Your Sales Process Isn't
Paul Johnson
A lot of energy is expended within selling organizations as
they try to identify, adopt, and administer a sales process
that works for them. The holy grail of selling is to find a
foolproof method for creating a customer, the ultimate
finished product of the perfect sales process. Prepare to
be disappointed. Webster's tells us that a process is "a
particular method of doing something, generally involving a
number of steps or operations." By performing specific
actions in a certain order on allowable inputs, we can
produce a finished result that meets a predefined design
specification. This works well in manufacturing, and in
recurring activities that we find in other areas of our
businesses.
We may even have certain processes that we use while we
sell. But when we talk about the whole of selling, we need
to avoid using the term "sales process" because no such
thing exists. That's because there is nothing we can do to
reliably produce a customer as a finished result.
Here's why: if we try to apply a process to the way any
product or service is sold, an important variable in our
sales process would have to be the Buyer. Unfortunately,
the Buyer is the last thing that we can control, or should
want to control. Therefore, we have to rethink the notion
of a selling process and consider if a process applies at
all.
Yes, There Really IS a Process
The process that the seller needs to pay attention to is
the one that the Buyer uses. All Buyers go through a
process as they prepare to make a purchase. If we can
understand how that process works, we can tune our sales
approach to make it easy for the Buyer to make a positive
decision that favors us, and do it faster and more
frequently than they might otherwise.
We all go through a multi-step process as we prepare to
make a purchase. The incremental steps associated with a
buying process define distinct Buying Stages. Throughout
the buying process, significant psychological shifts occur
within a Buyer, causing them to move from one Buying Stage
to another.
These shifts in Buying Stages, or Inflection Points, can be
influenced by the activities of a salesperson and marketing
organization, and the application of tools and tactics that
are appropriate to the current Buying Stage. Let's explore
the concept of Buying Stages and how they work.
Buying Stages
Alerted: The first Stage for a Buyer to move to is
typically the Alerted Stage. Here, the Buyer is simply
aware that our company and offering exists, and may someday
satisfy a need. Most advertising and marketing
communications efforts are aimed at moving the Buyer to the
Alerted Stage.
When you first see a television ad for a new car model, you
are now alerted to the fact that the model exists and which
company makes it. However, you may have no current need for
a car at all, much less that particular product. While that
manufacturer has succeeded in moving you to the Alerted
Stage, nothing will happen unless and until you decide to
engage with the person or company making the offer.
Engaged: When you decide the timing is right to investigate
a product and take steps to contact the supplier, you have
reached an Inflection Point and have moved to the Engaged
Stage. In the Engaged Stage, you have called the 800-
number, sent an e-mail, or walked into the showroom and
talked with the seller.
You may have been in the Alerted Stage for days, months, or
even decades before deciding that the particular product or
service is appropriate for a current need. Your timing –
not the seller's – determines when your activity marks an
Inflection Point and moves you to the Engaged Stage.
Qualified: Once you engage with the seller, an exchange of
information usually takes place where you as the Buyer
attempt to get some high-level questions answered. You want
to determine whether or not the offering is worth spending
even more time later to investigate the specifics of how it
will fulfill your need.
You may ask questions like, "How big is it?" or "Exactly
what does it do?" and "What is the price range?" If the
answers are satisfactory, you've reached another Inflection
Point and reached the Qualified Stage.
Qualified implies that you have had your high-level
questions answered satisfactorily and are willing to invest
more time considering a purchase. Likewise, the seller has
often asked a few questions of their own, to determine your
suitability as a prospective customer. It's important that
both sides believe that a purchase is possible; otherwise
no further activities will take place.
Exposed: Assuming both parties choose to move forward, the
seller is often invited by the Buyer to present the
highlights of the offering and the potential benefits. This
could be a brief presentation or demonstration to acquaint
the Buyer with the core value proposition and competitive
differentiators.
Once the Buyer has seen enough to decide to move forward
with their buying process, another Inflection Point is
reached and the Buyer moves to the Exposed Stage. At this
point, the Buyer may or may not be ready to immediately
move forward with pursuing an in-depth investigation,
proposal, and so on.
Oftentimes, car purchasers stop into a showroom to look at
a new model just to find out how much it is, how it feels
to sit in it, and to determine whether the vehicle has
potential as a future new car. The Buyer may be months away
from being able to do business because of a current lease
that will not expire for several months, or other
conditions that require delaying the purchase.
The exposed Buyer has enough information to determine
whether or not the offering should remain on their list for
consideration, either now or in the future.
Selling is All About Buying
A Buyer will continue to pursue their buying process,
moving from one Buying Stage to another, at their own pace.
As sellers, our job is to help these Buyers wherever we
can!
Not all buying processes are the same. The actual Buying
Stages associated with a buying process will change based
on the category of Buyer and the offering. What won't
change is that each Buyer will continue to move through
distinct psychological stages appropriate for their
category and the offering until they decide to reach the
Closed Stage and become a customer.
By focusing on the buying process instead of the sales
process, the attention stays where it needs to be: on the
Buyer. By being alert and recognizing where each Buyer is
in their buying process, the salesperson can be most
responsive to the Buyer's needs. Now salespeople can
readily support the Buyer the way they need to be supported
at each Stage to make their buying process move forward
smoothly and quickly.
To support the salesperson in their efforts to help the
Buyer move past Inflection Points to each successive Buying
Stage, we can make sure the salesperson has the proper tool
set. Tools may include telesales scripts, needs analysis
guides, qualification ranking forms, collateral, and even
technology like software.
Additionally, training becomes an important success factor
associated with your support of the buying process.
Training must go beyond the products; we must make sure
that selling skills are appropriate for each Buying Stage,
and that the salespeople are properly trained on how to
apply each tool to best support the buying process at each
Stage.
Sales Communications
Focusing on the buying process is what Sales Communications™
is all about. While marketing communications speaks to a
general population of Buyers, Sales Communications takes it
right down to the individual.
Sales Communications makes the organization's marketing
efforts personalized to the specific Buyer, recognizes the
unique needs of the Buyer, and equips the salesperson with
the complete toolbox to make it easy for the Buyer to come
to a positive decision for the benefit of the seller and
Buyer.
Sales Communications will allow each salesperson to
describe the progress of a selling opportunity in terms of
the condition of the Buyer instead of what the seller did.
In other words, it doesn't matter whether we've given a
demonstration or delivered a proposal. It only matters
where the Buyer is in their buying process. Now we can talk
about a prospect as Engaged, or Exposed, and everyone in
your organization will clearly understand how far along the
Buyer is in their buying process.
Identifying the buying process associated with your
offering will give you the structure you need to support
the Buyer. You'll be able to apply the proper tools and
tactics to help each Buyer move through their buying
process toward a positive decision. By teaching your
salespeople to recognize Buying Stages and their associated
Inflection Points, and apply the proper tools and tactics,
you'll be able to sell the way your Buyer wants to be sold.
You'll be helping them buy the way they like to buy,
because they'll be using their process, not yours. Sales
processes may not work, but buying processes work every
time.
© 2002 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.
About The Author:
Paul Johnson of Panache and Systems LLC consults and speaks
on business strategy for winning against bigger, stronger,
better-financed competitors. Check out more free business
building tips at http://panache-yes.com/tips.html. Call
Paul direct in Atlanta, Georgia, USA at (770) 271-7719.
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