This article is brought to you by Zen Flowchart. Create sales process flowcharts and other diagrams in just minutes!
--
Sales process flowcharts is an example of flowchart, often used to illustrate the steps in a sales cycle. It can help people visualize how they should be going about their day-to-day work and how they move from one step of the sales process to another. These charts provide a visual representation of your organization’s sales process and can be utilized as an excellent tool for training purposes.
Overview Of Sales Process Flowchart
Definition
A sales process flowchart is a type of flowchart that summarizes the stages of a typical sales process. The steps in a sales process are usually broken down into eight main categories: prospecting, qualifying, presenting, handling objections, closing, following up, and feedback.
Purposes And Benefits
Sale teams will be lost in their way of targeting prospective customers without the help of a brief and effective process. It’s like wandering in a foggy jungle with no road map. Therefore, simplified sale process steps will be one of the most remarkable tools to bring your products to your clients more conveniently.
What’s more, managers should develop a typical sales process of their teams or companies for beginners to follow. By doing this, new employees won’t have to waste time getting on well with their jobs. They won't have trouble determining solutions to various obstacles while finding and closing deals.
Once you have straightforward presentations via flowchart, you can have a hold over conversations and processes. As a result, you can enhance your understanding of your teammates or customers to get into an agreement.
Besides, demonstrating the process in the form of a chart will assist you in immediately spotting what is going out of track with your business. While waiting for later alterations in sales operations, you can quickly make up for the malfunction with prompt solutions.
How To Plan Sales Process Flowchart?
What to keep in mind when creating a flowchart
1. Learn From Others
Before getting to create a whole new chart for yourself, you may want to have a look at the versions from other teams. Here's a sales process flowchart template for you.
While observing the already made sales plan template, you may be confused about applying it to your business. In this case, you should take a close look at the products in the pipeline and the completed deals simultaneously. Then, you will find out what is hindering you from progressing to your sales targets.
You should pay more attention to the stage at which your potential customers form their perspective and then pick the suitable factors affecting the buying decision.
2. Ask For The Entire Sales Team’s Ideas
Qualified leads to closed deals always require the unity of the leader and other members. As a matter of fact, reps directly contact prospective buyers and sell them the products. Hence, the trading methodology must combine all the consistent experience from the reps and the managers.
Each person in the sales department should share the key elements of their success to contribute to the final result of the whole group. Or else, you can replace a drawback of one’s flowchart with a more appropriate step from the other. As a result, you can acquire a flexible process chart to deal with numerous situations in your business.
3. Evaluate The Outcome
Sales methodology’s primary aim is to complete as many targets as possible. Therefore, you should spend more time assessing the result after carrying out the flowchart. In particular, the key trading metrics will be beneficial for you to forecast the trends.
4. Proper Adjustment
You shouldn’t persistently opt for a fixed sales journey because the market and your potential customers always change. The only way to cope with this reality is to innovate the flowchart via the opinions and experiences of your teammates or customers’ actual business.
Steps Of A Sales Process
There are 13-step, 21-step, or 9-step processes. However, we would like to give you the most basic structure of sales methodology—the 7-step process.
1. Prospecting
At the prospecting stage, you will find your prospective buyers by assessing their demand for your products and services. What’s more, you have to make sure that the clients are willing and able to complete their purchase.
2. Preparation
Prepare a valid email address before contacting your clients. At the same time, you also have to look for relevant information about the products or services you are selling. You should start to create or follow efficient sales process steps from now on.
3. Understanding your customers
This stage is when you get to know your target customers. You will have many ways to meet them, like via phone calls, emails, or face-to-face conversations. There are three ways you can choose to make the first impression on your clients:
- A small gift will show them your generosity and willingness to accompany your customers to close deals.
- You can show your care and improve the understanding between you and your clients by giving them common and technical questions.
- You can offer your customers a free trial of the products and ask for their feedback if possible.
4. Presentation
You should carefully listen to your customers first and take note of their needs before presenting your products’ features. Your presentation can be in the form of a post, a PowerPoint slide show, or a video.
5. Don’t Ignore The Objections
Some people ignore the minor objections from customers because they assume that if the product is not suitable for this person, it will be a good choice for others. This is a common mistake of salesmen. You should thoroughly consider which negative feedback from clients will be useful to upgrade the services or products’ quality.
6. Done Deals
Don’t reveal the price of the products first. On the contrary, you should only display the prices of the products or services after proposing them to your customers and presenting their features.
7. Support
After persuading your clients to pay money for the products or services, you should keep caring for their experience. No one can complain about your sincere attitude, and they will introduce your great services to other friends.
Common Mistakes
- The process flowchart is not specific, so sales team members will understand each stage differently. Consequently, they won’t handle it properly when an issue comes up.
- As mentioned above, a flowchart should combine several precious experiences of sales managers and reps. You should not opt for a fixed flowchart
- The marketing teams can’t get access to the process chart. You need to remember that the bond between marketing teams and sales teams is indispensable.
- Sometimes, you focus too much on the actual situation, and you may forget to update your chart along with what is happening. You shouldn’t let this happen again.
- The primary purpose of a sales process flowchart is to guide you to close a deal. Yet, you should provide your customers with true value before thinking of their purchasing your products or services.
