THE SALES PROCESS

I. Sales Process

SALES PROCESS
 BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER
 BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS

BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS
Business buyers purchase
Consumers buy your products or
PURCHASING PROCESS products or services for use in
services for personal use.
their companies.
Consumers who buy products
PRICING DIFFERENCES from you pay the same price as Price may vary by customer.
other consumers.
Consumers select products and Customers select products,
pay for them at the point of sales place an order and arrange
PAYMENT using payment mechanisms such delivery through an agreed
as credit or debit cards, checks or logistics channel. Payment is
cash. settled on agreed terms.

 E-COMMERCE PROCESS
o BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER
 Consumers browse product information pages on your website, select
products and pay for them before delivery at a checkout, using a credit
or debit card, or other electronic payment mechanism.
 Consumers enter their address details and select one of the delivery
options you offer.
 The basic business-to-consumer business is relatively simple. You
need a method of displaying products and prices on your website, a
mechanism for recording customer details, and a checkout to accept
payment.
o BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS
 You can use a similar website-based business system if you sell low-
value products to business customers and you take payment with
orders.
 However, business-to-business transactions normally require a more
complex business system. The system must be capable of accepting
orders in different formats such as email, documents or electronic
orders.
 It must integrate order capture with your other administrative systems
such as invoicing, customer records and accounting.

 CIVIL CODE (TITLE VI, CHAPTER 1)

o Art. 1458. By the contract of sale one of the contracting parties obligates
himself to transfer the ownership and to deliver a determinate thing, and the
other to pay therefor a price certain in money or its equivalent.
A contract of sale may be absolute or conditional. (1445a)
 THE SALES PROCESS
o A set of repeatable steps that a sales person takes to take a prospective buyer
from the early stage of awareness to a closed sale.
o Simply put, it is a potential customer’s journey from realizing they have a need
for a product to making an actual purchase.
o And since the sales process is a journey for a prospect, it is a roadmap for a
sales person.

 SEVEN STEPS OF THE SALES PROCESS:

1. Prospecting
2. Preparation
3. Approach
 Premium Approach
 Question Approach
 Product Approach
4. Presentation
5. Handling Objections
6. Closing
 Alternative Choice Close
 Extra Inducement Close
 Standing Room Close
7. Follow Up

1. PROSPECTING
 Kick-starts the entire sale and determines, to a great extent, whether or
not the deal is going to be sealed.
 The more prospects you generate, the more chances to close a sale you
have, as every prospect equals an opportunity.
2. PREPARATION
 Requires a client-centric mentality.
 When conducted properly, will allow the sales professional to gather
the necessary information to conduct a valuable Warm Up (Step 2 of
the Seven Step Sales Process) and instill a sense of professionalism
during the first client appointment and increase the chances of building
customer rapport.
3. APPROACH
 Here is where you make first contact with your client.
– Sometimes this is a face-to-face meeting, sometimes it’s over
the phone.
 THREE COMMON APPROACH METHODS:
 – PREMIUM
 Presenting your potential client with a gift at the
beginning of your interaction.
– QUESTION
 Asking a question to get the prospect interested.
– PRODUCT
 Giving the prospect a sample or a free trial to review
and evaluate your service.
4. PRESENTATION
 Actively demonstrate how your product or service meets the needs of
your potential customer.
 The word presentation implies using PowerPoint and giving a sales
speech, but it doesn’t always have to be that way—you should actively
listen to your customer’s needs and then act and react accordingly.

5. HANDLING OBJECTIONS
 Perhaps the most underrated of the seven steps of a sales process.
 This is where you listen to your prospect’s concerns and address them.
 It’s also where many unsuccessful salespeople drop out of the process
—44% of salespeople abandoning pursuit after one rejection, 22%
after two rejections, 14% after three, and 12% after four, even though
80% of sales require at least five follow-ups to convert.

*Successfully handling objections and alleviating concerns separates

good salespeople from bad and great from good.
  WHAT IS THE OBJECTION?

6. CLOSING
 You get the decision from the client to move forward.
 THREE CLOSING STRATEGIES:
– ALTERNATIVE CHOICE CLOSE
 Assuming the sale and offering the prospect a
choice, where both options close the sale—for

example, ‘Will you be paying the whole fee up front

or in installments?’ or ‘Will that be cash or charge?’
– EXTRA INDUCEMENT CLOSE
 Offering something extra to get the prospect to close,
such as a free month of service or a discount.
– STANDING ROOM ONLY CLOSE
 Creating urgency by expressing that time is of the
essence—for example, ‘The price will be going up
after this month” or “We only have six spots left’.
7. FOLLOW UP
  The follow-up stage keeps you in contact with customers you have
closed, not only for potential repeat business but for referrals as well.
 And since retaining current customers is six to seven times less costly
than acquiring new ones, maintaining relationships is key.
o BEING PERSISTENT
 Following up isn’t just for after the close to get repeat business.
 Most customers don’t buy right away.
 You have to handle objections and try, try, try again.
 This is where the seven-step sales process doesn’t account for repeated
approaches, presentations, meetings, or phone calls where you handle
objections.
 If it did, it might be a 13-step sales process or a 21-step sales process
or...

 W. CLEMENT STONE: Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman—not the
attitude of the prospect.