SALES

Definition The sales cycle is the sequence of phases that a typical customer goes through when deciding to buy something. As a rule, the sales cycle is described from the customer's perspective. The first phase of the sales cycle may be either the customer's perception of a product, or a perception of a need that the product might satisfy. The following steps include research and evaluation; the last step is the customer's decision to purchase the product.

1. Prospect for Leads You can't prospect effectively without knowing all about your product(s). If you don't understand the product, how could you know who will want to buy it? 2. Set an Appointment It's time to use those leads you collected in stage 1. Many salespeople prefer to cold call over the phone, but you can also call in person, send email or even mail out sales letters. 3. Qualify the Prospect The qualification stage usually takes place at the appointment itself, although you can also qualify briefly during your initial

contact. The idea is to confirm that your prospect is both able and potentially willing to buy your product. 4. Make Your Presentation The presentation is the core of every sales cycle, and it's probably where you'll invest the most preparation time. Keep in mind that you're not just selling your product... you are also selling yourself! You represent your company, so appearance counts. 5. Address the Prospect's Objections Here's where you get to deal with your prospect's concerns. The one you'll hear most often? I have to think about it. 6. Close the Sale Once you've made your presentation and answered your prospect's questions and objections, it's time to ask for the sale. This is the second-most neglected stage of the sales cycle... which is especially sad given that it's probably the most critical one. 7. Ask for Referrals This is hands down the most commonly neglected step. Too many salespeople are so relieved to get a sale that they grab their things and race out the door the second they get the chance, for fear the prospect will change their mind!

Sales Cycle Steps Of all the critical sales cycle steps, understanding the customer and establishing relationships is often missed by salespeople. The importance of this first step in the sales process flowchart cannot be stressed enough. Take the time to build effective relationships with your customer. This doesnt mean spending weeks and months wining and dining a client. What it means is for you to start setting yourself apart from your competition by taking time to understand their needs and objectives. This will be the foundation of your relationship. Building an effective relationship with your customer is the first step in positioning yourself as a consultant, rather than a salesperson. Ultimately at the end of all the sales cycle steps, you want to be viewed as someone who can solve their business issues. By building a strong relationship with the client you are setting the stage for a long term repeat customer. Lets face it, the customer is willing to meet with you for a reason. They have an underlying business challenge they need help with. It is imperative for you to understand what these challenges are. Later in the sales cycle steps you will be connecting the features of your solution to these needs. If you dont find them out up front, you will not have success selling to your client. Through demand generation and prospecting activities, the foundation of your relationship will be established. Remember

the focus is on their business and not your solution at this stage. Too many salespeople make the mistake of selling too early and sounding like every other ineffective salesperson in the marketplace. Adhere to the sales cycle steps and let the process help drive the deal. Top earning salespeople take time to understand a variety of aspects of the customers business. The good thing is you dont have to get too deep. A little bit of knowledge can go a long way in the eyes of a customer. Spend some time considering things such as the industry the customer competes. Who are the clients customers? Who are the customers competitors? Is your customer in a growth or cost containment mode? What is their business direction? And so on. There are lots of places to find information that will help you show the client you are interested in their business. The internet, local newspapers, magazines and other periodicals have proven to be great information sources. Dont forget the customer may have their own website and annual report. These resources are gold for salespeople who go the extra mile to set themselves apart.

Lets face it, ultimately you are interested in the sale. Thats why you are engaged. Just take the time to show you possess some knowledge of their business. Youll be pleasantly surprised how far it takes you. It doesnt matter if you are selling a pair of jeans or the core technology for a nuclear reactor. The sales process does not vary. The length and depth of each step may vary by industry, but the sales cycle steps do not. To differentiate yourself you need to get beyond the stigma of being just another salesperson. By adhering to the sales cycle steps and focusing on the needs of the client, you are working your way toward a consultative sell. If you have done the up front work properly the next steps will flow naturally. Often the customer will arrive at your solution

without you having to close the deal. This is how the Sales Pros do it. This is how you need to do it in order to make big dollars in sales. Continue your quest for knowledge and absorb all you can. You will become a top sales performer before you know it. Remember to arm that attitude with process and knowledge. There is no telling how far you can go! A sales process, also known as a sales tunnel or a sales funnel, is a systematic approach to selling a product or service. A growing body of published literature approaches the sales process from the point of view of an engineering discipline (see sales process engineering). Reasons for having a well thought-out sales process include seller and buyer risk management, standardized customer interaction in sales, and scalable revenue generation. A major advantage of approaching the subject of sales from a "process point of view" is that it offers a host of well-tested design and improvement tools from other successful disciplines and process-oriented industries. In turn, this offers potential for quicker progress. Quality expert Joseph Juran observed, "There should be no reason our familiar principles of quality and process engineering would not work in the sales process". A sales team's fundamental job is to move a greater number of larger deals through the sales process in less time. Steps : 1. Prospecting/Initial contact 2. Preapproach- planning the sale

