often there are other concerns that may need to be addressed.
Sure, this part can be a challenge, but navigating these objections openly and honestly can really help you with that final level of trust needed to move forward.
There are plenty of “closing” tactics out there that people might advise you to try but, more often than not, they’re just not worth it. Don’t position yourself as a “closer” or try to pressure your prospect to “sign on the line”. You might get the deal but the chances of this client walking away unhappy go through the roof.
If you’ve worked this process right up to now, then closing is simply the next natural step in the process.
You’ve taken the time to learn what the client wants and needs and you’ve shown them how it will look to work together. Repaint the vision of your future together, if necessary – but at this point, the question of “when would you like to move forward” should feel pretty natural in the conversation.
Your sales process can be hugely important to growing your business. If you build it right, and then work the process, you’ll get to close more deals and really grow your business.
Your Turn
If you want to take a look at how Mission Suite can help you manage your sales process, I encourage you to take a look at a demo of our system so you can see it first hand! Check out the link to our website below and sign up for a demo today!
Hey I hope you got something out of this video. And if you did, go ahead and give it a thumbs up and maybe a share so that others can see it too. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell so that you’re notified whenever we post new videos and while you’re at it, check out these videos too!
We’ll see you next time around!