sales journey stages

Supercharge your Cold Emails

Understanding the 7 Key Stages of the Sales Cycle: A Complete Guide

For companies seeking revenue growth, mastering the art of selling is mandatory. But often, sales activities seem disconnected rather than part of a repeatable blueprint. Enter the sales cycle – a phased journey to methodically convert prospects into delighted customers.

This comprehensive guide explores each sales cycle stage, plus tips to optimize your workflow for results. Follow along to transform your strategy.

Page Contents

What is the Sales Cycle and Why is it Important?

When it comes to sales, the sales cycle refers to the journey a prospective buyer takes from initially becoming aware of a product to ultimately making a purchase. It encompasses every touchpoint and interaction that occurs along the way. While the exact steps may vary across businesses, the sales cycle generally follows a predictable path through 7 key stages.

So why is understanding and optimizing your sales cycle so crucial for success? Let’s break it down.

Defining the Sales Cycle

The sales cycle consists of every step a potential customer goes through in their buying journey , starting from the initial prospecting stage to closing the deal. It provides a roadmap that guides your sales processes and techniques at each phase to move leads closer to a purchase.

Here are the 7 core stages that make up a typical sales cycle:

• Lead Generation
• Lead Qualification
• Initial Contact
• Presentation/Addressing Objections
• Lead Nurturing
• Closing the Sale
• Referrals/Repeat Sales

However, it’s important to note that while these 7 stages are common, the specific steps may vary across businesses based on factors like:

• Type of product/service
• Complexity of sale
• Number of decision makers involved
• Industry standards and norms

For example, a B2B sale of enterprise software may have a longer, more complex sales cycle than a B2C transactional sale. The steps will need to be adapted accordingly.

The 7 Key Stages of the Sales Cycle

Let’s look at what comprises each of the 7 stages in more detail:

Stage 1: Lead Generation

This initial prospecting phase focuses on identifying and targeting potential customers who may be interested in your offering. Sales teams research their ideal buyer profiles and leverage tools like digital ads, events, referrals, cold calling, and more to build a strong lead list.

Stage 2: Lead Qualification

Not every lead is ready to buy from you. Lead qualification helps sales teams determine which prospects are more “ sales qualified ” based on criteria like need, budget, authority, and buying timeframe. This enables more efficient allocation of resources.

Stage 3: Initial Contact

Once promising leads are identified, sales reps reach out to them for the first time, often via email or phone. The goal here is to introduce themselves, start building rapport , and get prospects excited about a meeting.

Stage 4: Presentation/Address Objections

During an in-person meeting or sales presentation, reps explain their offering in-depth, highlighting benefits tailored to that particular customer. They also aim to address any concerns or objections raised at this stage.

Stage 5: Lead Nurturing

Additional follow-ups and continued communication after the presentation helps further build trust and affinity. Content, emails, and social media keep your brand top-of-mind.

Stage 6: Closing the Sale

At this critical stage, sales reps ask for the business and finalize the purchase. Negotiating contracts, pricing, and details happens here.

Stage 7: Referrals/Repeat Sales

Happy customers can become brand advocates, providing referrals for new leads. Ongoing sales relationships lead to repeat business down the line.

The Importance of the Sales Cycle

Optimizing your sales cycle pays big dividends across these key areas:

• Better Lead Conversion Rates – Data shows companies with defined sales cycles convert 6x more leads into customers.
• Increased Sales Team Productivity – A structured sales process reduces inefficiencies and helps reps close more deals faster.
• Higher Revenue Growth – Organizations with formal sales cycles achieve 15% faster revenue growth on average.
• Enhanced Customer Relationships – Aligned sales processes improve communication and nurturing, leading to happier repeat buyers.
• More Accurate Sales Forecasting – Analyzing sales cycle metrics enables more precise predictions of upcoming sales.
• Effective Training for Sales Reps – New hires get up to speed faster by following a proven step-by-step roadmap.
• Identifying Areas for Improvement – Tracking sales cycle KPIs uncovers issues and opportunities to optimize.
• Facilitating Marketing/Sales Alignment – Shared sales cycle visibility promotes collaboration between teams.

Without a well-defined sales cycle, your revenue growth and sales productivity will lag. But by taking the time to map out and refine each step of your process, you gain a blueprint for sales excellence.

For example, examine the typical length of your sales cycle. If it’s 60 days on average but your competitors close deals in 30 days, you can analyze where delays happen and devise improvements.

Whether you need to ramp up lead nurturing, provide sales staff with better tech tools, or simplify your contracts, a data-driven sales cycle perspective highlights problems.

Similarly, tracking conversion rates at each stage reveals where leads are falling out of your funnel so you can plug those leaks. The power of the sales cycle lies in understanding the customer’s journey to remove friction and smoothen each touchpoint.

While the sales process itself may differ across organizations, taking a strategic approach is universally valuable. Even small optimizations like email templates and call scripts designed for specific sales stages can make a significant impact.

Adapting your cycle to mirror industry benchmarks is also smart. If top firms spend more time on product demos, you may need to extend your presentations. If competitors send 5 follow-up emails over 2 weeks, assess if your lead nurturing matches up.

For any business seeking to boost sales, implementing a structured sales cycle tailored to their audience, offerings, and team strengths provides a foundational advantage.

Comparing B2B and B2C Sales Cycles

While all sales cycles share common stages, significant differences exist between B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) cycles. Understanding these nuances is key to tailoring strategy accordingly.

Let’s break down how B2B and B2C sales cycles vary:

The B2B Sales Cycle

Selling to other businesses often entails a longer, more complex journey with multiple decision-makers and stakeholders.

Typical Length

• 3-6 months on average
• Can extend to 1 year+ for large contracts

Buying Process

• Involves multiple people with input
• Economic buyers who control budget
• Technical experts who evaluate needs
• End-users impacted by purchase
• Extensive research and comparison of solutions
• Formal procurement processes and rules

Sales Approach

• Consultative selling based on problem-solving
• Customized pitches highlighting ROI
• Relationship-building over long term
• Handling committees and consensus-based decisions
• Post-sale integration and support emphasis

Marketing Strategies

• Thought leadership content like whitepapers
• Targeted digital ad campaigns with industry terminology
• Participating in trade shows and events
• Leveraging referrals and word-of-mouth

The B2C Sales Cycle

B2C sales to individual consumers tend to happen much quicker and are more emotionally driven.

