I guess the big question is why have a sales process at all? followed by what is and what is not a sales process (there has been an interminable and largely uninformed debate on Linked In “What is the most important step in the Sales Process?”).

As a sales manager it seems to me that the sales process is critical in optimising the results you get, because it provides a measurable roadmap of what your future performance is likely to be, all other things remaining equal. If you know your sales cycle and the steps that you take through that cycle you can predict what and when you will close and where you need to sharpen your act to ensure you can meet targets.

In terms of all other things remaining equal the years 2007 – 2010 have shown that they aren’t equal. However the companies that had a good, robust sales process were able to spot early on that something was changing and take action based on the data filtering through the process.

Mostly what was happening, and what could be seen through the sales process was delayed closing with insufficient new prospects to counter that. And, since often  this was caused by salespeople not following all the steps of the process it was possible – although not easy – to unravel that, remind/requalify the prospects, step back  and pick up the sale at the appropriate point in the process. Companies with a robust sales process could and did do that and saw a positive result.More Importantly they were  able to diagnose the issue and step up activity to fill the pipeline, and determine if they had the right people in the right places to make that happen.

We all chant the mantra that marketing spend should increase in recession. How do you argue with the bean counters without the numbers a strong, well communicated and well understood process provides ?

Companies without a robust process,those who survived despite this lack, will have reached the same conclusions – eventually. But, there is a cost in lost opportunity and market share.

Process is a management piece, but, it needs to be applied, and enforced for the common good – I have, in the past, made earnings dependent on the process being followed.

And it doesn’t have to be complicated. The system we use is a 4 step (it could be 6) framework which is common across all industry sectors. Each of the steps consists of  a set of elements that have to be present for a step to be closed. It is here that we map the buyers buying process and develop, internally,  a culture of constant qualification. So, for instance, we ask the questions “What is the budget ?”, “what is the timescale ?” and “Who will make this decision ?” at least once at each step. We tick other boxes as well, and it is mainly this that is variable for industry/sector.

What is absolutely not sales process is win trust, establish rapport, always be closing and the million other things that come up. They are competencies and skills; not process.

Sales process is a tool by which sales people and managers manage the predictability and efficacy of their potential business. And if every person in your sales organisation is not totally immersed in that process, if they are not using the common language of your process in any internal discussion of their clients and prospect you have a management issue to resolve. Oh and just like having weak elastic, you find your trousers road your ankles.

But, if you make changes today to push sales this month/quarter then you are creating a situation in which you shorten the sales cycle and create problems which ensure you will be in the same position again unless you increase the velocity into the pipeline at the beginning of the process. And, how then, do you then balance the equation that filling the pipeline is an activity performed by the same people who you are expecting to speed up the closing rate by repositioning proposals and closing with the impending event.
The influence should have been applied a sales cycle ago in order to achieve results today.
By having a well understood sales process, well communicated and understood by everybody you can establish a basis for coaching and supporting your sales team. You also create a framework with which to report to your CEO and board, and spot, predict and adjust for changes in market conditions (wouldn’t we all have liked that in 2008). If that board are from Finance, Manufacturing/Development, IT, Marketing they will better understand process than excuses and you will be seen to be leading instead of reacting.
Unless you want your sales to lurch from Feast to Famine and back again you need to have a specific predictable and easy to follow process. With more than 3 salespeople this process should be embedded in your salesforce automation system, and I would strongly suggest that you use an online system such as Zoho that also enables you to link to your website – you can see this in action at here .