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The process of selling and how people buy
Putting a framework together for the steps we will go through in selling -all about process!
In this section we will be exploring issues relating to steps in the sales and buying process.
I’ve started off with a fairly generic sales process which I am hoping will be sufficient to hang things on. The basic steps in the process are:
- Territory planning (who are we going to target our activities at)
- Propostion development (how do we pitch the value of our product/service to our potential customers)
- Prospecting and lead generation (finding the people to talk to)
- First meetings
- Understanding need
- Qualification (how likely are they to buy?)
- Demonstrating value (why is it worth them making an investment in our product/service)
- Proposal
- Negotiation
- Closing (getting the ink on the paper, everything agreed)
I recognise that there are numerous variants on this and it isn’t suitable for all sectors/products/services and it will vary according to complexity of the proposition etc. I’m happy to engage in debate in this area – in fact, I would positively welcome input as to the sales process you use in your business. The more information you can provide about your proposition and the market you operate in would be really useful.
A couple of other points I’ll raise before someone else does – qualification isn’t just a one off process, it is something that happens (or should happen) throughout the sales process. Similarly one could make the case that negotiation is a process as well as an event and that we are effectively negotiating right from the early stages in the sales process.
We will get into seeing things from the buyers perspective a bit later.
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Good basic foundation for a sales process.
From my experience, both personally and working with clients, one of the most challenging steps in the process is developing your proposition.
Most of us take it too literally and think our proposition needs to be about the stuff we sell whether that stuff is a product or service.
So we do our homework and come up with a list of people to contact. Then when we contact them our proposition turns them off.
It takes a lot of trial and error before you “get it”. Your proposition should NOT be about your stuff. No one cares about your stuff.
It even sounds bad to you when you try to pitch stuff to the people you contact. You feel awkward and uncomfortable as you should.
Unfortunately, many people NEVER “get it” so they come off sounding like an ordinary sales person and get treated that way.
When you “get it” you understand your proposition has to be about what you already know that potential buyers is already looking to buy.
Your potential buyers are never looking to buy stuff they are always looking to buy solutions and outcomes.
[...] improve your prospecting efforts and follow even a basic sales process like the one described on SmallBizPod you start getting clients. The more clients you get the less time you have to prospect. [...]