3 [Must Know] Sales Process Steps

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KEY MOMENTS
0:25 1. Insight.
1:38 2. Disqualify.
3:10 3. Solve.
4:41 3.5. Next.

1. Insight.

Insight is the first step in the Sales Insights Method of selling. It’s the entry-point of every sales conversation, and the goal of this initial step is to bring real value to the prospect. Start the sales interaction by sharing insight that demonstrates that you know what's going on in the prospect’s world. Then use that insight to engage the prospect in a conversation.

The best approach to this first sales process step is something called the Opening Play. The Opening Play is a quick introduction; the modern equivalent of the elevator pitch where you only have 25 seconds or so to engage the prospect in a conversation. What are you going to say?

Most salespeople open their sales conversations with an old-school, salesy routine. But the Opening Play is different. It should be scripted-out so that it’s the same every time, and it should be very simple. Think of your Opening Play as an introductory sentence that explains who you are and what you help your clients accomplish.

In a clear and concise way, a successful Opening Play demonstrates insight by quickly sharing the three most common challenges your clients face. This insight then engages the prospect in a real conversation.

That's ultimately what a strong sales process is all about: Using insight to engage the prospect in a conversation. Before any other sales process steps, you simply must do this first.

2. Disqualify.

The second step in any strong sales process must be to disqualify, so that you can avoid wasting valuable time and energy on the 50% of prospects who are not a fit. The faster you can determine that someone's not a fit and move on, the more time you’ll have for prospects who are actually a fit. It’s as simple as that.

Unfortunately, most salespeople come across anyone with a pulse and immediately try to pitch, persuade, and convince them to buy. This means that they spend all of their time equally across 100% of the people they get in front of. Not surprisingly, they get really mixed results.

Disqualification is all about asking effective questions to determine fit. With this sales process step, you immediately create real value by separating yourself from the hordes of other salespeople who pitch and persuade right out of the gate.

3. Solve.

The best way to approach the solve step of your sales process is to use case studies. Case studies are the single most effective way to connect your prospects’ problems directly to client problems that you’ve already solved. This builds a tangible bridge from where prospects are to where they want to go. That's really what the solve phase is all about.

While sharing your case studies, be sure to ask for feedback, making it a two-way conversation as opposed to a one-way monologue. In fact, you should be asking questions throughout, letting your prospects actually drive the presentation. The traditional sales model expects that the salesperson does almost all the talking during the presentation phase of the sale. But our approach to this proven sales process step focuses instead on getting the prospect to drive that phase of the sale.

This is why the focus is on solving and not presenting. Remember, it’s not about your presentation. It’s just about enabling the prospect to determine what matters most to them, and hearing their questions and concerns.

3.5. Next.

While we’ve already covered the top three sales process steps that can help you build your best sales process ever, there’s still one more piece I want to share with you. This final step—let’s call it step 3.5—connects everything together and makes it a repeatable process. You really can’t skip it. I call this step next because it’s all about having next steps in place.

In today’s selling world, very few salespeople find themselves in a true one-call close situation. Oftentimes, there are multiple meetings leading up to a sale. And so, next steps are absolutely essential, because they act as an unbroken chain of connection through all those meetings and steps that lead to the close.

This means no follow-up; we are not in the business of following up on our prospects. We're not chasing them. Instead, we are truly next step obsessed. Every time we're in a meeting, we're scheduling an appointment for the next meeting. We always have that next step in place.