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Get ready to create a repeatable sales process template. This guide walks through how to create the ultimate sales process template that will boost prospecting, qualification, and forecasting so that you can arm your salespeople with the knowledge they need to close deals faster.
Prepare to take the uncertainty out of prospecting and lead qualification, create performance and conversion rate expectations, and get your salespeople aligned.
What is a sales process?
A sales process defines how a companys salespeople should prospect, , handle objections, and close deals. Its a guide for existing sales reps and a training tool for new ones.
Do you have a well-documented sales process? Or, do you have that one sales rep who brags about just winging it or going with the flow? Chances are their performance is not consistent. They might get lucky, but that free-flowing process isnt exactly reliable. Worse, that reps attitude infects your sales team, and you end up with a company that cant meet its targets.
There are many approaches and methodologies for creating and communicating a sales process. The first step is identifying what you want to achieve.
Why build a sales process?
A sales process sets your team up for success. It translates into deeper accountability, better forecasting, and increased revenue.
And with , the need for a sales process has never been greater. Why? Because it gives your salespeople the information they need to excel at their jobs. A sales process also helps them create a consistent experience for your prospects. In short, a sales process template lets sales reps know exactly what to do at any given point in the funnel, whether new or experienced.
dont review and update their sales processes, meaning their teams are not operating at their peak performance level. More often than not, sales managers know its a good idea to have a repeatable sales process but dont know where to start.
At 窪蹋勛圖厙, we empower sales reps by . More on that later, but first, well cover sales process steps. Then, well share our sales process and how we use it to improve our sales teams performance.
PRO TIP: Access the free prospect-centered .
Sales process template steps
1. Prospecting
2. Lead qualification
3. Connecting
4. Identify pain points
5. Conduct a demo or free trial
6. Handling objections and questions
7. Make an offer
8. Close the deal
9. Deliver the product
10. Cross-sell/upsell
Every company will have a slightly different sales process because of its capabilities, target market, and culture. Before going further, here are some awesome resources to help you get started:
- If youre looking for a sales process pdf, from HubSpot and Aircall. You can also find more resources on the HubSpot sales process .
- If you want a detailed step-by-step tutorial, watch our CEO, Melanie Fellays webinar. In the first part of this two-part series, shell walk you through account planning, prospecting, pipeline management, quoting, and proposals.
- In the second webinar, youll dive into account management, performance scores, and support.
Heres a sneak peek of the end-to-end 窪蹋勛圖厙 sales process:
1. Prospecting and lead generation
Prospecting is the stage in the sales process where your marketing or sales team actively seeks out potential leads. The goal is to create a pipeline of potential customers your team can engage with and convert into customers. Prospecting comes in different forms. You can prospect on social media and create lead-generation campaigns. You can skip this step if your sales process relies on getting leads from third-party sources (like referrals or vendor buying lists).
Prospecting is a key step in the sales process, and SEO can be a powerful tool in helping your team find potential leads. By optimizing your website for search engine rankings, you can increase visibility and drive more organic traffic to your website. Doing this will generate more leads and increase the size of your lead pipeline. By optimizing content for search engine rankings, you can ensure the right people see your website and help your team connect with the right prospects.
Related activities include:
- Searching LinkedIn
- Attending trade shows
- Attending networking events
- Email outreach
- Cold outbound lead generation
2. Lead qualification
Not all prospects are created equal. Some have the potential to be fantastic clients. Others may turn out to be bad-fit customers and should be avoided. Its not just a matter of whether or not the prospect can afford it its about whether their needs match your products capabilities. Compare the prospect to any Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP) that youve created in advance. If your leads are being pre-qualified by another team, mention that in your sales process documentation to clarify the responsibilities.
Additionally, you should have a lead qualification system in place to track and monitor the progress of each lead throughout the sales process. Having an organized sales process template can help with this.
