To understand each stage of a sales process means to move your business intelligence toward profitability. It will help you to learn easily operate within your sales pipeline.

1. SALES PROCESS
EMPOWERING SALES,
MANAGEMENT AND
THE COMPANY

2. Nikolaus Kimla
n.kimla@pipelinersales.com
www.pipelinersales.com
CEO at Pipelinersales Inc.
Written by...
Based on the ebook:
Sales Process: Empowering Sales, Management, and the Company

3. KNOW YOUR
SALES PROCESS

4. Know Your Sales Process
How important is it for a company to
both have and understand its sales
process?
It’s not just important – it’s crucial to sales coordination,
management and company expansion.
A company’s sales process is the precise series of steps through
which a sale passes, from prospect through to close.

5. While a salesperson familiar with a
company’s product may be able to
operate without an established sales
process, it is doubtful anyone else
could. A new sales rep coming on
board may be highly skilled, but
without knowing the various stages a
sale passes through for that company,
he or she could be flying blind and
miss vital steps.
Know Your Sales Process

6. Know Your Sales Process
Additionally, an established sales process means a
sales force that works as a team, all moving in the
same direction.
Proper pipeline management also
makes it possible for a salesperson to
predict his or her sales figures in the
coming week or month.

7. Without an established sales process,
management cannot control yet alone
predict future sales. Establishing and
paying attention to the various stages
of a sales pipeline, a sales manager
can monitor and push the various
stages – and most importantly be
able to predict how each sales rep,
and the sales department as a whole,
is going to end up at the end of the
month
Know Your Sales Process

8. BUYER PROFILES
ARE KEY TO
SALES PROCESS

9. Today’s account management wins
come from digging in and fully
understanding a company, their
requirements, and the specific target
personnel and their jobs. This type of
understanding also influences the
sales process itself.
Buyer Profiles Are Key to Sales Process

10. SALES PROCESS
STAGES:
FOCUSING ON
PROFITABILITY

11. When a prospect comes in the door (literally or
figuratively), that prospect is usually qualified in
some way as regards the likelihood and value of that
potential sale. This allows a rating to be assigned to
that prospect, right at the beginning.
Sales Process Stages: Focusing on Profitability

12. Sales Process Stages: Focusing on Profitability
● what was the prospect’s response after downloading and
running trialware?
● did they feel your product fit their needs?
● were they enthusiastic enough to initiate a purchase –
or do others in the company need to evaluate it first?
As that prospect moves down the
pipeline, each stage should have its
profitability so marked. For example:
These types of questions answered would allow an evaluation
to be added at that stage. Of course each of these evaluations
relates to the profitability of that particular sale.

13. SALES PROCESS:
UTILIZING SALES
PERSONNEL

14. There is another vital use of pipeline
management: the proper utilization
of sales personnel. One of the tools
within pipeline management is the
closing ratio – that is, the number of
leads versus the number of closes
from those leads.
Sales Process: Utilizing Sales Personnel

15. In observing closing ratios, it may be
seen that there can be two broad
categories of salespeople: those that
are great at drumming up new
prospects, and others who are
fantastic at closes. While many
companies and executives tend to
focus strictly on the latter category,
the former also has considerable
value.
Sales Process: Utilizing Sales Personnel

16. Sales Process: Utilizing Sales Personnel
The utilization of personnel is yet another factor in
successful sales pipeline management.
Either category can be isolated through
the observation of individual closing
ratios over time. You can then either
leave them where they are, or reorganize
and place them where they will do the
most good. The 2nd option is often the
most advisable—and the most
cost-effective.

17. IMPORTANCE OF THE
SALES PROCESS—
OUTSIDE OF THE
SALES PIPELINE

18. The firm establishment of a sales process, closely
reflecting specific real-world sales actions that move
sales from prospect to close, is vital to a company’s
smooth operation and expansion. But not only is such
establishment needed for salespeople and sales
managers – it is also quite important for other
individuals and departments outside of immediate
sales pipeline management.
Importance of the Sales Process—Outside of the Sales Pipeline

19. In addition to sales, a view of revenue
must include R&D, product
development, marketing, public
relations and others. A well-established
sales process, and a powerful CRM tool
that fully supports it, will yield views for
an executive that will allow key
decision-making for each of these areas.
Importance of the Sales Process—Outside of the Sales Pipeline

20. Pipeliner CRM supports all facets of a sales process and a company.
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