How to Create a Winning Sales Process (+ Free Template)
Jess served on the founding team of a successful B2B startup and has used a wide range of sales and marketing tools over the course of her 15-year career. She uses her industry knowledge to deliver the best answers to your questions about sales tools and sales management.
Jill is a writer at Fit Small Business specializing on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
This article is part of a larger series on Sales Management.
A sales process is the cycle of recurring steps your business uses to obtain leads and make a sale. Your company’s unique sales process should align with your sales pipeline and funnel, providing a roadmap for your sales team to follow. To create an effective sales process, review your sales pipeline, convert pipeline stage activities into sales process steps, visualize your sales process, and create a system to measure each step.
Free Template for Building Your Sales Process
We’ve created a free template on how to create a sales process you can customize to fit your internal business practices. Download this sales process creation template and use it as you follow the four easy steps below to create various sales cycle stages that work best for your business needs.
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💡 Quick Tip:
Use a CRM tool with pre-made sales pipeline stages to help you monitor deals.
Consider CRM software like Freshsales. It has a Kanban-style sales pipeline board that allows you to monitor your deals easily.
While building a sales workflow could be a daunting task in the initial phases, doing so will streamline your sales activities in the long run and will reflect your sales performance. Follow our four steps to creating a selling process for your small business:
1. Review the Stages of the Sales Pipeline
Before determining what your company’s sales process stages look like, consider the customer’s journey and the nine stages of the sales pipeline. Then consider how each stage relates to your business model. Alternatively, or in addition, use your sales funnel to help you identify the larger groupings of tasks your team will need to complete to nurture a lead through their customer journey.
Understanding how various tasks help move customers through your sales pipeline helps to standardize the sales process for both new and existing sales team members. Having a standard selling process also helps your agents familiarize themselves with the process, consequently improving the quality of their work and increasing the odds of closing deals.
2. Create a List of Internal Activities for Each Stage
The next step involves creating a process to define how each stage relates to your business objectives and identify the sales activities you will take during each stage. Some sales stages may have many activities, while others have only one depending on what’s needed to close a deal. It’s also worth noting that some stages might not have any internal activities if your business chooses to outsource activities in a stage.
While every organization has its own sales workflow, there are steps in the sales pipeline that are applicable to most businesses, particularly generating leads, introducing products and services, and closing a sale. Most customer relationship management (CRM) software, such as Freshsales, have premade sales pipeline stages that companies can use monitor deals and shortcut this step.
Sales workflows can be easily monitored in CRMs like Freshsales. (Source: Freshsales)
However, if your CRM does not come with premade pipeline stages, or if you simply want to create a truly custom sales process workflow, here are questions you should ask yourself for each pipeline stage to develop the list of activities your business will use as part of its sales workflow. You can also expand each pipeline stage for tips and activity suggestions:
Researching prospects stage: How do you plan to find potential customers (consumers, businesses, or both) that could benefit from your product or service?
When defining the steps involved in the researching prospects stage, any activities that lead to new or additional information about a lead or prospect count. There’s also no limitation for how information is gathered—it could be from an online source, a cold call, a printed publication, meeting someone in person, or another tactic.
Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with this pipeline stage:
- Collecting business cards during a networking event to input into your CRM
- Finding and connecting with potential decision-makers on LinkedIn
- Reviewing a company website for the CEO’s phone number and email address
- Compiling a list of email addresses and phone numbers from contacts met at a trade show
Thoroughly researching prospects helps you create customer profiles to incorporate into your selling process. Customer profiles enable you to tailor your sales approach based on behaviors, interests, or demographic information. This helps you generate more qualified leads and gives you a higher likelihood of converting leads into closed business as well as turning closed business into recurring revenue.
For example, if you are selling a subscription-based food delivery service, divide each customer type into a profile based on the type of food they like in their subscription package. Once divided, alter promotions based on interest types to create special offers more likely to appeal to a particular customer profile.
Customer profiling is just the first step in the sales targeting process. Our article about how to improve sales targeting covers the ins and outs of improving sales performance by using targeted customer profiles in conjunction with CRM software.