Related activities include:
- Research the prospect online and on social media
- Conduct a discovery call
3. Connect
This will be your first real contact with the prospect once theyve passed the qualifying stage. It can happen over multiple channels, like phone calls, email, social media, or in person. In some companies, the BDR/SDR hands the prospect to the sales rep. If there has been no prior contact with the prospect, your sales rep may need to take a more proactive approach. Remember, getting in touch may take several tries if this first attempt is a cold call.
Related activities include:
- Reach out attempts via different channels
- Defining meeting specifics (location, channel, date/time)
- Identifying and inviting key decision-makers
4. Identify pain points
This is where you dig deeper into a prospects situation and identify the areas where they need help. Note that this doesnt all need to happen during your initial call. You can accomplish this by asking them effective questions to draw the right information out or by conducting surveys and providing questionnaires.
Related activities include:
- Preparing questions in advance based on your prospect research
- Interviewing decision-makers
- Interviewing important stakeholders
- Sending surveys and/or questionnaires
5. Conduct a demo or free trial
Very few people will be willing to purchase a product they havent seen, so youll probably have to provide a demo or free trial to get the prospect truly interested. Do your best to ensure that important stakeholders like a line manager and/or an end user get to see the demo. Many products executives purchase fall flat because they dont get feedback from the people who will be using them.
Related activities include:
- Building a trial environment to match a prospects use case
- Scheduling free trial start and end dates if applicable
- Defining a list of users allowed to access a free trial
- Customizing demo script to match prospect needs
6. Handling objections and questions
Your prospect will likely have questions and/or objections after the demo (you should be worried if they dont). Some of them will be simple and easily addressed using your teams stock knowledge of the product, while others may require the assistance of a sales engineer or someone from the product team. When handling objections, your sales reps need to be honest. Dont let them fall into the trap of saying what the prospect wants to hear just to make a sale.
The truth will come out when the prospect finally uses the product. Many sales organizations have a policy of clawing back sales compensation if a customer churns soon after buying.
Related activities include:
- Consulting with Customer Success or Engineering
- Having a follow-up call with a sales engineer
- Adjust the trial environment to address objections
7. Make an offer
Once all objections have been handled to the prospects satisfaction, its time to draft and issue a formal proposal. This proposal will include as many details as possible about the transaction, from what theyre paying to what theyre getting. Be sure to add details like the purchase amount, applicable discounts, and number of licenses purchased. You should also include the payment terms, expected support level, and renewal period. The prospect may negotiate the terms, in which case you will make adjustments until both parties are satisfied.
Related activities include:
- Draw up a formal proposal document
- Arrange meetings to discuss terms
- Document any questions and concerns
8. Close the deal
The deal can be closed when your sales rep and prospect agree on final terms and conditions. This is where contracts are drawn up and signed and POs issued. Depending on the situation, your team may have to do some last-minute encouragement to get a customer to close sooner if youre trying to catch a quota period. Such encouragement includes offering incentives like a free month of service, discounts, or perhaps creating a sense of urgency.
Related activities include:
- Get approvals from the prospect
- Secure purchase order
- Determine payment method and timeline
- Clear contracts with legal
9. Deliver the product
The sale doesnt end when the purchase is made. Many deals fail after the contract is signed. Dont let your sales team relax until after fulfillment has been completed to everyones satisfaction. This could range from delivering a physical product to accessing an online platform or software product.
Related activities include:
- Scheduling delivery of the physical product (if applicable)
- Handoff to customer success or implementations
- Check-in calls to gauge levels of satisfaction
10. Cross-sell/upsell
Its worth following up with the customer after theyve beenusing the product for a while to see if theres an opportunity to expand their product usage, whether by adding additional licenses or offering related products or services. Different organizations tackle this in different ways. Some would prefer that the customer success team handle this, while others have dedicated account management teams to expand existing customers.
Related activities include:
- Conducting a QBR to assess the needs
- Coordinating upsell campaign with customer success
- Reaching out to your product team for new features
Hint hint we partnered with the team at Skaled to create this incredible Sales Playbook framework in Google Sheets. You can download it for !