• Hours to days in most cases
• 1-2 weeks on the longer end for big purchases
• Individuals making unilateral decisions
• Impulse purchases and emotional appeal factor highly
• Minimal research or comparisons
• Transactional interactions
• Focus on convenience, quality, and prompt service
• Driving instant gratification and clear cost-benefit
• Eye-catching ads using aspirational messaging
• Promotional pricing like flash sales
• Leveraging social proof and influencer endorsements
• Emphasizing unique features of offering

Comparing Key Differences

A B2B sales cycle has a longer runway by nature of the products, decision complexity, and purchaser differences. For a manufacturer buying factory equipment, stakeholder alignment, budget sourcing, and lengthy ROI projections elongate the process.

On the B2C side, individuals make faster judgments based on desire, affordability, and emotions. A shopper buying cosmetics compares far less and acts on personal preferences.

These dynamics mandate divergent sales and marketing strategies as well. B2B prioritizes nurturing long-term relationships, starting from the early stages when scoping pain points and needs. Relevant content and subject authority establish credibility.

B2C interactions are more transactional, relying on enticing messaging, attractive pricing, and impulse sparking. The beginning of the sales cycle centers on grabbing attention quickly before consumers move on.

Beyond the customer journey, the sales team composition also differs significantly between B2B and B2C organizations.

B2B Sales Team

• Sales engineers to demonstrate technical product fit
• Pre-sales consultants for complex vetting and trials
• Account executives to manage client relationships
• Sales support staff to assist with proposals and quoting

B2C Sales Team

• Strong UI/UX designers to optimize web/mobile experience
• Customer support staff to manage questions/complaints
• Telesales people to convert inbound leads swiftly
• Brand ambassadors on social media for engaging audiences

Ensuring sales and marketing personnel have B2B or B2C appropriate skills is vital. Reps adept at explaining highly complex software capabilities get lost selling simple self-serve products online. And staff accustomed to one-and-done retail transactions may never close elaborate enterprise deals.

Adapting Your Sales Cycle

The more your sales cycle aligns to the norms, expectations, and best practices of either B2B or B2C selling, the better your results will be.

For B2B companies, exhaustively map the decision-making roles, processes, and timeframes your clients face. Identify key events like budget planning or technology review meetings you can sync with.

In B2C, obsess over understanding your customer demographics, motivations, and emotional triggers. Fine tune funnels and user experiences toward impulse satisfaction and minimum hassle.

While no business exists purely in the B2B or B2C realm, analyzing where you mostly operate is crucial. Isolate those high impact characteristic differences between each cycle model above.

Then scrutinize every sales, marketing, analytics, and support element of your organization for opportunities to optimize for your core customer type. Incremental improvements add up, creating compounding benefits over the long term.

By taking the time to discern the unique complexities of business-to-business versus business-to-consumer sales cycles, you gain an invaluable advantage. Sales processes mistakenly treated identical despite divergent realities leave money on the table and constrain growth.

Leverage your knowledge of how these cycles differ to rise above competitors who just use a one-size-fits-all approach.

Essential Sales Tools and Software

While the fundamentals of selling remain constant, technology has opened up game-changing possibilities for optimizing every phase of the sales cycle. The right tools remove repetitive manual work, enhance communication, provide key insights, and increase overall sales productivity.

Let’s explore some of the most impactful sales software and tools that modern organizations are leveraging:

CRM Platforms

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems form the core of most sales technology stacks today. They provide a centralized database for capturing and managing all prospect and customer information in one place.

Key features include:

• Contact management
• Pipeline tracking
• Lead scoring
• Opportunity tracking
• Sales forecasting
• Reporting and analytics

CRM benefits like 360-degree customer views, automated workflow triggers, and sales performance dashboards directly accelerate the sales cycle. Salespeople save hours previously spent on manual data entry and organization.

Popular CRM options include:

Marketing Automation Software

Where CRM focuses on sales tracking and management, marketing automation handles multi-channel lead nurturing at scale. These tools send prospects timely and relevant content like emails, social messages, and texts based on their sales cycle stage and activity.

Marketing automation provides:

• Email templates by sales stage
• Lead scoring rules
• Web tracking and analytics
• Landing page creation
• Multi-step campaigns
• ROI reporting

This technology allows personalized, automated lead nurturing 24/7. Together with CRM, it provides comprehensive visibility from lead generation to closed deal.

Top marketing automation platforms:

• Mystrika, for Outbound lead generation using Cold Email (and Email Warmup)
• ActiveCampaign

Call Center Software

Call centers remain a popular tactic for qualifying inbound leads swiftly. Cloud-based call center software equips sales reps with the capabilities to handle high call volumes efficiently.

Capabilities include:

• Automatic call distribution
• IVR menus and routing
• Call recording
• Call analytics
• Agent performance dashboards
• SMS integration

By automatically disseminating calls, providing helpful prompts, and tracking agent KPIs, this software optimizes early-stage lead qualification.

Leading options include:

• RingCentral
• Nice InContact

Data and Analytics Platforms

Harnessing the power of data is a sales game-changer. Analytics platforms ingest customer information from sources like web, CRM, marketing automation, and more to uncover optimization opportunities.

Key analytics features:

• Lead origin analysis
• Sales performance trends
• Pipeline health indicators
• Win/loss evaluation
• Forecasting projections
• KPI dashboards

Armed with actionable intelligence, sales leaders can pinpoint inefficient processes, assess rep performance, benchmark metrics, and justify smart investments.

Top analytics tools:

• Salesforce Einstein
• Google Analytics

Additional Sales Tools

Beyond the platforms above, a few other technologies worth considering include:

Proposal Software

Templates, automation, and analytics streamline creating and tracking client quotes and proposals. Examples: PandaDoc, Qwilr, QuoteRoller.

Email Tracking

Sales emails tracked for open/click activity provide engagement insights. Examples: Mixmax, Mailtrack, Cirrus Insight.

Meeting Scheduling

Simplify booking sales calls and meetings with integrated calendar systems. Examples: Calendly, AcuityScheduling, YouCanBookMe.

Document Management

Centrally storing and accessing contracts, playbooks, collateral. Examples: Box, OneDrive, Dropbox.

VoIP Calling

Cloud phone systems like Zoom enable low-cost sales calls. Examples: RingCentral, Nextiva, 8×8.