Generating online leads stage: How will you create or obtain contact lists of potential customers?
When creating sales process steps in the generating online leads stage, consider any activities that bring inbound leads or compile contact information for you. Some examples include using online advertising, buying lead lists, networking, or utilizing content marketing. Activities in this stage may also involve cross-team collaboration between sales and marketing departments, particularly when using search-optimized content or landing pages to produce website traffic.
Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with this pipeline stage:
- Creating a landing page with an online web form for inbound lead submissions
- Auto-syncing online web form submissions to your CRM database for sales rep assignment and to your email marketing platform for nurturing campaigns
- Purchasing targeted contact lead lists from an online database and uploading them to your CRM
UpLead is an excellent source for generating lead contact lists. As an online database, UpLead allows you to purchase accurate and up-to-date contact information for business-to-business (B2B) leads based on factors such as industry, job title, location, and company. This saves you hours of time compared to manually researching contact information for leads.
Through UpLead, you can generate a list of potential leads with all pertinent contact details. (Source: UpLead)
Pro tip: Buying leads is just one of many strategies you can use in the lead generation process. Our ultimate guide to lead generation explains other various methods you can use to keep your sales pipeline full.
Introducing products & services stage: How do you want to introduce your business & its products or services to leads?
Introducing your business’ products or services involves different activities in your sales workflow, such as cold calling, mass or personalized email marketing, or even door-to-door selling. Techniques depend on your preference, customer types, and sales methodology.
A sales methodology is a set of principles for acting within a sales stage. For example, while introducing products or services, you may use the Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-Payoff (SPIN) selling methodology, using questions to find pain points and solutions. This methodology works better in a cold calling environment with direct contact with a lead since it typically requires back-and-forth conversation.
Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with this pipeline stage:
- Phone call introductions to set up product demos
- Mass email introductions to contacts from a trade show to create awareness of your company’s unique approach
- Introducing a new product during an on-site appointment at the lead’s office location or online
Pro tip: Cold calling can be extremely effective when done at the right times, to the right people, and with effective techniques. Our small business guide to cold calling will help you understand this strategy and provide tips for kick-starting your cold calling campaigns.
Lead qualification stage: How will you determine whether a prospect is qualified to purchase & to what degree they are interested in your offerings?
The selling process step for qualifying leads includes any actions that help you determine whether a prospect is interested in what your business offers. It includes quantifying the prospect’s interest level and knowing when a lead is ready to purchase using lead scoring.
A marketing qualified lead (MQL) means the lead is a general fit with your target audience, regardless of whether they expressed any direct interest. Sales qualified leads (SQL) have gone through multiple stages in the pipeline and your selling process to the point where they may be (or will soon be) ready to purchase from your business.
Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with this pipeline stage:
- A cold call to a lead to determine interest in receiving a product brochure
- Emailing a marketing qualified lead to see if they want to schedule a product demo
- Checking LinkedIn to ensure a lead’s company fits your target profile of businesses with 25 to 50 employees
Learn how to identify the best leads for your business, including qualifying, organizing, and scoring leads in our article about lead qualification.
Nurturing leads stage: What will you do to follow up with leads over time & build relationships?
As part of a comprehensive sales plan, every selling process should include tactics to continuously nurture leads. Lead nurturing activities remind prospects about what your business offers based on where they are in the sales pipeline. Lead nurturing occurs during many stages of the sales pipeline since the goal is to advance the relationship to the next level. Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with the lead nurturing stage:
- Deploying drip email campaigns to update leads with current promotional offers
- A follow-up call to the prospect after a series of drip emails to see if they are ready for a demo or trial
- Sending a personal email to build the relationship with a prospect citing a new study or statistics relevant to their business or to your product or service offerings
Emailing is an effective way to nurture leads through consistent follow-up. CRMs allow mass emails to be created and deployed on an automated basis while also being tracked for performance. To ensure you make the best decision for a solid email CRM system, check out our picks for the best CRM software for email marketing.
Delivering sales presentations stage: How will you demonstrate what your business offers & how will initial sales pitches be delivered?
