Sales POP - Purveyors of Propserity
4 Ways to an Accurate Sales Process
Blog / Sales Management / Oct 14, 2013 / Posted by Nikolaus Kimla / 6811

4 Ways to an Accurate Sales Process

Managing Accurate Sales ProcessIf you look back through business history, the evolution of the sales process was an attempt to adapt the methodologies of manufacturing or computing to sales. Essentially you have certain inputs that go through a specific process; given the same inputs and the same process you should end up with the same results every time.

While that was certainly a bright idea on someone’s part, there are some key differences between a sales process and a manufacturing or computing process. First, “inputs” (leads) going into the sales process are going to have variables that computing or manufacturing inputs would not. Second—and most importantly—a manufacturing process is done with precisely performing machinery, and a computing process is performed with mathematical exactitude every single time. A sales process, however, includes the human factor and the infinite variations therein.

Fortunately there are ways to overcome these variations and fine-tune an accurate sales process so that it is at once a methodology, a set of performance benchmarks and a group of metrics for predicting future sales.

#1: An Established Sales Process

It might seem redundant or silly to start off with “you need a reliable and accurate sales process” but it actually isn’t.

This is the part that is too often skimped upon; a sales process is often “decided” and implemented before really digging in and doing the research necessary to make it all it should be.

The best way to start the evolution is to meet with your best closers, your top sales reps, and get them to describe every single action taken from lead to close. Use those actions to establish your initial sales process. Then test that process in the real world—see if all the other salespeople can follow it, and if it results in viable sales.

Once it has been proven, do not inscribe it in stone and make it unchangeable. The business environment is dynamic and if there’s one thing you can always count on is change. Make sure the sales process is reformulated whenever it is seen to be outmoded or not as effective due to changes in the market or business climate.

#2: Don’t Skimp on Sales Process Training

It isn’t enough just to email the new sales process to the sales force and say, “Now we’re doing this.” Sales reps—especially the less experienced ones—are bound to interpret the various stages of the sales process in any number of ways, not all of them correct.

Hold a seminar off peak business hours, or have a group educational meeting on a Saturday. Get everyone together, whether it be physically or online. Go through every step of the sales process and make sure they understand it. Actually drill each step of the process so it can be readily seen that salespeople are applying it. Invite questions about the sales process from reps (they might be afraid to ask for fear of appearing “stupid” or some such) and get them all completely answered.

#3: Be Able to Measure Results

A good part of the reason you want an accurate sales process is so you can actually view and measure the progress of sales as they go along, and monitor sales rep performance. Without a sales process, the only real measure of success you have is the total number of sales closed and the total dollar figures. By the time those calculations are made it is actually too late—and the view of sales is far too broad—to make effective changes in salesperson behavior or approach.

Once a sales process has been established, you need to measure the results of each step of the sales process for each sales rep and collectively. How is that best done? By monitoring buyer action. If a particular sales process step is completed, the buyer should be moving forward to the next stage. Establish and implement ways to measure that forward movement and you will be able to predict and enact more precise control of your sales pipeline.

#4: Pull It All Together in the CRM Solution

Today’s leading-edge CRM solutions make your sales process completely visible, measurable and usable. Because CRM is laid out as an exact reflection of your sales process, sales reps can easily follow it and use it to control and predict their sales pipelines. Metrics for each sales process stage can be easily established, and clearly indicate which sales are taking too long at various stages, which are moving along well, which reps are performing and who needs help. Today’s CRM solutions are also flexible and can be altered or changed as the sales process changes.

The dynamic nature and necessity of the sales process means that traditional CRM applications—which were complex, did not follow the sales process and were difficult to change—are out. A company cannot truly implement and follow a sales process unless the CRM solution chosen can be that sales process and can be easily adjusted for change made in the process as a result of a dynamic and progressive business environment.

So while an accurate sales process may not be as exact as a computing or manufacturing process, by following these guidelines it can be made to be a highly accurate method of controlling, measuring and predicting sales.

See our other articles on sales process measure and control.

About Author

CEO and partner of pipelinersales.com and the uptime ITechnologies, which I founded in 1994 and has since played a significant role in the development of the IT-environment. pipeliner is the most innovative sales CRM management solution on the market. Pipeliner was designed by sales professionals for sales professionals and helps close the gap between the requirements of C-level executives for transparency and the day-to-day operational needs of field and inside sales. I am also the founder and Initiator of the independent economic platform GO-AHEAD!, which orientates itself on the principles of a free marketplace in terms of liberal and social responsibility. Connecting people, the trust of business leadership in terms of values such as freedom, self-responsibility, and entrepreneurial spirit, and strengthening their awareness in order to create a dynamic boost within the economy triggered through spontaneity, all stand for the initial ideas surrounding GO-AHEAD! I studied in Los Angeles and Vienna and received my Masters's Degree in 1994. I am married and have 3 children My Specialties are in: Sales Management, Sales CRM Software, CRM Cloud Solutions, SAAS, Business Strategy, Software Development, "Pipeline Management", Social responsibility, outbound sales, b2b sales, inside sales, sales strategy, lead generation, sales process, entrepreneurship, coaching, mentoring, speaker, opportunity management, lead management, Austrian School of Economics

Author's Publications on Amazon

This is a practical manual covering the vital subject of Sales Management. I firmly believe that sales are the most important profession for dealing with today’s turbulent world and Econo my, for salespeople create wealth and produce peace. But salespeople need a competent, stable leader—and…
Buy on Amazon
Inside this eBook, you’ll discover a series of chapters dedicated to some of the most important areas facing sales today. From the sales process definition to measurement, lead generation, and proven sales techniques, this comprehensive eBook will provide you with the information you need to…
Buy on Amazon
A common term in sales today is EQ, which stands for “emotional I.Q.” It means the skill a salesperson has in reading emotions and utilizing them in sales. It means empathy and a number of other abilities. The short version is, it’s an I.Q. when…
Buy on Amazon
People are smart to question the future of automation, for it has become part of everything we do. With the quantity of applications and technology around us, we yet still crave more. We become convinced of its power when our package is delivered from Amazon…
Buy on Amazon
Sales management isn’t a simple subject by any means. But at the same time, it does have some basic and somewhat simple fundamentals—and that is what we are bringing to you with this book. First come pain points of sales management, and how to overcome…
Buy on Amazon
Today the Internet has transformed a seller's market into a buyer's market and author Nikolaus Kimla states that the role of sales has never been more crucial. It is now time to give salespeople the role they factually can play: entrepreneurs within the enterprise. They…
Buy on Amazon
This is our public declaration of the intentions behind Pipeliner, and our objectives and motives for the product and for our company. Behind the development of that CRM application and, in fact, behind everything we do, we have a real cause. The story begins with…
Buy on Amazon
For the future, there must be a perfect balance of humans and technology. You have to have the perfect technology, andthen the perfect human being in application, performance and presentation. Today and into the future, it’s a 50-50 balance. In the past it was perhaps…
Buy on Amazon
The salespreneur is based on the concept of the entrepreneur. Before we can explain the salespreneur, you have to have some understanding of the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur plays a crucial role in any economic system. The entrepreneur seeks out information that can be utilized for…
Buy on Amazon
A seasoned captain would never leave port without a competent navigator. In a similar way, a sales manager might be a total ace at "commanding the ship" – at inspiring and coaching sales reps, pointing out and getting agreement on making quotas, and keeping everyone's…
Buy on Amazon
..
..
..
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. For information on cookies and how you can disable them, visit our privacy and cookie policy.