How to Create a Structured Sales Process

Do you have disjointed pipelines in your sales process? Is information scattered across different locations? Or do your salespeople work in “their own” way? There are several reasons to review your sales process, and ultimately, it often comes down to closing more deals, improving collaboration, and keeping track of what’s actually happening within the sales organization.

Where should you start when creating a structured sales process? Here are the questions your business should ask itself to succeed with a long-term, structured sales process.

1. What does your sales process look like today?

First and foremost, it is important to understand what the sales process looks like today and what steps our potential customers go through before a deal is closed. For example, it is very common for salespeople to work in different ways, which makes it difficult to track sales progress both at the individual level and at the organizational level. Therefore, please provide a description of your current workflow. Some example questions:

• How do we get our leads? Through our website, phone lists, or webinars?
• Should we call or email? In what situations?
• Who is responsible for following up on sales?
• Who is responsible for following up on sales?
• What are we communicating? And when?
• How do we get prospects to take action?
• When do we send a quote? What does it look like?

2. Why is your sales process structured the way it is?

Once a clearer picture of the current situation has emerged, it’s time to consider why things are the way they are:

• Is it an outdated system that “forces” us to work this way?
• Or is it because there are no clear guidelines?

The results of the exercises give us a clearer picture of our process and make it easier to identify which parts are working well and which have room for improvement.

3. How do we want to work?

In the next step, it’s time to look beyond the horizon and envision your ideal scenario. Consider the following questions:

• Who are the prospects and customers in our target audience?
• When and how does our process begin, and when does it end?
• What steps are essential for us to close the deal, both for us and for the customer?
• Which steps are taking up unnecessary time right now? Which steps can we even skip?
• What data is needed, and when?
• What can we digitize and automate?
• What do we need to get our deals closed faster?

Be sure to include a broad cross-section of salespeople in these exercises—this will boost motivation for the upcoming change and lead to deeper insights.

4. How do we know which sales support is right for us?

Some people probably find the very idea of a CRM project overwhelming, but it’s good to remember that the exercises above have already taken us a long way.

A structured sales process can work very well without system support, but with the right technology, we can more easily maintain structure and process, including follow-up. Technology also helps us generate valuable insights and replace manual tasks that are routine and resource-intensive. With the right system support, the sales organization can focus on your customers’ needs and building relationships, while letting technology handle administration and tasks that can be automated.

If you already have a sales support system in place, find out if it meets our requirements. If not, it’s time to look for something else. To determine if you have the right system, ask yourself the following questions:

•  Does the system support the actual steps in our sales process?
• Can the system save and share customer information the way we want?
• Can we streamline the process so that it better meets our needs?
• How does the system help us better track and manage our sales efforts?
• How does the system fit into our IT strategy and infrastructure?

Our top tips: 

1. There’s strength in numbers

Enlist the help of an external consultant who isn’t influenced by internal discussions, routines, and habits. A consultant can assist with everything from business strategy and organizational change to the selection of sales support tools and technical customizations.

2. Do not collect any unnecessary information

Collect only data that adds value and keep unnecessary information out of the system. It’s also more motivating to work in a system when I can see that it adds value to my work.

3. Low-hanging fruit

A major challenge for many people is setting the right priorities. One tip is to start with the “low-hanging fruit”—that is, simple changes that don’t require much effort but still make a difference—which helps keep you motivated.

4. Remember your colleagues

And speaking of motivation: Don’t forget your employees! It’s important to involve the people who will be working with the system right from the start. Organize workshops and various sales activities to boost motivation while ensuring that everyone contributes both their knowledge and a sense of team spirit.

5. Start small

Does sales support sound like something your business could use? Read more about Releye’s CRM Express solution, which makes it easier than ever to get started with a powerful, customizable, and scalable sales support system in Dynamics 365.

6. Follow up!

Remember to follow up to see what went well and what didn’t; otherwise, it’s easy for the activities to fizzle out.

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