Sales Synergistics: Chapter 1.4 - A Deeper Look At The Sales Process

Hello World,

We mentioned last week that one of the foundational pieces of the Sales Synergistics model was the utilization of the Sales Process as linchpin to pull Sales, Marketing, and Operations together.  

As our Segway into chapter 2, Let’s talk about that all too familiar term in an unfamiliar way: Sales Process

When we think about sales process, we probably imagine some tangled web like this, right? Well these complex-looking models came from a lot of research and experience, I’m sure, but most organizations don’t have anything that complex at their disposal. There are even schools of thought that preach that you don’t NEED anything so complex. Honestly, I tend to agree with that sentiment. 

Since we defined sales as: helping your customers make the best decisions of how to solve their problems or take advantage of opportunities in a timely manner. Those complex processes have evolved because repeatable PROCESS is the best way to get repeatable RESULTS.

The challenge in this concept is not in defining the process, but defining the destination. You see, the sales process cannot END at a transaction or even at the implementation.  The sales process must continue throughout the lifecycle of the customer. 

The VALUE we deliver to our customer should grow over time. Even if their use of our product or service does not increase, they must make the DECISION over the years to continue to use our product or service at that level against the waves of competitive alternatives that come their way month after month, year after year. It is our requirement to continue to help them make that decision. 

Beyond that, we want them to tell the world about the wonderful experience they have had with us. So we need to continue to increase our value to them to make that happen. That means the goal of our sales process cannot be to drive adoption, but ADVOCACY. 

During that service period where the entire business is interacting with the customer, everyone in the organization now has a role in determining whether that customer will make the same decision again….now everyone is a part of the buying decision…everyone is part of the sales process. 

I can hear a lot of us saying “That’s not actually true. Sales is the wrong focus.”

…and to those individuals I say, yes, the traditional execution of sales is the wrong focus, but the true nature of sales is “Delivering value by enabling better decisions”.

We then need to look at the small interactions that we can have with our prospects and clients over time that can actually enable these high-quality decisions. Maybe you agree with that and maybe you don’t. Tell us all how you feel in the comments below and we will discuss it on Friday.

Join us next week where we look at our core concept and the inspiration for our logo, the Five-Ring Framework. Have a great week!