When was the last time you took the time to review your sales cycle for business? It intrigues me that many companies seem to lose sight of this valuable tool which could give them a more solid grip on their business.
I think the main challenge is people get nervous trying to take something as abstract as sales and put into a cycle of steps. The truth is there is no need for that feeling because steps can be moved around or skipped altogether, depending on the customer and situation. However, if you have new salespeople in your company or young salespeople that need help getting started, a sales cycle outline is one of the best tools around to do that. It shows them the steps involved in finding, qualifying, presenting and ultimately closing a customer or business opportunity.
Thus, take the time to to think through what steps in your sales cycle are constant and identify them as part of your selling process. In the end, it will not only help keep your team focused on moving towards the sale, but also allow you to look at sales lost and work through improving the aspects of your cycle as well as the skills of your salespeople.