Delivering a sales presentation can include anything that communicates how your business can help your customers. It ranges from product demonstrations and free trials to simply pitching a product or service while on the phone.
Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with this pipeline stage:
- Providing a sales presentation about the capabilities and advantages of your industrial printer products
- Giving a demo of your software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform during a video call
- Presenting insurance coverage options on a conference call with a prospect
When doing a sales presentation, it’s essential to have a ready-do-go sales pitch to point the conversation in the right direction. Our guide on how to make a sales pitch explains what goes into an effective sales pitch and provides examples for your business.
Sending proposals or quotes stage: How will you communicate the cost of your products or services as well as your terms?
This stage in the pipeline involves activities needed to generate quotes and define terms and conditions, as well as sending them to the prospect for review. For certain businesses, activities for this stage may also involve steps in the background like submitting a formal business proposal, conducting a legal review for contract terms, or using an appraiser to finalize a quote.
Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with this pipeline stage:
- Collecting underwriting information from prospects to input in your system for quotes
- Sending a formal proposal for financial advising services to a prospect for signature
- Determining the number of “seats” for a software package for a sales team purchase
Sending professional-looking proposals makes you stand out from other competitive bids. CRM providers like Salesforce have tools that let you create professional-looking proposals, which you can either download or send directly within the software.
Salesforce allows users to generate proposals directly from the software, making it easy for users to include all necessary customer or lead information. (Source: Salesforce)
Pro tip: Having the right software to help with things like quote proposal generation is key to making your sales operation more efficient. More ways to improve your sales operation can be found in our complete guide to sales operations.
Negotiating terms stage: What will you do when a prospect asks to customize terms or reduce costs?
More common in larger deals, there may be steps in your sales workflow associated with negotiating terms or the price of your products and services. This stage may also require coordinating with other departments like legal or accounting, as well as sending revisions to the prospect.
Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with this pipeline stage:
- Having your legal department review prospect term change requests
- Sending back revised proposal terms to a prospect
- Updating a proposal with the new scope of work and pricing
Closing the deal stage: How will you ensure you have contract signatures & payment, & onboard a customer?
In this stage of the pipeline, activities that involve finalizing the deal with a prospect or onboarding them as a customer can be viewed as sales process steps. For some organizations, closing a deal may involve collecting payment or sending a client a one-time invoice, while for others, several departments may be involved.
Here are some examples of sales process steps associated with this pipeline stage:
- Uploading a signed proposal into your database and introducing the account manager to a new customer
- Forwarding customer information to the accounting department for invoicing
- Scheduling new clients for software training
3. Visualize Your Selling Process
Once you have created your master list of activities, check to see which activities can be completed right away, and which are dependent on a prior task. One way to do this is by visualizing the process using flowcharts differentiated with shapes and colors that guide the viewer down the path from start to finish. This will also make it easier to train new agents on your sales process as your team scales.
Below is an example of a sales process flow chart:
4. Make Your Sales Process Measurable & Adjust as Needed
Once every stage in the pipeline and their required activities have been defined, the last step in creating a winning sales process is to find ways to measure the success of each step. Multiple types of metrics like total values, conversion rates, and averages can all be used to quantify your selling process.
Below are common examples of sales performance metrics that can be used for each step of your sales workflow:
Sales Pipeline Stage | Sales Process Step/Activity | Performance Metric(s) |
|---|---|---|
Researching Prospects | Find and connect with potential decision-makers on LinkedIn | Total number of connections made |
Generating Online Leads | Create an online ad with a web form for inbound lead submissions |
|
Introducing Products or Services | Cold call introduction to leads to set up a demo or free trial |
|
Lead Qualification | Call leads who submitted an online form to determine interest |
|
Nurturing Leads | Deploy a drip email campaign to set up a sales presentation |
|
Delivering Sales Presentations | Deliver a product sales presentation |
|
Sending Proposals or Quotes | Acquire information needed to generate and send a personalized quote proposal | Average number of proposals sent per month (or per week, quarter, and so forth) |
Negotiating Terms | You and your legal team review proposal change requests and send revision(s) to the prospect |
|
Closing the Deal | Acquire signatures on the proposal and start client onboarding |
|
Tracking metrics like these enables you to measure progress and identify areas for selling process improvement. Adjustments could entail tweaking sales process steps for efficiency, adding new tactics or removing ineffective activities, or coaching sales reps on techniques to improve their sales numbers in different aspects of the sales process.