Sales Coaching Software

Tools for recording sales calls, sharing best practices, and one-on-one mentorship. Examples: Gong, Chorus.ai, SalesLoft.

Key Selection Criteria

With so many sales tools out there now, focus on these factors when evaluating options:

• Ease of use – Will reps actually use it daily? Is the learning curve reasonable?
• Mobility – Are key features available on mobile devices?
• Integration – Does the software connect with your current tech stack?
• Cost – Do the productivity benefits outweigh licensing costs?
• Data security – Does the vendor offer robust data protection?
• Scalability – Can the platform support your growth trajectories?
• Customer support – Is training and technical assistance readily available?

Getting Started

When investigating sales software:

• Involve both sales and IT teams for balanced perspective
• Assess current pain points and objective requirements
• Analyze workloads to right-size capabilities
• Read independent software reviews for impartial insight
• Take advantage of free trials to test drive options firsthand

Jumping right to a complete suite like Salesforce or HubSpot may seem tempting for comprehensive coverage. But implementing too much new technology simultaneously can backfire.

Instead, consider stepping up your sales stack gradually. Start with foundational CRM, then layer on marketing automation and analytics capabilities over time. This measured approach allows proper training and adoption while showcasing ROI for further tool investment.

And don’t forget that even the most cutting-edge software depends on people using it properly. Provide ample onboarding and ongoing training to extract the full value from your sales technology.

Gone are the days when sales teams could get by with just phones and legal pads. In the modern era, embracing sales software unlocks game-changing efficiency. The key is selecting the right mix of tools tailored to your specific sales process needs and team culture.

Now that we’ve covered sales cycle fundamentals, let’s dive into the 7 core stages that comprise most sales processes.

Understanding these phases from lead to customer empowers you to map strategy and messaging appropriately across the customer journey.

Lead generation represents that crucial first step – identifying and targeting potential customers. This initial prospecting phase involves:

Building a Lead List

Populating your sales pipeline starts with research to build a robust lead list.

• Persona research – Determine your ideal customer profile based on attributes like demographics, challenges, and goals.
• Database searching – Leverage tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to find prospects matching your criteria.
• Events – Attend or sponsor relevant industry conferences and seminars to connect with prospects.
• Referrals – Existing customers and partners can provide qualified referrals.
• Ads – PPC, social media, and retargeting ads help connect with potential buyers.
• Inbound marketing – Content, SEO, and lead magnets attract visitors to convert into leads.

Expanding Contact Points

Cast a wide net identifying prospects across multiple channels:

• Website and landing pages
• Cold calling and emails
• Social media engagement
• Physical mailings and fliers

Monitoring Market Problems

Keep prospecting efforts aligned to current buyer needs by continually researching market challenges ideal for your offering.

Leveraging Available Data

Information sources like web analytics, VOC surveys, and win/loss analysis help focus prospecting where interest is highest.

With a robust lead generation approach, your sales pipeline stays flushed with fresh contacts to pursue new deals.

Not every lead is a fit for your solution. The qualification process assesses generated leads to determine sales readiness.

Scoring Leads

Lead scoring models rate prospects based on criteria like:

• Recency/frequency of activity
• Pages visited
• Form fills/downloads
• Email opens/clicks
• Match to customer profile

Higher scored leads warrant prioritized follow-up, while low scores signal leads to nurture or discard.

Sales Calls/Questionnaires

Sales team members personally engage with leads to gauge interest level. Key qualifying questions determine:

• Budget – Can they afford your offering?
• Authority – Are they the decision maker ?
• Need – Do they have a compelling problem to solve?
• Timeline – What is their purchase timeframe?

Routing to Reps

Marketing teams route qualified, sales-ready leads to account executives or sales development reps for further nurturing toward deals.

With promising leads identified, your salespeople now initiate first contact to introduce themselves and your brand.

Personalized Outreach

• Emails and LinkedIn messages make that first critical impression. Personalize each message after researching the prospect’s role, company, and interests.
• Follow-up calls let reps establish rapport through two-way conversation.

Seeking Appointments

Initial contacts prime prospects for next steps. Seek to schedule:

• A product demo to showcase your solution.
• An in-person meeting to begin building the relationship.
• A discovery call to explore their unique needs.

Driving Excitement

• Highlight relevant customer success stories to pique their interest.
• Provide previews of your value proposition.
• Convey understanding of their market landscape and challenges.
• Leverage any existing connections for a warm introduction.

Stage 4: Product Presentation and Addressing Objections

Here the rubber meets the road. Now the prospect gets a detailed overview of your offering and how it solves their needs.

Introducing the Product

The presentation should focus on:

• Explaining product/service capabilities and features
• Tailoring the value proposition to that particular prospect
• Providing demo walkthroughs specific to the customer’s use cases
• Conveying your suitability versus competitors

Uncovering Concerns

Welcome objections! Use the presentation as an opportunity to uncover and address any reservations or concerns.

• Listen carefully to understand context behind objections.
• Offer helpful educational materials to resolve knowledge gaps.
• Provide reassurance regarding common obstacles like implementation, change, or new workflows.
• Convey advantages over current solutions prospect relies on.
• Stress availability of stellar customer support.

Proposing Next Steps

Close the presentation by proposing logical next actions:

• Providing product trial access
• Arranging user interviews with current clients
• Proposing statement of work or contract for deal moving forward

After the product presentation, you still have lots of work ahead to continue nurturing the prospect forward.

Ongoing Communication

Regular communication after the presentation prevents leads from dropping off.

• Send nurturing email sequences covering common customer questions.
• Provide relevant educational materials like ebooks, tip sheets, and videos.
• Schedule follow-up calls to reinforce key points and next steps.
• Engage via social media by commenting on updates, sharing content.

Addressing Concerns

Prospects often require multiple exposures over time before feeling comfortable. Continue addressing doubts by:

• Connecting users with current customers to share experiences.
• Offering favorable payment terms or expanded trials to reduce perceived risk.
• Providing benchmarks, stats, and reassurance regarding obstacles.

Relationship Building

Turn prospects into evangelists by forging personal connections:

• Discuss professional backgrounds and interests beyond just business needs.
• Offer industry insights and advice tailored to their role.
• Attend networking events and conferences they participate in.
• Look for opportunities to provide value without expectation.

Time to get the deal across the finish line! The sales close is the crescendo that all previous stages build toward.

