How Can You Simplify Your Sales Process in 6 Easy Ways

Imagine that your sales leader is leaving the company today. Can you tell me the number of sales that are in the pipeline expected to finalize soon? Or do you have any idea what your company’s earnings will be in the upcoming month? Or your current CPA?

If you don’t know one or more of these things, then the time has come to simplify your sales process so that this information is readily available to you and your managers.

Simplifying your sales process will reduce the pressure on your sales desk and boost productivity. So, let’s take a look at what the sales process is and how you can simplify it.

What is a sales process?

A sales process is the series of steps that your sales team follows to close a deal and convert a prospect into a customer. 

It is a roadmap for your sales desk to follow to move prospects across the stages of the sales pipeline. A solid sales process will allow your agents to keep selling your product by providing them with steps they need to follow. 

But before I walk you through the ways to simplify your sales process, let’s look at its stages to get a better understanding of the sales process as a whole.

Various stages of the sales process

Prospecting and lead generation

As the name suggests, this stage involves identifying potential customers (prospects) who might be interested in your product or service. The objective of this stage is to build a database of possible customers who you can research and reach out to in the next stage. 

You can do prospecting using several methods, such as cold calling, networking, and by using videos. You can also automate your lead generation process with the help of a lead bot. A leadbot is an AI-based chatbot with the key objective to engage with prospects and get them interested in your offerings. And a great thing about building a leadbot is that you don’t need coding experience to create it.

Reaching out and qualifying

After you have identified the right prospects, you have to decide whether they are a good match for your product or service. This step consists of gathering information by asking qualifying questions like customers’ needs, budget, decision-making process, and their authority to make a purchase decision.

One of the places you can look to find your prospects’ contact information is LinkedIn. Everyone has a LinkedIn profile nowadays, making it a perfect spot to collect information. And one of the tools you can use for doing this is Zixflow’s LinkedIn Email Finder extension. It is a free extension that you can add to Chrome to find your prospects' contact details and company information. 

Assessing needs

Here, you will closely work with the prospect to understand their requirements and the issues they are facing. 

For instance, sleep is critical for the well-being of the human body. It replenishes your energy and ensures that you are in perfect condition every day. That’s why the furniture you use to sleep plays a big role in determining the quality of your sleep. 

For this reason, Sleep Number, a bedding and mattress brand, encourages its prospects to take a simple quiz to better understand their needs. The data they receive allows them to offer the correct options to each individual.

Presenting solutions

Once everything is clear regarding how the product will help the potential customer, the next step is to present your solution to them in such a way that it addresses their pain points. This can be done through a personalized product demo. 

Just like how Zixflow lets you book a personalized demo that you can schedule at your convenience by choosing the date and time from the calendar.

Handling objections

During the presentation stage, the prospect might have questions or objections regarding your product. Those objections should be resolved at this stage. Take a look at the above video about the most common sales objections and how you can get through them.

Closing the deal

After everything is resolved, this is where you ask the prospect to make the purchase. Here, you will have to discuss the pricing, terms and conditions, and handle any last concerns the prospect might have.

Post sale follow-up 

Finally, once the sale is done, it is crucial to follow up with the customer and see if they are satisfied with the product, and solve any issues they might have after the sale.

For instance, Apple handles post-sales follow-up by asking its customer to reach out if they have any issues with the iTunes Store or any other Apple product. They send a personalized email thanking the customer for their purchase and encourage them to reach out in case of any issues.

So, now that you are familiar with the various stages of the sales process, let’s understand the steps to simplify your sales process.

How can you simplify your sales process?

The sales process is the foundation of a solid funnel and your marketing and sales divisions need to understand its importance along with its different stages. With that said, here are the ways using which you can simplify your sales process. Starting with creating a buyer persona.

Create a buyer persona

Several businesses began pursuing whatever customers they can find, whereas some have limited their focus to gaining more profits from a low number of prospects.

It doesn’t take much for someone to interact with your company. But that doesn't mean they are a good fit to become your customer. You have to concentrate on who your audience is and develop a buyer persona around them.

“There is no easy button in sales. Prospecting is hard, emotionally draining work, and it is the price you have to pay to earn a high income.”- Jeb Blount

Spend time determining who exactly you are hoping to serve. Figure out which persona best matches your potential customers, their buying habits, and what influences them in making those purchasing decisions.

This might sound like a lot of work but leading marketers dedicate six hours each week in general analyzing their potential customers.

Once you have identified the market segment you want to cater to, create a document with all their details and a photo to humanize your audience. By doing so, you will not see your customers as mere numbers but as actual people. To learn more about how to create buyer personas, check out the above video.

Make it easy for customers to contact you

It is not easy to make people agree with you. Yet there are a couple of things I know everyone appreciates; clarity and choices. Your sales staff can capitalize on these needs for comfort by providing your prospects with several ways to reach out to you.

Nowadays, there are many engagement options available in the market. For example, H&M sends these incentive emails to invite customers to their platforms using cleverly placed CTAs for each category of clothing.

