A sales process that integrated ideas from The Challenger Sale and Sandler Enterprise Selling

1. by Brian Groth
Last updated on 14-May-2018
Buying Stages
Mindset of the Buyer
Who typically owns the
tasks per stage?
Sales Stage Prospecting Qualification Needs Analysis Value Prop Proposal Negotiation Closed Deploy Service
Relationship You don't know
each other exists
Stranger Contact Lead In Qualification Qualified Lead Customer Promoter or
Evangelist
Teams
The employee's task Get your brand
known and raise
awareness to your
target personas and
accounts (outbound
marketing)
Bring visitors to you
via targeted content
so they can know
you (inbound
marketing)
Move the visitor
from stranger to
named contact
Validate interest and
identify your target
persona
Qualify or Dis-
qualify the
opportunity: List
them and be specific
Discover / Develop
customer needs,
requirements and
establish
relationships with
stakeholders
Pitch a solution
(demo, whiteboard,
PPT, PoC) aligned to
the buyer's needs
Write and send a
proposal aligned
with the buyer's
needs
Discuss final
objectives and
negotiate the
contract
Sign the contract Deploy and execute
the solution
Provide support for
the solution
Exit criteria to move to
the next step
(important for
automation and
internal SLAs)
A new stranger hits
the website or
landing page
User can be
identified upon next
visit
Contact information
has been gained
Customer sponsor
has been identified
and next step is
scheduled. Or, mark
as Unresponsive or
keep nurturing
Budget and needs
have been validated
with the customer
and next step is
scheduled. Or, mark
as Unqualified
Goals have been
identified and
defined and next
step is scheduled
Customer is ready
for a proposal and
quote. Next step is
scheduled
Proposal, with clear
terms, services and
fees has been
received. Next step
is scheduled
Verbal confirmation
as both sides work
through details.
Next step is
scheduled
Contract is signed
and deployment
planned. Or, lost
deal to competitor
or status quote
(indefinitely stalled
or dead opt)
Solution is deployed
and supported
Cross-sell/up-sell
opportunities to
grow the business
within the account
Internal hand-off of the
contact after exit
criteria has been
satisfied
From advertising to
inbound marketing
Sales Development
Rep (SDR) / Pre-
Sales can now
manage the named
contact
Handed to sales as a
Marketing Qualified
Lead (MQL)
Sales Accepted Lead
(SAL) or hand back
to marketing/SDR
Sales Qualified Lead
(SQL) or hand back
to marketing
Hand off to a
Customer Service
Representative
(CSR)
Hand off to sales if
upsell/cross sell
opportunity is seen
and the services
team doesn't
manage it
Confidence that this
will result in a win
5% 10% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% = Won
Competitive
consideration
How is the
competition driving
awareness?
Differentiate your
content
Be aware visitor is
comparing options
Is a competitor
talking to the same
sponsor?
Are competitors
going after the same
budget?
Highlight your
strengths versus
known competitors
Highlight
differentiation and
your strengths
versus the known
competitor
Who else has
received an RFP?
Address competitive
sales objections
Share competitive
insights with peers
Let your account
team know if
integration w/
competition is
needed
Let your account
team know if the
customer asks about
integrating w/ a
competitor
Advertisements Pricing Information Consultation Guide
(thought leader)
Case Studies (again) Proposal Contract Win/Loss Interviews High-touch training Knowledge articles
Sponsorships Guides & tip sheets Product introduction Product Buyer's
Guide
Demonstration Needs Checklist Estimates Response to RFP Order Form Press Release Best Practices Support Site
eBooks & thought-
leadership items
Webinars Product videos Free trial/sample Sales pitch Statement of Work Invoice Online Training
Videos Case Studies Product spec sheets Phone call scripts Demo, with script Statement of Work Community Portal
Events Whitepaper FAQs Objection Handling
Blog with
interesting info
Check-lists Phone call scripts
Mrkt. Automation &
CRM
Ad tools Editorial Calendar E-mail marketing Social Selling tools Sales Engineer for
generic demo
Sales Engineer for a
custom demo
Legal E-signature tools Guidance docs Support forums
Cross-channel
campaigns
Retargeting ads Retargeting ads Call-downs Lead Alerts Product Roadmaps Engagement
Managers
Community tools
and events
Trade Shows SEO Lead in CRM Contact in CRM Phone scripts
SEM Display Ads Social Ads Phone scripts
Website aligned to
ads / messaging
Website w/ clear call-
to-actions
Website w/ clear call-
to-actions
E-mail tracking ROI tool & points
Traffic / UU Downloads Downloads Time in this stage Time in this stage Time in this stage Time in this stage # won & lost Time to deploy # Cases
Dwell Time Sign-ups # MQL to Sales Demo:win ratio RFP response rate % average discount $ won & lost Satisfaction Retention Rate
Pageviews E-mail Opens CTA completed # MQL returned # qualified as SQL MQL win ratio Upsell
Ad CTR E-mail CTR # SAO Time in pipeline Event attendees
Awareness Downloads SAO Closed Community usage
Sentiment SQL Closed # Referrals
