The Perfect Sales Process?

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  bitfarmer01/09/08 Report as spam
  1

  Buying Process

  The individual stages within this buying process make sense, yet from my experience the order/sequence is not static.
  
  The sequence outlined works when the sales person already has a longer term relationship with buyers within the prospect organization.
  
  In most new client scenerios, the prospect has researched the product category and may have a budget, so stage 3 is completed before stage 2 and stage 1. Depending upon the level of prospect doing the research work, stage 2 may even be completed, or at least shortlisted prior to stage 1 when the sales person has the opportunity to engage the buyer.
  
  Overall, this does provide a good framework for sales and marketing to create materials and Q&A dialog around answers to each of these questions which playing up the differences and benefits of their specific offering.

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  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine01/10/08 Report as spam
  2

  Order of decisions

  I agree that the decision-making often goes out of sequence. However, if the decisions aren't made in sequence, the sale becomes more difficult. For example, the fact that your customers have already done their product research puts the deal into competitive play. It would be better -- in the sense that you'd close faster and with less hassle -- if you could figure out a way to get into their account and establish credibility prior to that process.

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  startup sales mentor06/25/08 Report as spam
  3

  RE: The Perfect Sales Process?

  Simple yet so hard to explain. Everyday I find myself evangelizing the concept of aligning to the buying process. For some reason people liken this to the purchasing process.
  
  In my opinion and what I share with others is that aligning with a buying process is similar in every circumstance.
  
  1. Determine if there is a difference your offering makes.
  2. Determine if you want the prospect as a customer.
  3. Determine what is important to them, i.e. their perspective.
  4. Learn their timeline and what is controlling it.
  5. Show them a better way to achieve their business objectives.
  
  The intangible in all of this is trust. If you get someone to like you, then like what you have to say (usually it is because they have done most of the critical talking), what comes next s trust. Trust is the start of something beautiful.
  
  http://salesblog.karlgoldfield.com

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  Ian Brodie04/21/09 Report as spam
  4

  RE: The Perfect Sales Process?

  Geoffrey -
  
  While I fully agree with the need to align your sales process with your clients buying process - the specific process Sparks & Murray outline is not one that works well for a lot of my clients.
  
  The process outlined seems more like on geared to regular purchases - for example stationary or travel or mechanical supplies. You establish a relationship with a good inddividual & firm first, then look at specific product requirements.
  
  But very many times the process isn't like that at all. The buying process is triggered by an event - awareness of a problem or need, dissatisfaction with an incumbent supplier, etc.
  
  In those cases the buyer looks to firm up their own ideas about what they need first - they they go looking for solutions. And usually they look for the solution first - not the salesperson or firm that provides it.
  
  You make a good point when you say it would be better to get into the account and establish credibility first. But that's not linked to the buying process in this case. The client isn't thinking "do I want to do business with this professional?" If you try to work on this question you'll put them off by focusing to early on doing business.
  
  At this early stage, the client is really thinking "Do I want to keep listening/talking to this person?". The keep to building credibility is to answer this question by adding value to the potential client.
  
  It's only later when a real need emerges that you should focus on the "do I want to do business with them?" question.
  
  Ian
  http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk

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  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine04/21/09 Report as spam
  5

  RE: The Perfect Sales Process?

  Ian,
  You make an interesting point. There's a tendency to cram every sales opportunity into one model. I do think that if you're more focused on customer buying patterns you'll come up with a more flexible process than if you focus on the way you'd like to sell, which is how most sales processes are defined.

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  Ian Brodie10/24/09 Report as spam
  6

  RE: The Perfect Sales Process?

  An update on my comment on this: having now read the action selling books I can see how the model fits into some of the sales scenarios I see a bit better than I'd originally thought.
  
  On an individual sales call for example, the potential buyer has to see the salesperson as worth listening to before they'll open up and talk about their needs.
  
  The books have an unfortunate habit of saying that all sales go through exactly these 7 steps in exactly that order. The world's not that simple. But having read more, I do think it's a better and more flexible model than I thought.
  
  Ian
  

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  Financeservices@...11/20/09 Report as spam
  7

  RE: The Perfect Sales Process?

  Can anyone outline a good sales process for selling financial products ie life assurance etc