The introduction
Understanding the sales cycle in a company is essential for business owners because in order to convert potential customers into actual customers and ideally into loyal customers, business salespeople must use a well-established strategy. In this sense, the sales cycle is a valuable tool in identifying the different stages that lead to the completion of the transaction or the sale process, you may be interested in reviewing the pricing policy and its types
Table of contents
What is the sales cycle and its management
Sales cycle types
Stages of the sales process in companies
What are the three levels of sales management
What is the sales cycle and its management
Many companies come to define their goals every year. The first thing that the company does is to enhance the goal that increases its profit. This is done by increasing its sales. In order to increase its sales, the company must be aware of the most important stages and levels that sales go through and manage them correctly To achieve the goal you set
Hence, we resort to defining the sales cycle and how to manage it. The sales cycle is nothing but all the steps that must be followed to convert a potential customer into a customer, so it is an accurate scheme and methodology that must be followed to frame and control the business activity as much as possible; To assess performance for example, analyzing the length of your sales cycle from one month to the next, or comparing it to the performance of competing companies can uncover potential flaws and identify areas for improvement, so it is important that each company takes the time to prepare its own sales cycle, to “plan” it, in order to Determine the best approach to take to achieve the ultimate goal of increasing sales
What is the sales cycle and its management
As for sales management, it is an integrated series of activities and operations concerned with the development, coordination and implementation of sales techniques, allowing businesses to achieve and even exceed their sales goals
When it comes to enhancing sales performance, regardless of the company's activity, the secret to success always lies in meticulous sales management processes, which start with a sales manager who knows how to inspire and lead the sales department. Sales Management Stay in tune with the activities of the business as it grows, to achieve continuity and prosperity in an increasingly competitive market, you may be interested in reading the top 9 different things between sales and marketing
In general, the art of sales management helps the organization and its sales staff better understand results, predict future performance, and develop market control
Sales cycle types
The classic scheme of the sales cycle is traditionally divided into seven stages, however, many experts agree that there are different types of sales cycles
Short Cycle Sales: This mainly relates to products or services that have low bets, or for which small amounts are committed. And this pattern is often found in B2C sales
Sales cycle R1/R2, or two-stage sales: This cycle, mainly for craftsmen, consultants and service providers, includes the following: the phase of discovering the needs of the potential customer, then the phase of presenting your commercial offer, addressing objections and, in the best case, achieving sales
Long or complex sales cycle: The long process reveals a greater need for thought, as is often the case with B2B
Stages of the sales process in companies
The stage of sales varies from company to company, depending on the company, what it produces, what its target groups are, what are the goals set for each company, and what is the method used by each company to achieve them
Phase one: commercial exploration
This stage consists in finding potential clients, and therefore, it is a matter of identifying the people, companies or organizations that are likely to be interested in your commercial offer, through various channels: marketing, in particular internal marketing, professional social networks, …, etc., Once the leads are identified, the first contact with the potential customers should be made either by phone call, email, professional social networks, etc
The second stage: the qualifications of potential clients
The sales department collects the information necessary to understand the profile of the potential customer or the company, to ensure that it matches what the company is targeting, for example, there is no need to spend time negotiating with an organization that does not have the budget to purchase the products or services it offers
The third stage: identifying needs
An effective sales objective is one that is oriented towards the needs of the potential customer, and not about the product or service being offered. Are you having problems with the company you are currently dealing with? What are your short-term and long-term goals? What would you like to change now to achieve these goals? etc
Fourth stage: Presentation
At this point in the sales cycle it is all about making a promotion to the potential customer based on pre-defined needs, thanks to this customer-centric approach, you can customize the presentation of your products or services to make your offer more impactful for the potential customer.
Stage Five: Dealing with Objections
Sales stage
There is a good chance that the potential customer will raise his objections (price of the product, lack of interest in the added value provided, resistance to change, etc.), it is up to you to respond, with positive discourse based on listening to the needs of the potential customers and their sources of motivation, for example, if the potential customer Concerned about the high price of your product, remind them of the excellent return on investment they will get by using your solutions for it in your product
Sixth stage: Completing the sale or closing
The whole stage of the sale must end with the stage of completing the sale or closing, by signing a contract, paying an invoice, etc., and at this stage, all the objections expressed by the customer must be addressed, and the next steps in the process should be clarified
Seventh stage: Follow up on customers and gain their loyalty
One of the good means used to achieve the profitability of the company is to serve the customer after the sale process, as this may cost you to retain the customer up to five times less than obtaining a new customer, and in this step is to monitor your new customer and publish loyalty procedures (marketing procedures on in particular), and from here you will have a good opportunity to recommend and suggest your products or services on his social network
What are the three levels of sales management
There are 3 basic and pivotal levels that must be included in the sales process, which include
Sales Operations
Before you start thinking about the sales team as a whole, you should start by choosing a highly qualified sales manager, whose role is to guide the salespeople, and he is responsible for setting sales quotas and goals, as well as leading them in the right direction
Then move on to expanding the team, which is the backbone of the company; Being the direct point of contact between the product and the customer, the sales team must feel part of the company and be equipped with the necessary resources instead of being considered as machines to make money
When selecting and preparing new talent, care must be taken to train them adequately and develop their skills, regardless of their experience, because salespeople should not just be great sellers, they should be good at selling your product, presenting an image of your organization that customers want to do business with. You may be interested in looking at internal marketing
The team can then be set up to achieve sales by giving them high but realistic goals, which you will be able to track to measure future success. Counseling the team throughout the process, making sure they remain on the right track, and motivating them when needed
Think about the experiences that have motivated you throughout your career, and use them to inspire and motivate your sales team. On the other hand, don't forget to share your pitfalls and failures, how you overcame them, and provide support during difficult periods
sales strategy
There are many definitions of a sales strategy, but essentially, it is a process concerned with facilitating business transactions between a company and its customers, and getting them to buy through a process that leads to exchange
Every business has a sales cycle, which is a series of tasks that help a company's product reach its users. Therefore, having a sales pipeline, or sales funnel, will make it easier to maneuver these deals through to completion
But what is meant by a sales pipeline?, It is a visual sequence of activities that must be achieved with each potential customer, from inception to closing the deal. Simply put, the pipeline is the right hand of salespeople, helping them to stay organized and in control of their work
However, there are some things that you cannot control – the results, and this is where the art of sales management comes in. It enables the salesperson to see his progress or activities, and create his motivation to do more work and overcome more challenges
. Sales Analysis
Sales analysis through reporting is what allows you to understand how your current efforts affect the success of your company and gives you insight into what you can do to increase your efforts whether it is hiring more salespeople or redistributing tasks. Successful reporting includes the use of sales metrics, or measurable indicators Quantitative, which tells you how each aspect of your sales operations is performing and whether you are achieving your goals
You should be able to measure: the number of deals, average deal size, closing percentage, or average percentage of deals taken, the average time a deal takes before it closes, and collecting data will allow you to find your ideal customer faster, and as a result, You can serve your customers and meet their needs faster
The CRM tool also helps in simplifying the sales management process
The selling process should be simple and save you time, the more deals you can push through the pipeline, the more deals you have, and the higher the chance of closing, the less time it takes to get a client means more profit
Conclusion
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