Negotiating Details

• Address any last concerns about pricing, contract terms, implementation, integrations, or responsibilities.
• Be prepared to provide discounts or value-adds like premium support if needed to seal the deal.
• Involve company leadership contacts if necessary to finalize high-value deals.

Completing Paperwork

• Supply necessary legal paperwork like contracts, statements of work, and service agreements for approval.
• Ensure appropriate stakeholders within the prospect organization formally sign off.
• Collect payment information and validate billing details.
• Congratulate the new customer and assure them of your commitment to their success.
• Expedite delivery of any materials provided like user setup guides or administrator tools.
• Introduce key contacts and advisors who will guide onboarding.

Stage 7: Referrals and Repeat Sales

Your job doesn’t end once the contract is signed. Maximize customer lifetime value with referrals and upsells.

Getting Referrals

Satisfied clients make excellent brand evangelists:

• Ask satisfied clients directly if they know others who could benefit from your solution.
• Provide incentives for referrals like discounts or premium services.
• Request testimonials and case studies you can share publicly to attract similar prospects.

Facilitating Upsells

Grow the account by proactively proposing:

• Expanded capabilities and premium offerings for increased adoption.
• Additional licenses or seats as customer usage grows.
• Complimentary solutions you offer to fulfill a broader range of needs.

Ensuring Retention

Keep customers happy and prevent churn by:

• Checking in regularly to address any concerns preemptively.
• Surveying users to monitor satisfaction and head off problems.
• Celebrating milestones and anniversaries to reinforce the relationship.
• Providing access to an online customer community for connecting with peers.

The sales cycle rarely follows a perfectly linear progression. But thoroughly understanding these 7 fundamental stages gives you a strategic advantage in guiding prospects ultimately to become delighted, lifelong customers.

Review your current sales workflows against this sales cycle framework. Look for potential enhancements at each phase that better facilitate progress from one stage to the next.

Even minor incremental improvements have a cumulative effect over time as win rates increase, lengths compress, and efficiencies ramp up. Investing in sales cycle excellence generates a high ROI in customer acquisition and lifetime value.

Optimizing Your Sales Cycle

Even well-oiled sales machines need tune-ups. Regularly optimizing your sales cycle accelerates deals, increases conversion rates, and maximizes revenue.

Let’s explore key ways to analyze and enhance your sales process.

Improving Lead Generation

Robust lead generation feeds your pipeline. Try these tactics:

• Expand prospecting channels – Advertise in new markets. Join relevant associations and networks. Attend competitor events.
• Refine targeting – Analyze your wins to identify your ideal customer profile attributes. Focus efforts on matches.
• Boost SEO – Optimize website content for search visibility around targeted buyer keywords.
• Automate follow-ups – Software immediately engages new contacts to build relationships.
• Offer incentives – Lead magnet gated offers entice visitors to convert through forms.

Shortening Sales Cycle Length

Lengthy sales cycles drag down productivity. Strategies to accelerate include:

• Set expectations upfront – Convey typical process timeframes so buyers understand.
• Highlight value quickly – Explain key differentiators early to build enthusiasm.
• Limit sales stages/steps – Remove any redundant or unnecessary steps adding delays.
• Standardize pricing – Simplify quoting with predefined options vs fully custom every time.
• Automate workflow – Triggers and reminders ensure no stalled steps.
• Incentivize urgency – Discounts or bonuses for fast decisions motivate action.

Leveraging CRM and Automation

Sophisticated tools optimize every facet:

• Lead scoring – Identify hottest prospects using scoring algorithms.
• Email templates – Craft messages tailored to sales stage.
• Workflow design – Model ideal sequencing and timing for nurturing.
• Analytics – Uncover patterns for refining strategies based on hard data.
• Performance tracking – Ensure accountability with rep metrics monitoring.

Strengthening Lead Qualification

Tighter qualification improves sales resource efficiency:

• Define criteria – Agree on key traits of ideal prospects beyond just interest.
• Lead rating methodology – Weight factors like budget, need, and timeline for consistent scoring.
• Assess tools – Quizzes, predictive lead scoring software.
• Sales call probing – Train reps to deeply qualify beyond surface inquiries.
• Automated filtering – Route leads automatically based on activity and profile.

Boosting Marketing/Sales Collaboration

Aligned goals and processes between marketing and sales prevent handoff issues:

• Shared KPIs – Compensation incentives tied to joint metrics like revenue and customer retention.
• Clear buyer journey mapping – Illustrate exactly how leads flow between teams and systems.
• Open communication – Set expectations, give feedback, address pain points together.
• Coordinated tools – Integrate CRM and marketing automation into seamless handoffs.
• Service level agreements – Define quantitative lead qualifications and response times formally.

Improving Lead Nurturing

More effective nurturing converts more prospects:

• Targeted content – Tailor emails, offers, webpages to buyer stage and interests.
• Omnichannel strategies – Orchestrate seamless messaging across channels.
• Hyper-personalization – Leverage data insights to craft resonating 1:1 communication.
• Persistence – Follow up regularly until lead indicates disinterest.
• Monitoring engagement – Track email opens, form fills, web activity to gauge interest level.

Analyzing Metrics and Trends

Crunching numbers identifies areas needing improvement:

• CRM data analysis – Evaluate key performance indicators by rep, product line, channel, geography, deal size, etc.
• Customer surveys – Solicit feedback on satisfaction, pain points, and suggestions.
• Win/loss research – Review why you win vs. lose deals through questionnaires and interviews.
• Buyer journey mapping – Identify common drop-off points across the stages.
• Churn analysis – Assess defection causes and patterns.

Testing and Experimentation

Incremental optimizations through disciplined testing generates continual enhancements:

• A/B test – Try variations of webpages, offers, pricing, messaging to determine what resonates best.
• Sales onboarding – Try different sales rep training programs and approaches.
• Channel ROI – Test new channels, get cost-per-lead data, double down on most profitable ones.

Adapting to Change

Keep processes aligned with evolving market dynamics:

• Evaluate new tech – Cloud, mobility, AI offer new capabilities to leverage.
• Ongoing training – Update teams on best practices, competitive intel, and trends.
• Flexible forecasting – Adjust projections frequently based on metrics and macro environment.
• Refreshed personas – Revalidate assumptions about your ideal buyer as their needs shift.

Just because a sales process has worked well doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. Regularly inspect every facet of your sales cycle for ways to tweak and optimize. Tiny enhancements compound over the long run.