Building your sales process template in 窪蹋勛圖厙
With 窪蹋勛圖厙, sales playbooks live where sales plays happen. 窪蹋勛圖厙 surfaces information when and where reps need it, allowing them to close deals faster without disrupting productivity. Being an AI-powered platform, 窪蹋勛圖厙 leverages AIfor content creation, recommendation, and summarization.
窪蹋勛圖厙 enables the creation of contextual, agile playbooks that surface across every customer touchpoint. The playbook content is broken down into bite-sized answers to guide reps through sales processes and workflows seamlessly. Sales reps can also use 窪蹋勛圖厙 AIto find and recommend content, such as case studies, relevant to prospects and clients ahead of meetings based on emails and call summaries. In other words, critical information gets delivered through the tools your salespeople use every day.
So your sales process isnt locked away in a learning management system or an aging document; instead, relevant information surfaces as your salespeople and customers move through the stages of your sales process.
Rapid adjustments to your sales process template
can be easily adjusted as your strategy evolves. You dont have to wait months to make changes that you know will drive growth. Instead, you can publish and communicate playbook updates in minutes. 窪蹋勛圖厙 also allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your sales process, determine who is using your resources, and identify areas of improvement.
Pipeline building with in-app persona guides
Help reps build more pipelines faster with in-app persona guides. Since prospecting happens in real-time, your playbooks should too. Reveal competitive battle cards, objection handling tips, and more in the moment of need.
窪蹋勛圖厙s true power is delivering playbook snippets in context. If I train my head of sales to qualify, it makes more sense for him to see the process when hes about to qualify someone. Contextual enablement is definitely the future. SAM CHOI, VORTEXA -
Streamlined planning and account building
窪蹋勛圖厙 delivers in-app sales plays for high-value accounts, target industries, personas, and more. No more scrolling through a 100-page Google Doc.
窪蹋勛圖厙 has served as our one-stop-shop for all of our reps that have questions regarding our sales processes and best practices, which saves me time so I can focus on other priorities for the team. KYLE ELIGIO, SENDLANE -
Benefits of using 窪蹋勛圖厙 for Your Sales Process Template
Sales reps using 窪蹋勛圖厙 have achieved 20% higher quota attainment, a 70% increased deal save rate, and spent 50% less time communicating new initiatives and changes.
Real-time coaching and support
Help reps push deals through the funnel with real-time coaching and support. Top-performing sales reps are 2x more likely to report they can always find answers to questions independently.
窪蹋勛圖厙 allows our reps to be self-sufficient in mastering their tools, sales processes, and the continuous changes to our business in a contextual and intuitive way. - HARISH MOHAN, OUTREACH.IO
Retention and expansion with customer playbooks
Drive retention and expansion with customer playbooks embedded within Clari, Gainsight, or any web app. This gives your Customer Success team the knowledge they need to turn new customers into lifelong champions.
With the help of 窪蹋勛圖厙, questions never go unanswered. 窪蹋勛圖厙 has significantly reduced the time employees spend searching for content.
Readymade playbooks
If you dont have time to create playbooks from scratch, 窪蹋勛圖厙 has readymade playbooks. Get the JBarrows Filling the Funnel Playbook, LinkedIn Sales Navigator Prospecting Playbook, or ZoomInfo Best Practices Playbook.
For a step-by-step breakdown of how to build each stage of your sales process in 窪蹋勛圖厙, .
Sales process final thoughts
You need at least one documented sales process if you want your sales team to hit consistently or even exceed quota. But its better to cover your bases and have multiple processes for different scenarios. Using our documentation process template to generate these sales processes, you can create a comprehensive set of team guidelines so that your sales reps can be confident and know exactly what to do, no matter their situation.
to digitize your sales process template and drive adoption with the leading just-in-time learning platform.
