What Is Your Sales Step Process Like?

If you are struggling to generate the sales you need for your business to grow, the problem could be in your sales process.

Or if you don’t have a sales process, then that’s your first problem.

Closing leads and driving sales is not something you want to wing and just hope it works.

There’s a science to it that can help you close leads consistently and scale your business.

So today, we’re breaking down the 7 sales step process you need to follow to see consistent sales.

If you’re not seeing the sales you want, it’s likely that you’re either not following an effective sales process, or you’re trying to but some areas need work.

Read on as we walk through our sales step process that when executed correctly should help you close leads every time. Let’s dive in!

7 Sales Step Process To Help You Close Leads

Step 1: Prospecting
Step 2: Preparation & contact
Step 3: Presentation
Step 4: Overcome objections
Step 5: Closing
Step 6: Follow up
Step 7: Maintain the relationship

Step 1: Prospecting

Prospecting is the process of finding your ideal clientele.

So this, first and foremost, means you need to know who your ideal client is.

It means you need to have already created a buyer persona or customer avatar.

If your company doesn’t have that yet, you need to stop and read our target marketing example post, and then come back to us here.

But assuming you do know who your ideal customer is, step 1 in the sales process is to find them.

Now there are 3 ways to go about prospecting, you have:

cold contacts,
warm contacts, and
warm by association contacts.

Aka people you don’t know, people you do know, and people that your satisfied clients know.

The way you address each type of lead will vary a little depending on which of those 3 categories they fall into so that brings us to our next sales step process.

Step 2: Preparation & contact

sell more Preparation is where you research everything you can about your lead before speaking with them.

And in this step, contacting them just means trying to get that first appointment scheduled.

You don’t want to sell sell sell here; you’re not giving them your sales pitch quite yet.

You just want to introduce yourself and focus on why you think you could help them, leaving them with a CTA to schedule a call or make an appointment.

The way you introduce yourself will vary a little depending on whether the lead is cold, warm, or warm by association.

That’s because some may need more information than others.

But no matter what type of lead it is, you want to use the research from your preparation…

…to lightly touch on the problems you think they’re trying to solve or the goals they’re trying to achieve, and how your product or service could help.

And again, you’re not selling here. You just want to make a positive first impression that allows them to see how you could help them.

Once you’ve got the call scheduled, you could proceed to the next sales step process.

Step 3: Presentation

psychology to consumer marketing This is your sales pitch.

Now for both the presentation step and the contacting step in step 2, we would recommend having a script.

We know some people don’t like having a script.

And on the other hand, some people stick too closely to a script.

We’re not saying to read robotically the same script to every lead you talk to.

But what we’re saying is you need to have a base outline of the points you want to cover with every lead.

And then, just edit and customize certain points as needed for each lead’s individual concerns or circumstances.

And that part is really important because we think the reason a lot of people lose their leads in the presentation is because…

…they’re not putting themselves in that lead’s shoes to solve their specific issues.

They’re just regurgitating the same generic sales pitch to everyone.

So if you’re just pitching the same presentation every time and failing to take into account what this lead saying they need…

…you’re probably not going to close that lead.

So make sure you’re asking questions and actually hearing their answers.

Shed the pressure of “saying the right thing”…

…and instead, listen to their situation and ask yourself what you would do if you were in their shoes.

Whatever that answer is, that’s what you need to say in your presentation.

Now, the next step could happen in the same call as your presentation…

…or it could come later depending on the nature of what you’re selling and how many phone calls you typically have with a lead.

Step 4: Overcome objections

Again, if you created a buyer persona, you should have at this point already anticipated the different reasons why a lead would tell you “no.”

You need to preemptively overcome those objections before asking for the sale.

This is also where a script can help because you can draft bulletproof answers or solutions to some of these objections ahead of time.

And, have them ready to go if a client brings it up on a call.

Once you’ve delivered your sales pitch, answered all their questions, and addressed any objections they have, it’s time for the next sales step process.

Step 5: Closing

This is where you ask for the sale. You give them a very clear call to action on what step you want them to take next.

Now, depending on the nature of your business it might make sense to offer them a “good, better, and best option.”

sales step process

We talk about this in our how to increase sales post that you can read next…

…but essentially, this means giving the lead a range of options to purchase based on what fits their needs and budget.

Your best plan will be the most expensive, and therefore should pack the most value and be the best deal.

And simultaneously, it will also validate the price of your good and better plans.

Step 6: Follow up

We have this as step 6 because you might not get a solid answer on your closing call and you’ll need to follow up.

But it could also be that you need to follow up after step 2 as well to get that initial appointment scheduled.

Earlier we talked about anticipating objections to the offer…

…but it’s also good to anticipate objections to scheduling phone calls with you.

“I’m really busy right now,” or “I can’t, I’ve got too much on my plate right now,” can be met with…

…“Okay no problem! How about I give you a call in about 5 months just to touch base with you then.”

This allows you to sprinkle in a little indifference from FUGI.

This is, by the way, the sales acronym we’ve talked about on our blog a few times: fear of loss, urgency, greed factor, and indifference.

And it also makes the conversation more realistic and authentic to accommodate their schedule…

…instead of meeting them with a pressuring salesy attitude.

Either way, you want to make sure you’re following up with your lead at any point necessary in this process.

This is to ensure you keep your lead moving down the sales funnel.

Step 7: Maintain the relationship

After your lead becomes a client, the relationship shouldn’t end there.

You should be checking in with them regularly to make sure they’re happy with their product or service from you so as to retain their business.

And beyond retention, you should also be maximizing their value by…

…encouraging them to leave 5-star reviews for you and to send referrals your way!

sales step process

Referrals are a super easy and effective way to drive qualified leads for your business.

And we talk about how to go about them in our how to increase sales post. As for the reviews. here are our tips on how to get reviews from your clients.

So make sure you make the most of each lead you close by maintaining the relationship long after they come on board with you.

If you want to see more lead generation techniques, be sure to read this post next.

And that’s it! That’s our 7 sales step process.

Now if you need help with generating more leads for your business, you can check out our lead generation services today! Call us at 404-596-7925