The first part of any sales process is to identify prospects that have a problem you can solve. The more pressing the problem, the more valued will be the solution. It is also very important to identify time points, because other wise you may identify an important problem that no one is in a hurry to solve, even if you have the best solution.

This can be on a number of levels and each business may have a number of sales processes, each related to the same or different prospects, including new business, cross-sale and up-sale. In each case, identifying who are the targets for each proposition is crucial, because only then can you begin to direct your prospecting resources with precision, and quantify the performance and return on investment for each prospecting activity.

For Business to Consumer (B2C), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Instagram are great tools, whereas for Business to Business (B2B) then Target Account Selling (TAS) is often more appropriate.

In all cases, it makes it much easier to hit a target, when you are clear which targets you want to hit.

Building interest and authority are key foundations for the adoption of any product or service, at scale.

Not everyone who is interested is a “prospect”, and before committing sales resources it is important to qualify each opportunity in order to determine if this is a sales engagement we can win, and if winning it will be profitable and lead to a positive outcome for both parties. The best way to put yourself in the position of being able to present a “solution”, rather than just a product or a service, is to ask questions and then really listen to the answers. Most people are pleased to share the challenges they face with someone who can help, and intelligent questioning, attentive active listening and a high degree of empathy, are key skills for a good sales person.

Armed with these skills, when you present your product or service, you will be in a strong position to relate it’s features and benefits to the “pain” that each prospects wants to reduce or the advantage they want to achieve. This is how you present a “solution”.

Presenting “solutions”, rather than products or services, creates a much higher chance of success.

“One swallow doesn’t make a summer”, and a good sales process ensures that success can be taught, repeated and scaled. It also makes managing and trouble-shooting much easier.

Keeping records, and making interactions as easy as possible, can be facilitated by using a good CRM system. But implementing a CRM in a way where sales and marketing teams find it helpful, rather than obstructive, takes considerable experience and a deep understanding. Consequently, there are many cases where these systems fail to deliver all of the potential advantages. Consistency can be improved by training and developing soft skills. Sales methodologies, such as “Miller Heiman,” which is one of the top sales tools for managing B2B engagements, can be used to streamline and add clarity. But here again, sales training is a specialism, and not getting this right can have the devastating effect of reducing sales, whereas optimising and fine-tuning sales training can quickly increase revenue, often by a significant amount.

Alignment of all processes is necessary to have invoices paid at an increasing rate, at scale.