Sales Process Defined

by Sam Parker (sales expert and bestselling author)

Sales is rocket science.

And just as rocket science has its foundation in physical and mathematical laws and principles, sales too can be distilled into its basic fundamentals.

While branded selling systems and approaches serve several purposes (helping differentiate sales books and training material to sell them better or articulating ideas to make them easier to learn or implement), the simple fundamentals underlying all of them remain relatively unchanged.

Here’s the bottom line for your records … fluff removed.

Depending on what you sell, parts of the process may not be needed and some parts might need repeating.

Use it as a guide for your team’s in-house sales development or for your personal sales skill development (you do work on your most valuable asset, don’t you?). Focus on practicing and perfecting one area each week or month. Print it out and send it out (get a printable version here). Build from it. Be more valuable.

The Sales Process

Assuming you’ve identified the features and benefits of your product/ service … and you’ve identified and defined your target market … the sales process begins…

Prospect
Interview
Analyze needs
Present
Negotiate
Close
Service

No fluff. No clichés. No jargon.

Just the 8 fundamentals to being more valuable to your prospects, customers, and company.

Throughout the sales process, the salesperson should be continually…

Enthusiastic
Positively expectant
Asking questions
Listening
Qualifying the opportunity (for both parties)
Discovering needs and wants (what’s in it for them)
Building rapport
Establishing trust

Developing credibility
Developing a valuable relationship
Addressing objections
Planning next action steps
Confirming understanding (for both parties)
Asking for referrals
Seeking additional opportunities to serve and sell
Evaluating responses and results (positive/ negative)
Affirming decisions (minimizing buyer’s remorse)

Now go sell something.

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