Pushing To Business Success

A well-defined, measurable sales process can make a big difference in your business. But change can sometimes be difficult for people. The following can help:


Demonstrate management support. The business owner needs to take ownership for implementing the sales process. As with any proposed change, sales professionals will watch closely to see if a new process will be enforced by the organization. (Some businesses offer compensation to reward employees who adopt the new sales process and succeed with it.) Above all, business owners should ensure that everyone participates.

Make the sales process work for your customers. Your sales process should match your customer's buying process: small businesses selling to medium or large companies; small businesses selling to other small businesses; and small businesses selling to consumers. In general, more complex sales usually result in a sales cycle that has more steps. You need to adjust these models to meet the unique needs of your customers and your own sales organization.

Adopt a clearly defined approach. Implementing your new sales process is not a one-step action; this integration should occur in stages.

To approach your implementation more easily, follow these steps: research, implement, evaluate, refine and provide ongoing management support.

Step 1: Research
Speak with customers and reflect on the process elements that have worked well for your top salespeople.

Step 2: Implement
Document your customized sales process, tailor any forms or templates that you want your salespeople to use, and offer compensation to encourage adoption of the new sales process.

Step 3: Evaluate
Quantify what is or is not working with your sales process by getting immediate feedback from your customers. For example, has customer satisfaction increased as a result of your new sales process? Are customers more willing to act as referrals? Are new leads being generated? Are you generating repeat business?

Step 4: Refine
Your sales process needs to be a dynamic tool that changes to reflect the customer buying process as well as the evolving personnel and culture of your organization. Look for trends and clues in your sales process metrics and consider doing a periodic review of the process to improve it as needed.

Step 5: Provide ongoing support
Initially a sales process creates uncertainty and additional work, so employees might watch management closely for signs of a loss of commitment to the new process. The business owner and sales manager (often the same person) must support and reinforce the process at every opportunity.