Hiring "A" players is not a repeatable or scalable solution for growing your business because there simply isn't enough "A" players in the market place. Even if you could load up on talented "A" players, they still need a proven path to follow. What you need is a sales process. A sales process can scale as your organization grows and it will support all sellers, regardless of talent level to predictable success. In fact, a study conducted by Vantage Point Performance and the Sales Management Association found that B2B companies who had defined a formal sales process experienced 18% more revenue growth compared to companies that didn’t. But the benefits of a sales process go far beyond your bottom line, many of which I will touch in this post, your guide to understanding sales process.
A best in class sales process will help you win more deals. It will also help you win bigger deals faster and more frequently. One key to an effective sales process is designing it in such a way that is keeps sales reps in sync with the buyer throughout the buyer journey including their purchasing process. Not only does this ensure sales reps keep the buyer's needs front and center across all touch points of the sales cycle but this is also what enables sales people to create a memorable and valuable customer experience. These elements tied together drive adoption of your sales process. After all, your reps will quickly know whether or not your sales process is grounded in reality or if it is nothing more than marketing jargon simply relying on a numbers game.
Learn our proven 7 step methodology for turning cold calls into hot leads.
Rolling out a new sales process is not easy. It takes a lot of planning, research, communication and flat out hard work. But it is a really important task because the payoff-when done properly-is significant. A study conducted by CSO Insights showed that companies with a dynamic sales process won 53% of their forecasted deals compared to 43% who do things “ad hoc.” All other things being equal, rigorous sales process management yields 10% more output from a sales force. No too shabby!