Ideal Sales Process

Sales Training

Michael Halper

Agenda

Key points•What is an ideal sales process•Why it is important•Some common process steps

What you will gain•Better manage your steps and process•Better manage interactions

Begin with the end in mind.

– Dr. Stephen Covey

What is an Ideal Sales Process

• Defined set of steps that you should take a prospect through

• Can be fairly fixed during prospecting

• Can vary from situation to situation during deal management

Why an Ideal Sales Process is Important

• ABC – Always Be Closing

• Not enough time to completely sell during early prospecting stages

• Helps to break down the entire process into separate steps with different goals

• Helps you to be more focused and in more control

• Improve your ability to deflect objections

• Can greatly improve effectiveness

Early Sales Process Stages

• Ultimate goal: close the sale

• Immediate goal: get commitment to advance to next stage in sales process

• Always stay focused on the immediate goal

• Figuring out early stage steps is what is most important

Initial Contact(First time to speak)

Cold CallInbound CallEmailEvent

2 to 5 minutes80% on prospect20% on you

First Call(Appointment/Meeting)

Phone CallFace-to-FaceDiscovery

20 to 30 minutes50% on prospect50% on you

First Meeting(Presentation)

DiscoveryPresentationDemonstration

1 to 2 hours20% on prospect80% on you

Early Sales Process Stages

Stage GoalsInitial Contact(First time to speak)

Cold CallInbound CallEmailEvent

2 to 5 minutes80% on prospect20% on you

First Call(Appointment/Meeting)

Phone CallFace-to-FaceDiscovery

20 to 30 minutes50% on prospect50% on you

First Meeting(Presentation)

DiscoveryPresentationDemonstration

1 to 2 hours20% on prospect80% on you

Pre-qualifyGather high-level informationBuild interest in having conversationSchedule a First Call

Hard QualifyGather detailed InformationBuild interest in meetingSchedule a First Meeting

Sell ProductMap out Next StepsClose (Sale or agreement to move forward)

Early Sales Process Stages

Alternative Path – Instant CallInitial Contact(First time to speak)

Cold CallInbound CallEmailEvent

2 to 5 minutes80% on prospect20% on you

First Call(Appointment/Meeting)

Phone CallFace-to-FaceDiscovery

20 to 30 minutes50% on prospect50% on you

First Meeting(Presentation)

DiscoveryPresentationDemonstration

1 to 2 hours20% on prospect80% on you

Pre-qualifyGather high-level informationBuild interest in having conversationSchedule a First Call

Hard QualifyGather detailed InformationBuild interest in meetingSchedule a First Meeting

Sell ProductMap out Next StepsClose (Sale or agreement to move forward)

Early Sales Process Stages

Alternate Path – Instant MeetingInitial Contact(First time to speak)

Cold CallInbound CallEmailEvent

2 to 5 minutes80% on prospect20% on you

First Call(Appointment/Meeting)

Phone CallFace-to-FaceDiscovery

20 to 30 minutes50% on prospect50% on you

First Meeting(Presentation)

DiscoveryPresentationDemonstration

1 to 2 hours20% on prospect80% on you

Pre-qualifyGather high-level informationBuild interest in having conversationSchedule a First Call

Hard QualifyGather detailed InformationBuild interest in meetingSchedule a First Meeting

Sell ProductMap out Next StepsClose (Sale or agreement to move forward)

Splitting First Contact and First Call

• It can be common for your first contact to flow into a first call

• There are benefits from preventing that and having two separate conversations:

– First call at the time of first contact will be rushed– Scheduling on another day allows you to put time on the prospects calendar– The break and scheduling of the meeting will allow you and the prospect to be

more prepared for the first call– You will have more time and attention to work with

• How to prevent:– “You are asking very good questions. I actually would like to talk with you about

this in more detail and I have called you out of the blue. Do you have another 20 minutes to go through all of this now or should we put some time on the calendar to get together?”

Key Takeaways

• Your ultimate goal is to sell your product. Your immediate goal is to get the prospect to move to the next step in your sales process.

• You will improve your results by staying focused on the immediate goal

• You will need to map out your ideal process to know what your immediate goals are

• Identify what your initial contact, first call and first meetings look like for your business

SalesScripter

www.salesscripter.com

What do you sell? ___________

How does it help? ___________

What problems do you fix? ___________

What questions should you ask? ___________

1. Asks all the key questions 2. Maps answers to document library

If You Want More Help• The Cold Calling Equation – Problem Solved

– Available on Amazon - $15.95

• Web-based training program– Week 1: Ideal Sales Process and Communicating Value– Week 2: Finding Prospect Pain– Week 3: Ideal Prospect and Qualifying– Week 4: Dealing with Objections and Getting Around the Gatekeeper– Week 5: Building Rapport, Interest, and Credibility– Week 6: Generating Leads and SalesScripter Overview– Week 7: Improving the Connect Rate– Week 8: Inner Game– Week 9: Managing Prospecting Meetings and Managing Sales Cycles– Week 10: Improving the Close Rate and Disqualifying

• SalesScripter– www.salesscripter.com – Walk-through services available

• SalesScripter Demonstration – Every Thursday

www.salesscripter.com | info@salesscripter.com | 713-802-2026