Master the 7 Stages of the Sales Cycle for Exceptional Growth!

28.08.2024 06:12 PM - By Karan Sharma

Understanding the sales cycle is critical to any firm since such a setup allows one to easily track progress, shows the points where things are mostly held up, and increases overall efficiency in sales. In this post, we will learn about this in detail.

Master The 7 Stages Of The Sales Cycle For Exceptional Growth!

​What Is a Sales Cycle?

A sales cycle refers to the predictable processes which a salesperson follows in moving a prospect from first contact through to the concluded deal. It's a programmed process to achieve consistent performance through superior communication in every phase of the sales cycle.

A well-defined sales cycle provides a clear chart for the sales team to get in touch with the prospect, understand their requirement, and move them to make a buy. It also helps in setting realistic expectations, and usage of time, and ensures that no opportunity is missed. Salespersons following a preplanned sales cycle have more chances of closing deals.

What Are the 7 ​Sales Cycle Stages?

The whole sales cycle is usually divided into seven critical segments. In their entirety, each stage is an essential step for the conversion of a prospect to a customer. These seven steps are described below.

Understand Sales Cycle
      • Finding the Best Prospects: Which prospects will benefit most from your product or service is determined.
      • Reaching Out to Prospects: Reach out and make contact with the identified prospects to introduce your offering.
      • Follow up with prospects: In other words, keep the lines of communication open to create further interest and rapport.
      • Qualify Your Leads with Effective Discovery Calls: In-depth talks that allow you to determine whether or not this prospect is indeed the perfect candidate for your product or service.
      • Conducting Demos or Presentations: Demonstrating the value of your product or service through detailed presentations or demonstrations.
      • Handling Objections: Addressing any concerns or objections the prospect may have to move closer to closing the deal.
      • Closing Deals: Finalising the sale and securing a commitment from the prospect.

    ​Finding the Best Prospects

    Identify and secure the most promising prospects: It refers to the identification of individuals or organisations that can benefit the most from what you offer. Even though prospecting is often considered a numbers game, it ultimately boils down to focusing efforts on right people. This forms the very base of your sales strategy. Without it, you'll be chasing lots of unconverted leads, ending up missing opportunities.

    Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), first. That's the way to describe your perfect prospects for your business - industry, company size, location, and, in fact, the pain points that your specific product or service can solve. An ICP is one that gives you a sharp focus, such that you will find great leads who are a good fit for your offerings. Knowing who your dream customers are, you could tap into a whole arsenal of methods and tools to find them.

    Prospecting can be very effective with the use of multiple channels. Instead of making only one approach, use a mix of strategies in reaching prospects either through emails, social media outreach, calls, or face-to-face meetings. This multi-channel strategy will definitely make you reach a better number of people and improve the chances that the right people in interest have for your service. Diversifying your approach ensures that a likelihood of finding and reaching potential prospects who are both interested and likely to convert into devoted customers is increased.

    ​Reaching Out to Prospects

Reaching out to prospects
Once you've got the leads, the next step is to contact them. In the first place, this is a phase where meaningful relationship building and introducing your product or service begins. The way you make this first call will therefore make all the difference in the way the sales efforts are pursued.

There are several approaches to first contact, including cold calling, email outreach, social networking, and face-to-face meetings. The trick is to work through each prospect and use their preference as a guide. For example, if you are reaching out via an email, the subject line should be catchy, and then the body of the message should point to the prospect's pain points in a personalized manner.

When reaching out to a prospect, you must get the word out not about your product but about what you can bring them. First, highlight their pain points and present your service as the cure for that ailment. Be clear, concise, and pertinent in your communication. Every message should close with a good CTA - schedule a meeting, set up a demo, or do another thing on the sales journey. This CTA will take the prospect further along the train of the conversation, so it keeps the forward momentum for you and closer to a successful conversion.

​Following Up With Prospects

Follow-up is an essential part of the sales process that gets overlooked time and again. Many salespeople seem to make one call to a prospect and then move on if they do not get a quick response. That is a mistake, though several follow-ups are often the difference between a closed deal and a lost opportunity.

Effective follow-up means keeping in contact with the prospect, yet not harassing them. This can be accomplished through follow-up calls at regular intervals, useful content provisions, and even offering support in case the prospect has questions. The idea is to keep the prospect interested and moving forward in the sales process.

Timing can be very critical to follow-ups about treading that thin line between persistence and allowing the prospect ample time to consider your offer. A timely follow-up renews interest and keeps you top of your mind when the prospect is ready to make a selection.

