Don’t Over Engineer Your Sales Process

Is your sales processed QDSNC’d?  Don’t worry, its a lot simpler than it sounds.

When you are creating a sales process for your inside sales team many people make a few standard mistakes that we see over and over. Here are some tips for creating the right sales process.

Proper Stage Naming

• Demo, Proposal, etc, are not stage names. They are activities within a particular part of a stage.
• Stage names are holistic in sound but easy to comprehend.
• Each stage must have Exit Criteria.
• Exit Criteria is the minimum amount of information confirmed, activities conducted, or process understanding confirmed.
• Sales Processes are not as linear as the CRM tries to make them.
• Review your sales process every 6 months.

Here is the sales process we recommend. With some specific milestones and exit criteria from one stage to the next.

Introducing the best sales process, QDSNC.

• Stage 1 – Qualifying
  • ICP Requirements –
    • Ideal Company Profile
      • Right company, in right vertical with right metrics
    • Ideal Customer Profile
      • Title, Access to Authority
  • Pain Level 1 –
    • Have expressed that a Use Case they feel is something you solve for.
    • Interested in a trial
• Stage 2 – Discovering
  • Confirming Pain
    • Identify Economic Impact of not solving the need
    • Case Studies
    • Demos
    • Successful trial criteria discussed
      • Trial begins
    • Competition discussed
    • Decision Making Criteria confirmed
      • Who will say yes
      • Who will actually sign
      • Who can say no
    • Confirmed all those influenced by the decision
• Stage 3 – Selection
  • You have been shortlisted
  • Trial underway
  • Decision Making Process Confirmed
  • Legal Process discussion has begun
• Stage 4 – Negotiations
  • Competitors neutralized
  • Commercial Terms discussed and agreed upon
  • Barriers for commercials have been identified
• Stage 5 – Contracting
  • Contracting Timeline Confirmed (When will you get it back)
  • Proposal out with confirmed next steps
  • Closed Won/ Lost

Things to be aware of:

1. Some things will not follow the exact order as shown
2. Define your specific exit criteria for your business.
3. If exit criteria is not met, you cannot advance to next stage
4. Take copious notes on the process as much as you do the deal.
5. Remember, activities in a stage are not stage names

Now that you see this, what’s missing? What did we overlook?

Want help designing your process? Contact us here.