In one of the previous posts, I talked about the best sales process for your business. You can adjust that six main steps according to your needs. But, what are the most critical steps in your sales process? What’re the most critical steps that can drastically increase the possibilities of your success?
First, we need to know what means the success of your sales process?
Generally, sales processes will not differ from the process features defined through process theories. It will also have inputs and outputs. One of the inputs will be potential customers with whom you are starting your process through first contacts. The output or the results from this process will be your customers, persons who are making an order, or pay you for your products and services.
The success of your sales process will be measured as a rate of successful sales from the number of potential customers with whom you have started the process. For example, if you have contacted ten potential customers and later it resulted in sales of five of them, the success rate of your sales process will be 0.5. It is five customers/10 potential customers contacted. If you improve your sales process that will bring eight customers, the success rate will be 0.8.
Most Important Steps in Your Sales Process
Focusing on the essential steps in your sales process can drastically improve your conversion rate. I want to point out that all steps are essential, but I will mention some of them according to my experience working with clients who bring the biggest and quickest results.
1. Gain knowledge about your customers
This is one of the most critical steps in your sales process. Why? Because if you better know your prospect or potential customer, you will better prepare the next steps of your process. You need to listen to your customers to know their needs, desires, wants, and habits to properly qualify your leads and learn how to present real value for them. If you succeed in this, you will increase the probability of success for all other steps in the process.
2. Starting the sales process engines
The next important step is starting your sales process engine, which means contacting your potential customers. This is a crucial step because it is the first contact with someone who can become your customer. What impression will you give them, and how much interest in your offer will they have? Answers to these questions can dramatically affect the following steps and the success rates of those steps.
For example, if you contact them through email, how many of them will open your email will depend on your email’s subject line. How many customers will respond to your email after they open the email? This will depend on the content or offer you send them with this email. So, use the knowledge gained in the previous step, and create offers they cannot resist.
3. Build trust
This is not an unusual step in the process, but all steps will need to include thinking about trust. How can you build trust in your customers? Starting from the first contact, closing the sale, and subsequent sales with a customer, you will need to build and increase trust. If your potential customers and customers trust you, you will increase the success rate of your sales funnel.
