It’s a yes or no question, but many owners find it difficult to answer this question. “Yes, but it isn’t written” or “No, but our salespeople are so great, we don’t need one.” Having a sales process in place makes it much easier for sales managers and salespeople to work effectively.
Selling is a complex process, with virtually endless permutations at every step. It does not necessarily follow a neat trajectory from start to finish. In light of this, it is necessary to have a process in place that accounts for this complexity, but also simplifies where possible. The sales process aligns individual salesperson KPIs to overall business objectives. Without direction, these metrics are not necessarily aligned. In addition to providing organization and clarity on the individual level, it also organizes on the organizational level. The sales process allows people to convey to one another where they are at, and allows everyone to see the big picture–where the sales leads are headed.
The sales funnel is a visual representation of where different prospects are in the sales process, from the broadest function (before the first contact) to the follow-up stage. So if you have no sales process, you have no sales funnel. If you don’t have a sales funnel, then you have a sales sieve.
If you’re interested in taking a detailed look at your sales process within the context of an overall business coaching system, give us a call!
