7 Steps to Cleaning Up Your Sales Process

Want a high performing sales team? Then you are in the right place.

Today I’m going to show you the 7 action items that I always build into a sales process to produce high performing sales teams with impressive sales growth.

To make this super easy for you we have created an easy to use workbook to guide you through the thinking and planning process for each of the 7 steps.

This is free to subscribers, so feel free to download this now.

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How to Clean Up your Sales Process in 7 Simple Steps

Step #1 – Clearly define each stage of your sales pipeline and process

A sales pipeline can vary depending on the industry you are in and the products you represent, but there will always be a linear process that can and should be clearly defined.

In the workbook under Tab 1 Define – we have created a typical sales process and conversion funnel example.

Using this as your starting point you can edit and adjust the column headings to work with your own business.

Below each column heading, define the steps within each column that need to be taken to move a potential customer into the Close stage and then the Grow stage.

This section will help you identify what action items are in each stage of your sales process and will give you the tools to properly understand, review, and refine your process.

Step #2 – Refine and learn from the patterns you see

This is probably the single most important exercise you can undertake to improve your sales process and build on the success of your team.

Talk to your sales team one on one to discover the patterns and trends that lead to positive results.

Use the pipeline and the steps you created in Step 1 to lead the conversation and properly understand what your team is experiencing in each step of the process.

In the workbook under Tab 2 Refine – you can record your notes and learnings and adopt and build on the items that are working.

Consolidate your learnings and share with your team to create positive action steps and growth.

Step #3 – Measure your Sales Process

As your sales process evolves over time you will want to think about the key metrics you want to measure to ensure success and growth.

It is important to have a measurable item at each stage of the sales process. It is also important here to have realistic expectations. You will be able to refine this step over time as you have access to and collect more data from your sales results

In Tab 3 Key Metrics – you can start to record your findings. As you define and evolve your sales process map over time you will want to think about which key metrics you should be measuring at each stage.

Step #4 – Grow repeat business and the value of your customer

This is an important tab in the workbook – Tab 4 Growth.

I have found that a sales team is often driven hard to find new business and not given time to build and grow the business that they have already acquired.

This again may vary depending on the business you are in, but if there is a potential to grow the business by growing the annual spend of your clients it’s important to have a tried and true process to do this.

Use Tab 4 Growth – to categorise your clients into groups based on their annual spend and review the potential of each category and the steps needed to grow that annual spend of each group.

Step #5 – Find new business

As a business, it is important to define your sales and marketing process to build new business. Using Tab 5 New Business – list the various methods and success rate of each new business acquisition strategy you employ.

If there is an expectation that your sales team will hunt for new business, defining what works and learning from past success will give your sales team a clear focus on how to acquire new customers.

You can also track the success of any inbound leads program in this tab.

Step #6 – Goal setting

A sales team needs to have a positive environment in which they can succeed

Don’t leave your sales process steps open to interpretation.

It’s important to define specific, concrete actions that move your prospects from one stage to the next. If you don’t formalize the process, your sales team might come away with a less than accurate understanding of what works and the path to their success.

Once you’ve defined your sales process, document it, share it and review and refine it with your team.

On Tab 6 Goal Setting – use the columns to define goals for each of your reps. Don’t expect a new rep to perform at the level of a seasoned rep. It is important that you adjust expectations based on experience and client lists.

Step #7 – Sales and product review

Your sales process will always be a work in progress.

You need to commit to the habit of stepping back to review what’s working and what needs to be updated.

Listen to your team. Their feedback is invaluable and comes from working in the field with clients every day. They will naturally find ways to work more efficiently, grow the value of existing clients, and move prospects through the pipeline faster.

Coupled with your sales metrics, you can use this data to build an incredible sales team.

Never stop looking for ways to improve your sales process.

Use Tab 6 Review – to document your findings and then go back and deploy your findings through Steps 1 to 6.

Now it’s your turn.

Subscribe and access our Free  7 Step Sales Process Planner to start building for greater sales success.