Do You Have A Sales Process?
As a business owner, I know the importance of a competent sales team. But I also know that despite having a rockstar sales team, it also takes having a real plan with the process. No one needs to work harder when a process can streamline daily tasks, make life easier, and save.
So what do I mean when I say “process,” you might be asking yourself. A process in sales is a plan with actionable steps that your team can use (and should use!) to make a sale or convert a lead to a customer. Simple right? When you add this type of structure to your sales process, you also add accountability for each sales team member. Accountability is crucial and will always lead to more sales and a shorter time from that first contact to the first sale.
There’s plenty of research that proves the sales process. Processes will always lead to more sales growth, and it’s just the way it is. Some benefits aren’t as black and white as your company’s bank account growing. This topic is what I’d like to focus on today! Below you will find the advantages of having a process that extends far beyond your bottom line.
Your Sales Team Knows What To Expect
It might sound simple, but it is essential to have a clear path for your sales team. Knowing the company’s expectations and what needs to get done at each stage of the sales process, they ultimately have the edge over all of their competition. In a world of distractions, staying organized and following a defined process is so important, and it also takes stress off their backs because they aren’t trying to juggle their prospects.
Your Team Will Grow Faster and Easier
Onboarding new team members is a breeze when you have a sales process. You aren’t trying to re-create the wheel, and the new team member isn’t confused. You can hire a vast array of sales members-some with more experience than others, but all with the same straightforward tasks and expectations. Once they learn the process, they are in charge of their success. Simple! Also, YOU or your sales trainers won’t be so stressed onboarding a new member. There’s a clear path, and it becomes less stressful for everyone.
Evolve Quickly
When your sales team has a process, they will often have suggestions on tweaking the process to make it better. The team’s input is significant because you can make changes and move on; there’s no guesswork or need for five meetings to execute. When the team focuses on the effort of the process, they become part of something bigger. They can see where they are getting stuck or winning big. They will tell you how to evolve. Let them take the lead. If they follow the process and have constructive criticism, listen and be willing to grow. The process isn’t in stone.
You Can Make Legit Sales Projections
When you have a process, your entire team will be more consistent with closing deals. You’ll be able to project the week, months, or quarterly sales and depend on them. Making sales projections is excellent for your company because you will grow faster with fewer growing pains.
Weed Out The Sales Funnel
With a sales process in place, you will be able to ‘weed out the hot leads from the leads with no potential. Every lead isn’t going to convert into a sale, and it’s better to know in the beginning than waste valuable time with them all to get to a dead end. The goal is to capture and keep valuable customers. When you focus on the customer, you can bring more value to them. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Communication Within The Company Thrives
When a sales team has a process, the rest of the company should understand it (because it’s simple!). When you have a process, it helps everyone communicate effectively and quickly. You will end unnecessary meetings, and customer service will excel. The sales team will get the assistance they need when needed, and then everyone will move on. It’s a no-brainer.
Sales Team Performance
If you don’t have a process, you probably measure your success by wins/losses. It’s not the wrong place to start, but you’ll also want sales team performance insight beyond wins and losses. The more you can measure, the better! Measuring also helps the sales director when analyzing the team’s steps and the impact on each step.
Customers Are Happy
No one likes a pushy salesperson. Sometimes, without a process, this happens. Pushing a prospect to purchase when they aren’t ready or don’t have all their questions answered creates distrust between the rep and prospect and ultimately can squash the deal. A process gives the customer levels of expectation, and they don’t feel pressure to buy until they are ready. (Often, this triggers them to buy sooner because they feel comfortable and satisfied with the level of service they are receiving). Happy customers mean happy sales reps, and happy sales reps represent an irreplaceable company culture.
I have been so proud of our sales team and want to practice what I preach every day. As a company, we have decided to create a process so everyone can win and this blog post this week is me holding us as a company accountable for making this happen. It all starts with hiring a new director of sales to facilitate, manage, and keep the team responsible for follow-through and us. I’m beyond excited for our next chapter as a company and hope to give updates soon!
Originally published at https://aaronbouren.com on February 7, 2022.