Page rank
Generating brand
awareness
Content creation Lead development
and nurturing
Networking skills to
validate opportunity
and identify an
owner
Understanding the
customer’s industry
to qualify an
opportunity
Understand the
customer’s business
to identify their
needs
Presentation skills to
pitch a solution that
exceeds the
customer’s needs
Ability to handle
sales objections and
final details of the
proposal
Negotiation skills to
finalize the contract
Closing deals:
Getting to YES
Finalize the
deployment plan
and execute the
solution
Customer support
SEO Content Marketing Lead Nurturing Lead Scoring Public Presenting Active Listening Consultative Selling Proposal Writing Negotiating Closing Deals Specific technical Problem Solving
Social & Display Ads Remessaging Territory
Management
Prospecting Questioning Professionalism
(with stress & the
competition)
Being Nimble &
Creative (improv)
Solution Selling
Marketing Analytics Social Selling Active Listening Qualifying Time Management Demo skills Negotiating
Last updated on 14-May-2018
Content eeded for this
stage (aligned to
specific buyer
personas)
Each item listed here
should link to that piece
of content, or repository
of those types of content
Buyer Persona Guides that details 3 to 5 different personas, maybe more when adding geographical and industry differences. Each Persona needs a unique Buying Process Map that identify buyer behavior and trigger events that signals when that persona
starts investigating and making purchase decisions. Include what drives them, pain points, unique value prop, messaging and influences. Align all marketing and sales content to the personas (ideally, the product aligns too).
Early, Mid and Late stage content aligned to Buyer Persona
distributed to specific Channels
Talking Script (for
precision
questioning)
Mutual Action Plan / Sequence of Events
Competitive Sales
Objection HandlingBusiness Value that
leads to ROI
Insights aligned to the account's industry Insights aligned to the account, or their sub-segment of the
industry
Buyer's Journey to align processes across marketing, sales and services
Contact Brian Groth with questions on LinkedIn at http://linkedin.com/in/bgroth
Using your solution
Owned by Customer Service to maintain
customer satisfaction
Delight customers to retain
them and up/cross sell
Raise Awareness and Attract your buyer to Consider your
product; messaging is aligned to your target Buyer Persona
Convert your buyer to believe in your solution;
messaging aligned to the Buyer's Needs
Researching a problem that needs to be solved A solution like yours is needed Looking for a solution to purchase
Close the deal with a solution that
meets/exceeds the Buyer's Needs
Owned by Sales (Account Execs, Sales Engineers) to turn leads into customersOwned by marketing and Sales Development Reps (SDR) to nurture strangers
into leads
Field / Sales Operations manages the overall sales processes, tools, data and analysis
Field / Sales Enablement identifieds and trains SDRs & AEs with the skills & knowledge on topics, personas, products, messaging, process, & tools
Operations,
Enablement, &
Readiness Field / Sales Readiness provides & educates SDR and AE with targeted content & strategies aligning marketing and sales efforts
Marketing Sales Development Reps (SDR) Sales Reps (Account Executives), with supporting roles as needed Customer Success/ Service
Marketing Operations manages the marketing automation
Contact Brian Groth with questions on LinkedIn at http://linkedin.com/in/bgroth
Tools, Guides, Teams
to help accomplish this
stage
Each item listed here
should specify a team to
work with or a link to a
tool or the writen guide
to view/download USP (Unique Selling
Points) for
Differentiation
Competitive Sales
Objection Handling
Competitive Sales
Objection Handling
Social mentions,
shares, comments
Time to contact
MQL
Social Media tools for Social Listening, Social Selling, Social Media Marketing, and Service. Know which piece of content and which social service makes sense for your buyers and for which stage they are in the buying journey.
After the sale, Customer Satisfaction is the primary Leading Indicator: Measure each Customer Experience and to know what efforts/ads/content drive a positive emotional connection. Overall, use CSAT, NSAT, etc.
Revenue is the primary Lagging Indicator: Measure Revenue per content, ad, opportunity, account, etc.. Marketing automation + CRM integration is needed to determine individual ROI.
Measurements (KPIs)
per content or phase
Each item listed here
should link to the report
or dashboard with that
data
Sales Engineer to
align business &
tech/solution
Sales Engineer for
technical parts of
the proposal
Marketing Automation Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to offer a single view of a customer, from the point of marketing, sales and service. This ties into marketing automation
systems, enterprise resource planning systems, customer portals, partner portals, and more.
Skills needed by the
employee in addition to
Methodology, Tools
and Products
Each item should link to
online training or written
guidance