Sales Cycle
Innovation Alphabet
Sales Cycle
In a nutshell
Don’t lie: every business leader’s goal is to increase revenue. There is nothing wrong with that. But to do so, you need to have a clear definition of your sales cycle in mind. It is essential to follow a process that takes the potential buyer from discovery to the closing of the deal.
Steps
Sales cycles vary in length from one company to another, but the important thing is that the potential customer goes through the 7 stages of the process as quickly as possible. Indeed, one of the main goals of the sales cycle is to speed up the sales process.
• Identification: This is the beginning of the sales cycle. It consists of looking for possible leads through a variety of tactics: live meetings at industry events, social media or website analysis, referral marketing, and so on. It is the most difficult and deceptive phase.
• Compatibility: Once the target audience has been identified, it is necessary to confirm its compatibility with the ideal customer concept. This can be done by establishing an initial testing contact, either automatically (e-mail or cold calling) or on a personalized basis.
• Analysis: If the customer is a “qualified” contact, conduct in-depth research to understand needs, expectations, budget, etc.
• Presentation. Demonstrate the product as the ideal solution to the customer’s needs.
• Overcoming objections: Leads will evaluate the offer and, most likely, explicit doubts and concerns. The sales team must be prepared to respond accurately both communicatively and in terms of resources.
• Closure: Once the obstacles have been overcome, it is time to close the deal and turn the potential customer into an actual buyer.
• Follow-up: Once negotiations are closed, look for new clients, reach out to current clients or missed buyers. Timely follow-up is a most useful weapon to increase sales.
Do you have a Marketing & Sales challenge to tackle? Let’s face it. Together.
C-levels from these companies (AND MORE) relied on my expertise to overcome thEIR CHALLENGES IN THIS AREA. And You can, too.
Can I help you?
sales cycle vs. sales funnel
They might be confused as the same topic, but there is a subtle difference. The sales cycle is a process that the company must follow to attract the greatest number of customers and increase sales, always starting from a reduced if not absent base. The sales funnel, on the other hand, assumes that the company will attract many leads, which will decrease at each stage of the funnel until only a fraction of them turn into actual buyers. Sales funnels are, usually, a simple way of analyzing contacts, processes, and sales data. They are not a concrete strategy like the sales cycle, because the ball is in the customer’s court, not the company’s.
Application Fields
• Sales: The sales cycle is a model for companies to understand, clarify and improve the overall sales experience and accompany old and future customers one stage after another
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management). The sales cycle can intersect with CRM strategies to gain insights regarding user preferences and, as a result, personalize the buying experience, increasing the odds of closing the deal.
• Marketing: Through the measurement of certain KPIs – for example, Lead to Opportunity Conversion Rate, Deal Won-Deal Lost Ratio – you can also improve strategies that lead to a faster realization of the sales cycle.
Stay in wonderland
Let me show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Check out more of the Innovation Alphabet:
Gamification
Gamification
Gamification is actually adding a game-like element to make more fun and engaging something that’s not necessarily a game. It’s all about turning a task that might be boring or difficult into a more enjoyable and motivating activity. You can also earn points, badges, and rewards for completing certain actions or challenges. Are you ready to play?
Dive In
Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence
A smart business means efficiency: Business Intelligence represents the ability to collect up-to-date data, present it in easy-to-understand formats, and deliver it in a timely manner to employees. Making data-driven decision-making and management processes leads to competitive advantage, reduces inefficiencies, and improves productivity and service at all levels.
Dive In
Artificial Scarcity
Artificial Scarcity
We often tend to desire what we cannot have. Or what we are in danger of losing: Artificial Scarcity is a strategy that flaunts a limited number of items that do not correspond to actual availability. The goal is to stimulate the perception in consumers that the stock of items is about to run out and thus create a need based on the “fear of being cut off” or the intention to buy the item in order to resell it at a higher price.
Dive In
Subscription Model
Subscription Model
A subscription model is a business tool that generates revenue by charging customers a fee at regular intervals. The company provides products or services to subscribers on a subscription basis, usually monthly or annually. In this way, loyalty has become more important than acquiring new users.
Dive In
Holacracy & Flat Organization
Holacracy & Flat Organization
A “flat organization” breaks down the traditional hierarchy and removes its negative connotation, while “holacracy” is the business tool that facilitates its formation. Flat organizations place more emphasis on communication and collaboration, aspiring to a distributed decision-making process that gives each employee a voice. But this is a model that is difficult to implement.
Dive In
Mass Customization
Mass Customization
Mass customization is an initiative adopted by companies to embrace the increasingly diversified needs of customers. By offering customizable products and services, consumers feel engaged and can bring their creativity into play. Brands gain from this a boost in perceived value and the opportunity to fuel a positive word-of-mouth marketing.
Dive In
Coopetition
Coopetition
If you can’t beat them, join them. Coopetition is a business strategy that defines cooperative and competitive relationships between competing companies in the same young or high-growth market. The goal is to travel a stretch of road together to lower initial research and development costs. Once the desired results are achieved, the companies will return to being enemies as before.
Dive In
MVP
MVP
To the disappointment of all sports fans, this is not an article about Michael Jordan. In the language of business, MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product and indicates the version of a new product that has enough features to attract customers. In this way, a team can gather the most feedback with the least effort, improve the prototype, and validate its sale.
Dive In
Agile
Agile
Agile is an approach to software development designed to respond to change. Teams quickly analyze the context in which they operate, identify uncertainties faced, and figure out how to adapt to always move forward. Interaction between individuals comes before processes and tools; collaboration with the customer is more important than negotiating contracts.
Dive In
Bounded Rationality
Bounded Rationality
The best solutions always come to mind when it is too late. This is because human beings tend to make decisions on the basis of satisfaction rather than optimization. Bounded Rationality means that we are unable to think clearly and linearly, we proceed by trial and error and forget all the possible variables that affect the process. But we are also flawed.
Dive In