Leverage the ideas presented here as stimuli to spark your own innovative thinking. Even long-established sales organizations need to stay nimble and open to trying new approaches.

Implementing Best Practices for Sales Cycle Success

What separates the good from the great when it comes to sales cycle execution? Adopting these best practices sets you on the path to sales excellence.

Clearly Defining Sales Stages and Steps

Ensure your sales process is documented in detail. This facilitates:

• Consistent execution – Less variance when each rep follows the same mapped workflow.
• Training efficiency – Onboarding new hires is accelerated with a proven blueprint.
• Identifying gaps – Missing phases become obvious when mapping the linear progression.
• Optimizing pacing – Analyze timing between steps to shorten overall cycle length.
• Clear role clarity – Defines handoffs between marketing and sales.

Ideally, document the following specifics:

• Description of each step’s goal
• Recommended activities and tasks
• Target timeframes and durations
• Decision gates and qualifications to proceed
• Defined responsibilities – who does what
• Related systems, templates, and tools

Monitoring Key Performance Indicators

Sales cycle KPIs provide objective measures of effectiveness. Common metrics include:

• Sales cycle length – Average number of days from open to close
• Win rate – Percentage of proposals that convert into sales
• Lead conversion rate – Percentage of leads that become pipeline opportunities
• Sales revenue attainment – Actual sales achieved against goals
• Lead response times – How quickly leads are contacted
• Activity metrics – Calls made, emails sent, touches per lead
• Customer acquisition costs – Costs to generate a new customer
• Customer lifetime value – Revenue per customer over the long term

Structuring Your Sales Team Strategically

Balance structure and specialization across roles for optimal performance:

• Sales reps – Generalists managing a book of accounts end-to-end
• Lead qualifiers – Quickly vet inbound leads and route appropriately
• Sales development – Nurture marketing qualified leads into sales qualified
• Account executives – Manage and grow key strategic accounts
• Sales engineers – Provide in-depth technical guidance
• Sales enablement – Develop content, tools, and training to bolster selling skills

Proactive Performance Management

• Individual goals and objectives – Align to sales cycle KPIs.
• Pipeline reviews – Regular deal status check-ins.
• Skills assessments – Identify development areas.
• Call monitoring – Listen in for coaching and best practice sharing.
• Sales contests – Friendly competition drives activity.
• Awards – Publicly recognize achievements.

Tracking Pain Points for Optimization

Uncovering sales cycle friction points illuminates improvement opportunities:

• CRM data analysis – Review performance trends by rep, product, customer type, etc. to isolate underperformance.
• Process auditing – Examine sales collateral, info access, administrative workflows.
• Sales team surveys – Solicit honest feedback on bottlenecks.
• Customer research – Probe on satisfaction, areas for enhancement.
• Win/loss reviews – Determine why you win or lose deals. Look for patterns.

Maintaining Organized Records

Complete sales data is a prerequisite for excellence:

• Central CRM system – All prospect and customer information in one place.
• Defined fields – Standard terminologies between reps.
• Activity logging – Call summaries, meeting notes, follow-ups.
• Effective search – Easily retrieve records.
• Information security – Control internal access and maintain external confidentiality.
• Collaboration – Sales and marketing teams access relevant shared data.

Cultivating a Learning Environment

Top performers never rest on past achievements. They:

• Attend conferences – Stay on top of industry trends and innovations.
• Read blogs and newsletters – Continual enrichment from thought leaders.
• Participate in associations – Connect with peers and experts.
• Study competitors – Don’t become complacent.
• Solicit client feedback – Voice of the customer steers improvement.
• Advance skills – Pursue professional development through courses, certification, and training.

Investing in Sales Technology

Sophisticated tools propel productivity:

• CRM – Centralized database with key customer insights.
• Marketing automation – Scales lead nurturing across channels.
• Data and analytics – Uncovers optimization opportunities.
• Proposal and quote systems – Streamline creation and tracking.

Don’t leave sales technology investments purely to IT. Engage sales leaders to ensure user adoption and optimal workflows.

Maintaining Realistic Projections

Accuracy demands regularly calibrated forecasts based on:

• Historic metrics – Use past performance as a baseline for modeling.
• Trend analysis – Account for seasonality, market dynamics, competitive forces.
• Pipeline health – Weigh quality of current open opportunities.
• Economic climate – Macro-economic factors impact sales cycles.

Building Trusted Relationships

At its heart, sales remains a people business.

• Listen intently – Grasping needs takes understanding.
• Share experiences – Tell stories, don’t just pitch.
• Convey empathy – You can’t fake caring about someone’s problems.
• Focus on value – Prospects want help, not products.
• Embrace mentorship – Lift up others and they’ll return the favor.

Following these keys to sales cycle success establishes your foundation. But never become complacent. Tomorrow may bring new challenges, technologies, and competitors. Like a championship sports team, continued achievement demands commitment, collaboration, analysis, and practice.

By instilling best practices into your sales DNA, you equip yourself to execute at the highest levels consistently, which is the only path to sustained sales leadership.

Adapting Your Sales Cycle by Industry and Business Type

One size does not fit all when it comes to sales cycles. Smart companies analyze their unique business landscape and tailor their sales process accordingly.

Tailoring Your Cycle for B2B vs. B2C

As we’ve discussed previously, fundamental differences exist between business-to-business and business-to-consumer sales cycles.

B2B Adaptations

• Extended cycles to account for complex buyer committees
• Consultative selling approach focused on ROI
• Pre-sales consultations to scope intricate requirements
• Account management teams for strategic customer stewardship
• Targeted outreach conveying deep industry expertise

B2C Adaptations

• Shorter cycles given faster individual purchase decisions
• Transactional selling focused on simplicity, cost, and convenience
• Strong self-serve ecommerce funnel nurturing buyers through journey
• Social proof like testimonials to provide confidence
• Flash sales, promotions, and urgency tactics to spur action
• Marketing centered around aspirational and emotional messaging

Adjusting Based on Product/Service Specifics

Your offerings dictate sales process customization in multiple ways:

• Big-ticket purchases – Longer decision cycles requiring extensive research and consensus building.
• Mission critical solutions – Comprehensive pre-sales technical vetting and trials.
• Commoditized products – Focus on convenience, availability, and price competition.
• Custom/configurable offerings – Consultation to spec out specialized solutions.
• After-sales servicing – Account management and retention processes.