Using Metrics for Sales Process Adjustments Example
Imagine a sales team is finding they are not hitting sales goals because there aren’t enough MQLs in the pipeline at a given time. When looking at the sales process metrics, they discover that inside sales reps only have time to do enough online research to create 15 marketing-qualified leads per day, much less than is needed to hit their sales targets.
The team’s sales manager decides to remove the online research step of the sales workflow and generate MQLs by purchasing 300 targeted leads from an online database every week. She then has the inside sales reps, who now have more time, handle the introduction of services by cold calling new leads to set up sales presentations for outside sales reps.
Using Metrics for Sales Coaching Example
Another example of how metrics can be used to improve sales operations can be seen in individual performance coaching. The sales manager determines that Charlie, a new sales development representative, has the lowest conversion rates of calls to qualified leads of anyone on the team.
The manager gives Charlie one-on-one coaching for an hour per day to go over sales methodologies and tips to improve conversion rates. Charlie begins implementing the new techniques, like dialing cold calls during peak call times, using emotional selling language, and asking questions to handle objections from prospects. He and his manager begin to see his individual performance improve over time.
Developing your sales operation by continuously using training and strategy adjustments is a huge part of a sales manager’s job. With our ultimate guide to sales management, you learn everything you need to know about onboarding sales reps, motivating sales teams, and managing your company’s sales performance.
Benefits of Having a Proper Sales Process
A sales workflow or process standardizes your sales activities and helps your agents perform their sales workflow tasks more effectively—especially once they master the various sales stages. Below, we outline some benefits of having a proper selling process:
- Improves efficiency: Since agents are familiar with the various steps of the sales workflow, there’s an increased possibility of deals moving along the various sales stages faster. Once they are familiar with the steps, moving deals along stages goes on autopilot for them.
- Increases revenues: Increased efficiency means agents are quicker in performing their work and are able to do more—generate more leads, negotiate higher-cost deals, and close more sales. All of these ultimately contribute to higher revenue.
- Eliminates guesswork: A fixed formula leaves little room for guesswork as agents know what is expected of them. This decreases instances of oversight since they are familiar with everything they need to do to close a deal or make a sale.
Best Practices to Improve Your Sales Process
Once you’ve established your organization’s sales workflow, remember that it’s just the beginning of a sales cycle. A sales workflow should be flexible and open to adjustments if needed—this ensures you keep the process efficient and foolproof. Below are a few best practices to improve your selling process.
- Identify sales trends: Determine your business’ peak and off-peak seasons so you can adjust your selling process accordingly. For example, you may need to be more aggressive in your lead nurturing tasks during off-peak seasons as customers are not as willing to purchase your products and services at that time compared to the peak season.
- Regularly address sales process bottlenecks: Figure out the average time a deal spends in a certain sales pipeline stage and see if there are delays or bottlenecks causing it. For example, deals may be idling in the stage of sending a proposal due to your lengthy internal approval process.
- Constantly review your business performance: A good benchmark to evaluate the effectiveness of your sales stages is its direct impact on your profits. Assess your business performance on a monthly basis to see if there are improvements you can make. For example, your sales workflow may be missing a stage for lead nurturing, which could have a direct impact on the number of sales that you are able to close.
- Choose a CRM system that fits your business needs: A CRM system is an effective way to manage your sales workflow and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. A robust CRM provides analytics tools that help you spot trends and automate sales workflows.
Bottom Line
In order to identify the steps of your selling process, review which sales pipeline stages are relevant to your business, and incorporate the tactics you want to use. Once your sales workflow is created, you’ll have a recurring set of activities to complete in order to move a sales opportunity from a new lead to a closed deal.
Setting up a sales process can be further beneficial as an observable sales system with performance metrics at every step. These metrics can be used to make adjustments in the selling process and to coach individual members of sales teams.