​Qualifying Your Leads

Qualifying Your Lead

Follow-up is an essential part of the sales process that gets overlooked time and again. Many salespeople seem to make one call to a prospect and then move on if they do not get a quick response. That is a mistake, though several follow-ups are often the difference between a closed deal and a lost opportunity.

Effective follow-up means keeping in contact with the prospect, yet not harassing them. This can be accomplished through follow-up calls at regular intervals, useful content provisions, and even offering support in case the prospect has questions. The idea is to keep the prospect interested and moving forward in the sales process.

Timing can be very critical to follow-ups about treading that thin line between persistence and allowing the prospect ample time to consider your offer. A timely follow-up renews interest and keeps you top of your mind when the prospect is ready to make a selection.

​Conducting Demos or Presentations

Once you have qualified your leads, the next thing is to give demos or presentations. Now, this is when you give more detailed information about the product or service and show just how it would solve the particular challenges of the prospect. A good demo or presentation can substantially raise your chances of closing the sale.

It is crucial here that one understands that preparation is the best form of preparation towards a successful demo. Do not forget that you need to pay attention to your prospect’s needs before the demo and adjust the demo according to the information you gathered. Emphasise the main characteristics on which you will focus and how your offering can solve the prospect’s problems and meet his or her needs. 

But when you are giving the demo try to give as much value as possible rather than letting the people just know what features are available. Ensure that you use examples, success stories and case studies that truly portray the effectiveness and importance of your offering. Make sure to gather all the information the prospect may need and be ready to respond to his/her questions and concerns about the product.

​Handling Objections

Objection and handling techniques are crucial aspects of the sales process. No matter how skillfully you explain it, prospects are quite likely to have some sort of worries or objections to your product or service. These must be fulfilled before they will be purchased. It is how you handle these objections that will determine whether a sale is won or lost.

The most frequent objections include cost, timing, fit, and the potential client's capability to be in a position to embrace your solution. The secret in handling an objection is to listen carefully to the concerns of the prospective client and respond with respect and in understanding. Other than prompt reactions, such time must be taken to locate the problem's origin and answer it in a manner that will give the client peace of mind.

The "feel, felt, found" method is an effective objection-handling technique. This is acknowledging the prospect's concern ("I understand how you feel"), connecting with them by sharing a similar experience ("Others have felt the same way"), and providing reassurance by telling how the concern was resolved ("But they found that...").

​Closing Deals

Closing Deals

Sales conversion can be defined as the last step of the sales process when the salesperson convinces the prospect to part with his/her money by buying the product. This stage must be well managed so that the desired results are achieved.

To wrap up this article we have to define the moments which can indicate that a certain prospect is ready to become the customer. These can be verbal signals, for example, when the listener raises questions on the price or asks how implementation can be done while nonverbal signs include a raise in activity or even good posture.

At this point, it is about time to move the conversation to its conclusion and deal with the signals you have noted.

In any closing approach, several closing approaches may be applied depending on the circumstances. Some of the frequently used closing techniques include the ´´assumptive close´´ where the seller assumes that the prospect is ready to purchase and go to the following step while the ´´summary close´´ is where the benefits are summarised in a nutshell and then the prospect is asked to make a choice. The best way to handle such a situation is to be as straightforward with a lot of confidence.

The last thing is to make sure to engage the consumer within the firm to ensure the consumer is satisfied with the purchase by contacting him or her and welcoming her or him with a professionally printed thank you greeting card. This can give the buyer some reassurance to reduce buyer remorse as well as improve the prospects of future business or recommendations.

​Conclusion

The sales cycle is a structured process that guides sales professionals through the steps needed to convert prospects into customers. By comprehending and mastering each stage of the sales cycle, your sales teams can improve efficiency, close more deals, and achieve their objective on time.

From finding the best prospects to closing the deal, each stage of the sales cycle plays a critical role in the overall success of the sales process. By following best practices at each stage, sales professionals can build strong relationships with prospects, address their concerns, and ultimately secure a commitment.

In a competitive business environment, having a well-defined sales cycle is essential for staying ahead of the competition and driving growth. By continually refining and optimising your sales cycle, you can ensure that your sales team is always operating at its best, ready to tackle challenges and seize new opportunities. I hope you like this post. If you want to enhance your sales team efforts with CRM. You can connect with IT Solutions Solved for expert consultation.

Karan Sharma

Karan Sharma

Social Media Expert IT Solutions Solved
https://www.itsolutionssolved.com.au/

Karan Sharma is a skilled content writer, SEO strategist and social media manager. He crafts compelling narratives, optimises content for search engines and designs engaging social media campaigns.