Mirroring Your Industry Norms

Certain sales conventions exist across industries that customers expect.

• Long B2B sales cycles – IT, engineering, construction, industrial equipment.
• Short B2C cycles – Retail, ecommerce, consumer services, hospitality.
• Extensive trials – Enterprise software, medical devices.
• RFP processes – Government, education, banking, insurance.

Build timelines, approval steps, and buyer education moments into your workflow that align with established industry practices.

Accommodating Market Changes

Evolving customer preferences and competitive forces necessitate sales cycle flexibility.

• Adopt emerging channels – Live chat, social selling, self-serve ecommerce.
• Offer financing – Options like payment plans if cash flow is tight.
• Get contracts signed faster – Some industries now balk at long drawn-out paperwork.
• Reduce sales pressure – Increasingly, buyers want minimal interaction and more research time.
• Highlight security – Industries like financial services demand ironclad data protections and compliance.

Example: Software Company XYZ

XYZ sold $10k SaaS licenses to mid-market retailers. Despite strong demand, their sales cycles stretched to 6+ months as buyers sought extensive customization and balked at long contracts.

XYZ adapted by:

• Offering scaled pricing tiers with predefined configuration options vs. fully custom each time.
• Introducing monthly subscriptions vs. only 1-3 year terms.
• Limiting buyer touches to key demos and follow-ups to reduce friction.
• Sales cycle shortened to 2-3 months.
• Contract values increased by only requiring 1-month minimums.
• Win rates improved as deals closed faster.

Like XYZ, routinely assess your cycle against your market realities. Even segments of your customer base may necessitate tailored sales processes that increase relevance and accelerate mutual success.

The Evolving Sales Cycle Landscape

The sales cycle of tomorrow looks quite different than yesterday. Savvy businesses stay on top of emerging trends and technologies to remain competitive.

Leveraging AI-Powered Sales Tools

Artificial intelligence drives sales growth through:

• Predictive lead scoring – Machine learning models rate prospects based on likely conversion.
• Intelligent email sequencing – AI tailors nurturing track based on engagement.
• Natural language processing – Chatbots qualify leads and surface insights from conversations.
• Voice analytics – Identify areas of strength/weakness analyzing sales call recordings.
• Buyer sentiment analysis – Gauge how prospects really feel about your solution by scanning their language patterns.
• Data-driven recommendations – Platforms like Salesforce Einstein suggest best next actions in workflows.

Adoption is still early for many organizations. Focus on augmenting reps’ efforts vs. fully automating them away.

Omnichannel Sales Journeys

92% of buyers crave consistent experiences across channels. Strategies include:

• Unified CRM data – 360 customer views with engagement data from all touchpoints.
• Cross-channel continuity – Email nurture sequences link to tailored web landing pages.
• Integrated messaging – Text/chat conversations automatically logged into CRM records.
• Consistent branding – Recognizable visual identity across platforms.

With buyers spending more time self-educating online, orchestrating seamless handoffs between digital and human selling is essential.

Hyper-Personalized buyer Journeys

Sales cycles tailored to the individual cut through the noise. Tactics involve:

• Dynamic content – Webpage product recommendations match visitor attributes. Email content adapts based on past engagement.
• Intent monitoring – Track website browsing to address questions in real-time.
• Machine learning applied – Platforms learn your ideal customers’ behaviors to target similar profiles.
• Account-based approaches – Highly customized campaigns focused on targeted strategic accounts vs. broad outreach.
• Video at scale – Recording personalized video messages instead of just emails and calls.

Buyers desire a sales experience as unique as they are. Leveraging data and technology creates this customized feel through relevance and proactivity.

The Rise of Self-Service Buying

For simple purchases, many now prefer minimal sales interaction. Strategies include:

• Intuitive ecommerce – User-friendly self-serve catalog shopping.
• Frictionless payments – One-click checkout and seamless mobile transactions.
• Smart recommendations – Suggest complementary or next-purchase products algorithmically.
• User communities – Forums for customers to discuss and learn without contacting sales staff.
• Self-service support – FAQs, chatbots, and help resources empower independent buyers.

Reduce sales cycle involvement for smaller deals or add-ons. Focus high-touch selling on large, complex opportunities.

Tighter Sales and Marketing Alignment

To deliver coordinated experiences, sales and marketing teams must:

• Share goals and metrics – Unified KPIs incent cross-departmental collaboration.
• Develop joint strategies – Account-based marketing engages hot prospects the sales team passes over.
• Improve data accessibility – Marketing automation and CRM tool integration links campaign engagement with deal progress.
• Coordinate messaging – Sales collateral reflects brand identity and campaign spirit developed by marketing.
• Formalize SLAs – Define quantitatively each department’s sales cycle responsibilities for seamless handoffs.

Blurring departmental lines streamlines buying journeys and prevents prospects from falling between the cracks.

The Bottom Line

Today’s sales winners will be those quick to embrace change rather than clinging to traditional methods. From adopting bleeding-edge technologies to optimizing highly personalized omnichannel journeys, the sales cycle transformation has only just begun.

Analyze your workflows against the trends outlined here. Brainstorm areas most ripe for modernization in your own organization. While sales fundamentals are timeless, the strategies and tools of implementation require constant evolution. To remain competitive, companies must continue advancing how buying journeys are architected at every stage, leveraging data, AI, automation, and integration in a customer-centric symphony.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

We’ve covered a lot of ground exploring the stages of the sales cycle and strategies to optimize the process. Let’s recap the core concepts.

What Is the Sales Cycle?

The sales cycle refers to the journey a prospect takes from initial awareness of your brand to becoming a customer. It provides a repeatable roadmap for marketing and sales teams to guide leads efficiently through key milestones that progress toward a purchase.

Understanding your specific sales cycle stages empowers you to map appropriate messaging and activities to steer customers along the path most effectively.

