Creating Your Sales Process

Creating your sales process can be easy. This page will help you think about how your sales process aligns with your customer’s buying process.

Is Creating a Sales Process Hard?

Creating a sales process might be one of the most important projects you work on for your business. You might be thinking, “I don’t need a sales process?” Oh, boy you do!

Because if you think you don’t need a sales process, you’ve already identified a terrific place to start. Map out a sales process! Yay, sounds like fun, right?

Ok. Maybe not fun. But will you give me worthwhile? Because it is.

Creating a Sales Process in Seven Steps

Begin by thinking about the last successful new customer you landed. And if you don’t have any customers yet, imagine what you think it will take to identify and acquire a new customer in your market.

Step One

How did this customer become aware of you?

Step Two in Creating a Sales Process

What was the first interaction this customer had with your company? Did they fill out a form? Download a free PDF? Stop by at a Tradeshow? Or maybe a referral from another customer?

Step Three

What was the next action step the prospect took? Did they ask questions? What were those questions, and are the commonalities you might uncover?

Step Four

Did they make a purchase? Why, or why not? The answers to both of these questions are important and provide valuable insights for you.

Step Five in Creating a Sales Process

How many interactions were there from the prospect becoming aware that you were a solution to their problem, and them either buying or not buying? (This is your sales cycle - a later discussion)

Step Six

Put all of this information together, and look for points where prospects fall out of the process. Doing this will help you think about creating tactics to help people stay engaged at different points in the process.

Step Seven

This final step in creating a sales process might be the most critical. Make it easy for your new customer to being an advocate for your business. Do this as soon as you can. Customer relationships, like relationships, have honeymoon periods. So get as much as you can!

How are Creating a Sales Process and Understanding a Buyer’s Process Different?

A question I get a lot from new sales reps is, “How do I know my prospect's buying process.” It’s a good question. And when a new rep asks me that, I have confidence they are going to do well in selling. What I mean is, it shows they have empathy.

To find out a prospect’s buying process, you might ask: “The last time you purchased this product, what was the process you went through? And what might you change about the process if you could?”

The first part of that question shows empathy and humility. And the second demonstrates that you seek to help them find a better experience.

After you know the prospect's process, describe yours and engineer agreement about the next steps. Especially as they relate to your sales process.

See, if you didn’t know about creating your sales process, you’d miss an opportunity!

In Conclusion

Creating your sales process might take some time. And it’s never a one-and-done situation. Keep studying it, asking questions, and always striving to make it better and more focused on the customer’s needs.

Learning about creating your sales process is critical for any business. And there are lots of good ways to do it.  if you are new to selling or just want to improve your skills, you’re in the right place and I’m grateful you’re here. 

There are blog posts below, and always more coming,  to help you learn more. 

And, as always, I recommend a book: “Mastering Your Sales Process” by John Masover. It’s a book filled with good ideas about how a process can help sales reps.

If you’d like a free pdf that I put together about how to make your customers and prospects feel special, fill out the form below. Or, if you’d like to schedule a time to discuss something you’re working on, email me at Joel@makemarketingeasy.com.

Good luck and good marketing and selling!