You have to identify an approach most suitable to your business to use and easy for your prospects to follow.

Your site, in particular, must contain readily accessible links, allowing prospects to connect with you directly. This includes a contact form, a cell number, an email address, or social media icons for your visitors whenever they have any problem.

Take a look at the contact options above that are available on the site of Zixflow, with each servicing a particular purpose. By giving all the contact options in a single place, users can effortlessly reach out to you based on their needs. This way, users will have full control over the channel they want to use to get in touch with you.

Some people are happy to sign up for a trial immediately, whereas others will reach out for more information before signing up or when they require support from you. Some are simply interested in having the alternatives presented to them. To fulfill the needs and desires of your prospects, always provide them with multiple ways to connect with you.

Use modern SalesOS like Zixflow

If you are using only a CRM solution in your sales process, then you are living in the past. Gone are the days when having CRM software was enough to handle your entire sales process. In today’s competitive world, you need to have a modern salesOS to beat your competitors and stay ahead of the curve.

And this is where Zixflow comes in. It is a complete sales solution that allows you to not just keep a record of your customer’s data, but also act on it to further simplify your sales process. Here’s how:

Benefits of using SalesOS

Save your customers’ phone numbers and emails in a centralized location

Zixflow comes with an in-built sales CRM that allows you to store and manage your customer's contact information in a single database, making it easier for your sales team to track past conversations and personalize future interactions based on individual preferences.

Automate repetitive sales tasks

One of the biggest advantages of Zixflow is that it allows you to take action on your saved data and lower the burden on your sales team. It lets you automate your sales workflows so your sales agents do not have to perform redundant operations and they can concentrate on selling more efficiently.

Lets you run outreach campaigns

Being an all-around sales solution, Zixflow lets you run multichannel outreach campaigns straight from the web application. This way, you can interact with your prospects using various channels, such as emails, texts, or calls to guide them across the sales pipeline smoothly.

Determine your key performance indicators

Just following these ways to simplify your sales process is not enough. If you want to see how well your efforts have been performing, you need to determine the right sales metrics. 

These KPIs will let you monitor the number of prospects that made it through your funnel completely. You'll also be aware of the time needed for a lead to complete a sales journey from beginning to end. So if you are still unsure as to which metrics you should monitor, here are a few of them to help you measure the effectiveness of your sales process.

Common sales KPIs 

Total sales this month to date 

This metric tells you how many sales have been closed from the start of the current month till today.

Total sales this year to date 

This shows how many sales have been closed from the beginning of this year until today.

Closing rate 

This metric lets you measure the percentage of closed sales over a period of time. You can calculate this by taking the total deals closed by your sales team, divide it by the total deals your team has pursued and multiply the result by 100.

General sales cost 

This refers to the expenses you have to incur to manage and administer your sales department.

Lifetime customer value (LCV)

This metric represents the total revenue you can earn (in the future) from a single customer during the course of your entire relationship with that customer.

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

This metric shows your average cost to acquire a new customer. To calculate this, take the total cost of your sales and marketing efforts and divide it by the number of new customers you acquired over a period of time.

On top of the metrics you have chosen, one more thing you should track is the turnaround time for services. For instance, if it generally takes your sales staff three days to send an estimate, but suddenly it is taking 12 days, that means there is a serious issue that has to be addressed quickly.

Simplify internal communications 

It is crucial to streamline and normalize your internal communications protocols to make sure that your employees are up-to-date and on the same page regarding the sales process.  

A study conducted by McKinsey Global Institute discovered that productivity increases by 20–25% in companies that have well-connected members.

That’s why it's essential to know and use the channels your sales team is already familiar with, such as social networks or messaging tools, to make sure the information is delivered to everyone.

For instance, Zixflow offers a centralized dashboard that is easily accessible to your entire sales team. This data can be easily shared by the team members, ensuring smooth internal communication and interacting with prospects on a touchpoint basis to build relationships with them and get them interested in your product.

Also, ensure that during discussions, the language of the communications must represent your brand's mission, vision, and goals. Doing so makes it easier to identify objectives and make sure everybody is aiming to achieve them together.

Review your sales process and keep making changes 

Once you have deployed a sales process, you might come across several problems. For example, the information would be misplaced or deleted, and things won’t function as you want them to.

So, after implementing a new program, head to the analytics section and see how everything is going. By regularly reviewing the sales analytics, you will get valuable insights regarding the areas that need improvements. After that, all that is left for you is to make changes accordingly.

Ready to simplify your sales process?

It is exciting for everyone when they present proposals, close deals, and make cold calls. But no one likes becoming entangled in repetitive procedures or complex operations. 

A simplified sales process will not just make your sales team love their job but also increase the profits for your business. And you can do that precisely with Zixflow.

It is a 360-degree sales engagement platform that lets you simplify your sales process and ensure that your sales staff is not busy doing anything other than selling your product. Using Zixflow, you can put your sales process on autopilot while still being in control of everything.

On top of that, it also offers a lifelong free version with every necessary functionality for you to play around with before committing anything. Now that’s the deal I can get behind 😍