The 7 Stages of the Sales Cycle

While steps vary across businesses, common high-level phases are:

• Lead generation – Identifying potential buyers
• Lead qualification – Vetting lead viability
• Initial contact – Introducing your solution
• Presentation – Educating prospects on your value
• Lead nurturing – Ongoing engagement post-presentation
• Close – Finalizing the purchase
• Referrals – Getting customer referrals

Why Sales Cycle Optimization Matters

• Shortens cycle length to increase sales velocity
• Improves lead conversion rates
• Enables more accurate forecasting
• Identifies points of friction for improvement
• Allows tailored messaging for each buyer stage
• Facilitates better marketing and sales alignment

Tips for Sales Cycle Excellence

Ways to master your sales process include:

• Documenting your sales workflow in detail
• Monitoring key performance indicators
• Leveraging sales enablement technology like CRM
• Building trusted customer relationships
• Qualifying leads thoroughly upfront
• Crafting stage-specific nurturing content
• Maintaining consistent omnichannel experiences
• Experimenting and testing new approaches

Customizing Your Sales Cycle

Tailor your sales process based on:

• Your specific product, service, and industry
• Preferences of your buyer personas
• Differences between B2B and B2C cycles
• Current trends and market forces

The Future of Sales Cycles

Ongoing innovation will shape future cycles through:

• Increased use of AI-powered selling tools
• More personalized, omnichannel buying journeys
• Tighter alignment between sales and marketing
• Greater adoption of self-service ecommerce models
• New technologies like virtual selling environments

As markets and buyer behaviors evolve, so too must your sales cycle to drive optimal results. Set your strategy up for success by continually reviewing the latest trends and techniques.Test new approaches. Seek client feedback. Never become stagnant.

By mastering both the timeless foundational sales cycle stages as well as adapting to emerging developments, your organization can execute at the highest levels. Use the insights covered to assess your current processes and illuminate areas ripe for enhancement.

Remember that excellence is not a destination but rather an ongoing journey. With a laser focus on sales cycle optimization and innovation, increased revenue and market leadership will follow.

• The sales cycle is a series of repeatable steps that guide prospects from awareness to becoming customers. Understanding your unique cycle drives sales success.
• Common high-level stages include lead generation, qualification, initial contact, presentation, nurturing, closing, and referrals. However, steps vary by business.
• Well-defined sales cycle processes increase conversions, accelerate deals, improve forecasting, and enable effective training.
• Tailor your sales cycle to your specific product, industry norms, customer type (B2B vs B2C), and market trends over time.
• CRM, marketing automation, and sales enablement technologies streamline execution across channels.
• Analyze metrics at every cycle stage to uncover optimization opportunities and bottlenecks.
• Shortening cycle length raises productivity. Nurture leads persistently. Craft messaging for each phase.
• Building trusted advisor relationships, persistently following up, and conveying value drive results.
• The future will bring more AI-enabled selling, omnichannel alignment, self-service options, and sales/marketing integration.
• Maintain a mindset of continual improvement. Experiment, solicit feedback, and implement new approaches.
• Mastering your sales cycle ultimately accelerates revenue growth, dominates markets, and delights customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key stages of the standard sales cycle?

The 7 high-level stages are lead generation, lead qualification, initial contact, presentation, lead nurturing, closing the sale, and referrals. However, steps vary across businesses.

How can I determine my ideal sales cycle stages?

Map your actual sales process end-to-end. Identify the milestones from initial prospecting to closed deal. Seek customer feedback on pain points. Review any gaps or redundancies.

How long should the average sales cycle be?

Length varies dramatically by industry. B2B cycles range from 3-6 months normally. B2C cycles are often just hours or days. Benchmark against your competitors to find ideal timeframes.

How can I shorten my long B2B sales cycle?

Strategies include optimizing lead nurturing, accelerating procurement, adding urgency incentives, limiting decision makers, and utilitizing technology to remove delays.

What are sales cycle KPIs I should be tracking?

Vital metrics include sales cycle length, win rate, lead response time, lead conversion rate, sales attainment, and activity levels like calls made.

How does the sales cycle differ for B2B vs. B2C?

B2B has longer, complex sales with multiple decision makers. B2C is transactional and focused on ease, convenience, and impulse. Marketing and selling strategies must align accordingly.

How can CRM software improve my sales cycle?

CRM centralizes prospect data, automates workflows, tracks pipeline stages, and provides insights to streamline execution across milestones.

What sales skills are most important?

Empathetic listening, stellar communication, objection handling, relationship building, effective questioning, and conveying value are essential skills.

Should my sales cycle be the same for all products?

Only if your offerings are very similar. Often, it helps to develop custom sales processes for unique product lines or customer segments.

How often should I review my sales cycle stages?

At minimum, assess annually. But quarterly or biannually is better to catch issues and new trends emerging. Refine based on metrics and team feedback.

How to Create a Structured and Scalable Sales Process

Mastering your sales process is vital to staying ahead. From the initial customer contact to the final handshake, every step matters.

Explore a range of sales process examples and learn how to align with the customer’s journey for better buyer engagement , relationships, and sales success.

What is a Sales Process?

Benefits of a well-defined sales process, essential steps of the sales process, how to create a sales process, how to map the sales process to the buyer journey, sales process vs. sales methodology, sales process examples, sales process mistakes to avoid.

• Mastering Your Sales Process With Highspot

A sales process is a structured set of steps that guides salespeople through the sales cycle. This roadmap helps sales teams approach each opportunity consistently and enhances the likelihood of achieving sales goals. It’s repeatable, constantly adapting to new customers and evolving needs.

The benefits of having a sales process extend far beyond meeting quarterly quotas. A well-defined sales process will improve performance, client relationships, and adaptability.

Here are six advantages of building a standardized sales process for your sales team:

• Improved productivity : Organized tasks lead to smarter use of time and resources.
• Effective sales onboarding and training: New team members can hit the ground running with a clear sales process.
• Accurate sales forecasting: A standardized process enables reliable planning and resource allocation.
• Robust relationship building: Addressing customer needs fosters stronger, lasting relationships.
• Improved conversion rates: Structured sales tactics often result in better conversion rates as teams are more equipped to lead prospective customers through the buying process.
• Improved employee satisfaction: A straightforward sales process simplifies the sales rep’s job, reducing confusion and stress. This clarity and ease can lead to higher job satisfaction and employee motivation.

Navigating the sales process is a journey with a specific destination – closing the deal. Each step is integral to a successful sale, guiding sales managers and salespeople from prospecting to closure.

Let’s explore typical sales process steps to understand how they contribute to achieving sales goals.

1. Prospecting

Prospecting is the initial scouting mission in sales. It involves identifying potential customers who might need your product or service.