3. Approach 4. Need assessment 5. Presentation 6. Meeting objections 7. Gaining commitment 8. Follow-up

These eight steps of the sales process is more current/accurate compared to traditional sales. These are the typical steps taken, which are usually obtained in the same order, however can vary depending on the current situation. These steps of the sales process are given and explained in one of the most influential sales textbooks written by Gregory A. Rich, Rosann L. Spiro, and William J Stanton, entitled "Management of a Sales Force" Twelfth Edition. Mapping a process provides a starting point for further careful analysis and continuous improvement. Diagramming a process flow is considered to be one of the seven basic quality improvement tools.Elements in the list above (among many others) have been described and/or flow-charted in the published literature. Some examples have primarily focused on functions performed by a sales "department".At least one cross-functional approach depicts and integrates a variety of interdependent areas, such as sales, marketing, customer service, and information systems. From a seller's point of view, a sales process mitigates risk by stage-gating deals based on collection of information or execution of procedures that gate movement to the next step - Of

the large number of initially interested persons on the narrow end of orders only a fraction of the initially interested people remain and actually place an order.This controls seller resource expenditure on non-performing deals. Ideally this also prevents buyers from purchasing products they don't need though such a benefit requires ethical intentions by the seller. Because of the uncertainty of this assurance, buyers often have a buying or purchasing process. The interface between the selling and buying process has also been diagrammed. A formalized sales process is generally more common for companies that either have complex sales cycles, large revenue risks that require systematic assurance of revenue generation, and/or those that choose to use a more consultative sales approach (e.g. Saturn, IBM, Hewlett-Packard). An effective sales process can be described through steps that walk a salesperson from meeting the prospect all the way through closing the sale. Often a bad sales experience can be analyzed and shown to have skipped key steps. This is where a good sales process mitigates risk for both buyer and seller. A solid sales process also has the dramatic impact of forecasting accuracy and predictability in revenue results. Many companies develop their own sales process; however, off the shelf versions are available from a number of companies in the sales performance improvement industry. A large number of these methods have been described by their promoters in books available to the public, primarily addressing tactics employed by an individual sales representative. These provide a customizable process and a set of electronic tools that can be freestanding or

can be integrated if required with the company's SFA, CRM, or other opportunity management system.

Purchase
Definition: Buying Process A standard process that corporations and individuals progress through (in order) when purchasing a product or service. Also known as the 'Buying Cycle' or 'Purchase Process'.

The Purchase Process: This process typically consists of 5 major steps: 1. Need/Problem Recognition or Identification This is the initial stage where an individual comes to the realization that she has a problem (or opportunity). It is only once an individual recognizes a problem that she can start looking for a solution. This stage cannot be skipped,

and is always the first stage of the process. Eg. I need to hang a picture on my office wall. 2. Information Gathering/Determination of Alternatives This is the 2nd stage of the purchase process where an individual now begins to look for solutions to their problems or to the opportunities that they've identified. There are often more ways than one to achieve the given objective. eg. I can: a. merely drill a screw into the wall b. drill a hole and insert a plug for more stability c. use a laser to create a hole and insert a plug d. use an adhesive tape of some sort, and merely stick it to the wall e. do nothing Role of the Internet in Stage 2: In terms of the internet, it dramatically improves an individuals ability to find alternatives and information about most of those alternatives. Perform a search for "hang a picture"and you'll be presented with at least 146,000 results. 3. Assessment of Alternatives/Alleviation of Risk The 3rd phase of the process is the Assessment of Alternatives with an eye to reduce risk, and maximize the probability the objective set forth is satisfied. The more complex and costly the possible solutions, the more questions that have to be asked and answered. Each

alternative is assessed in turn. eg. a. what is the likelihood that a single screw in the wall will hold the picture? b. what is the cost of replacing the picture if the screw does not hold? c. do I already have a drill? d. can I borrow a drill? e. do a have a wall plug? f. how much does a wall plug cost? g. how far will I have to drive to get the wall plug? h. how much time will it take to drive to buy a wall plug? i. what is the likelihood the wall plug won't hold the picture? j. how much is a wall drilling laser? k. do I have a wall drilling laser or can I borrow one? l. will a wall drilling laser cause the wood stud in the wall to catch fire, and what is the probability of my office burning? Role of the Internet in Stage 3: In terms of internet marketing, potential purchasers will look for recognized brands online, or anything within a website that suggests stability and credibility such as:

a. crests b. partnerships with recognized brands c. awards d. consumer feedback and opinion e. site quality

4. Purchase The 4th phase of the buying process is in making the actual purchase. Now that the individual has decided what alternative they will go with because it offers the best perceived combination of goal achievement and minimization of risk they purchase. 5. Post Purchase Evaluation This is the last phase of the Buying Cycle and once again it involves the individual asking themselves a series of questions, but this time the questions are designed to help the individual learn from his/her mistakes. eg.

a. did the purchase accomplish its objective? b. were any of the risks realized? Ultimately, an individuals satisfaction with a purchase, and their likelihood of becoming a brand advocate, will be based on the perceived results relative to expectations. Did the purchase exceed their expectations, merely meet their expectations, or fall beneath expectations? If it exceeded expectations, you've got a brand advocate. If merely met, the individual is likely brand neutral. If the purchase falls below expectations, then you'll likely have a 'brand basher', spreading news of their negative experience in as many places as possible. Role of the Internet in Stage 5: Once again, the internet plays a tremendous role in spreading both the brand advocate and brand basher messages. Blogging and micro-blogging (eg. Twitter) make it possible for people to share their experiences with hundreds (even thousands) of others with minimal effort. At the same time, these post purchase opinions often remain online indefinitely, leading to a sudden rise in the need for 'online reputation management' services. This of course means that a firm's 'brand message' is no longer carried by the firm its now carried and diseminated by their clients. So its entirely up to a company what message clients carry forward about their brand all they have to do is manage client expectations, so that they can be exceeded!

The 10 Steps in Purchasing

1. Recognition of Need

2. Specify Need

6. Deliver Purchase Order

5. Prepare Purchase Order

4. Establish Price & Terms

3. Determine Sourcing Options

7. Expediting

8. Receive & Inspect

9. Approval & Payment

10. Maintain Records