2. Connect and Qualify Leads

Once you’ve identified potential clients, the next stage is to connect with them. This is where you start conversations, using messaging to build a bridge between the prospect’s needs and your solutions. Qualified leads are most likely to purchase, saving you time and effort.

3. Research the Company

Understanding your customer is critical. Researching the company allows you to tailor your approach, ensuring you meet their needs and challenges. This step focuses on gathering insights to inform your sales pitch. You can use this to showcase the value of your product or service.

4. Give an Effective Sales Pitch

Delivering an effective sales pitch involves presenting your product or service in a way that resonates with the customer’s needs. It’s about convincing them that your offering is relevant and brings value to their business or life.

5. Handle Objections

Part of the sales process is to handle and overcome objections. It involves listening to and discussing your customer’s concerns. Common objections can relate to competition, cost, or timing. Skillfully navigating these issues is vital for building trust and leading the customer to a purchase decision.

6. Close the Deal

Closing the deal is the culmination of your sales efforts. It’s the point where you secure the customer’s commitment to buy. This step requires a blend of timing, negotiation skills, and the ability to commit to the agreement.

7. Nurture and Crossell / Upsell

Selling does not end with deal closure or hitting quarterly targets. Sales reps must maintain relationships, ensure satisfaction, and find additional ways to provide value. This may be with add-on products, integrations, or support packages. Relationships with customers can lead to future case studies or testimonials.

Creating a sales process is like building a roadmap for your team’s success. It involves understanding your team’s unique strengths and the specific needs of your market.

Here are some steps for creating a consistent and easy-to-follow sales process:

Define Your Sales Objectives

Start by defining clear sales objectives. What are your goals? These could range from increasing revenue to expanding market share or improving customer retention. Clear objectives give direction to your sales process design.

Understand Your Target Audience

Know your audience. Who are you selling to? Understanding your ideal customer profile, buyer personas, needs, pain points, and buying behaviors is the foundation for crafting a sales process that resonates with them.

Map Out Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey

Align your sales process with your customer’s buying journey. Identify each stage a decision-maker goes through in the sales funnel, from awareness to consideration and decision, and tailor your sales steps accordingly. Start thinking about how to support each workflow stage with content and interactions.

Identify Key Activities for Each Sales Process Stage

Determine the key activities and strategies for each stage of the sales process. This could include lead-generation tactics, engagement methods, sales presentations, demo techniques, and follow-up procedures.

Define KPIs and Metrics

Establish clear sales performance metrics to measure the success of your sales process. These could include conversion rates, average deal size, sales cycle length, and customer satisfaction scores.

Train Your Team

Ensure your sales team is well-onboarded, trained, and coached in the new process. This includes understanding each step, the tools to be used, and the skills required to execute.

Implement Tools and Technology

Incorporate automation carefully in your sales process, balancing efficiency with the vital human touch necessary for building relationships. Tools like templates, training content, CRM systems, sales enablement platforms , and buyer-focused materials play a role.

The LinkedIn State of Sales Report reported that 54% of sales professionals report that sales tools help them build stronger relationships with buyers. Often part of a sales process, these tools facilitate better communication and understanding of buyer needs, leading to more effective interactions.

Monitor and Optimize

Review and optimize your sales process regularly. What’s working and what’s not? Use the performance metrics to identify areas for improvement, and be open to making adjustments based on market changes and customer feedback. This allows for better sales productivity .

Mapping your sales process to the buyer’s journey isn’t just a task; it’s an opportunity to align with how your customers search, evaluate, and decide. It’s about understanding the customer’s mindset at each stage and tailoring your sales approach to match.

Here’s a five-step guide to connecting your sales process to your customer’s journey through the sales pipeline :

1. Define Stages and Goals

Compare your sales stages with your buyer’s journey. Pinpoint what you and the buyer aim to achieve at each step. This comparison reveals whether your process meets the buyer’s needs. If not, tweak your stages to align with their buying process, like aligning your “qualify” stage with the buyer’s commitment to change.

2. Identify Value

How can you add value at each stage of the buyer’s journey? Shift from what you need to how you can assist the buyer. This shift in focus can significantly uplift your sales approach to be more buyer-focused.

3. Make Tools, Content, and Resources Available

Arm decision-makers with effortless access to the necessary tools and information they desire at each stage. Provide content that validates problems, product education, resources for solution selection, and 3rd party proof content. Make sure your team is adept at using and sharing these resources.

4. Test and Validate

Test your new process before a full rollout. Get feedback from top-performing, customer-oriented reps. Running a pilot program can offer early insights into how well your approach aligns with the buyer’s journey.

5. Finalize, Train, and Commit

Make your new sales playbook known and accessible. Ensure sales reps understand the importance of process alignment and how it benefits them and the customer.

Grasping the difference between a sales process and methodology is crucial for a successful sales strategy . The sales process is your unique roadmap, while the sales methodology is your chosen vehicle.

A sales process is a customized sequence of steps specific to your company, guiding sales from start to finish. It’s influenced by your industry, market, customer makeup, and unique sales structure. In contrast, a sales methodology is a broader set of principles, often developed by external experts. These offer general strategies to improve sales and are adaptable across different organizations.

Methodologies like “Challenger” might be incorporated into specific stages of your sales process or across the entire lifecycle, depending on your needs. Your sales management process , reflecting your company’s unique characteristics, can be enhanced by adopting a sales methodology.

If you’re unsure which methodology to use, read The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Winning Sales Methodology .

Some example sales methodologies include:

Consultative Selling

Consultative selling is all about becoming a trusted advisor to your customers. Its methodology focuses on understanding the customer’s needs and offering solutions that genuinely address them.

The Challenger sales model is about teaching, tailoring, and taking control. It involves challenging customers’ thoughts and presenting new, insightful solutions that compel them to act.

The Sandler sales method emphasizes a mutual respect approach. It’s about having honest conversations and avoiding high-pressure tactics, fostering a more authentic and long-term relationship with the customer.

Understanding how different industries approach the sales process is helpful. Here, we’ll explore examples from various verticals. This offers a window into how they navigate from prospecting to closing deals, each tailored to their unique market.

In B2B software sales, the journey from identifying potential customers to implementing solutions is driven by constantly changing digital needs and innovations.

This is a standard B2B software sales process:

• Prospecting: Perform cold calling, outreach through social media platforms like LinkedIn,marketing efforts, and hold industry events to find potential leads.
• Qualification: Determine if the prospective customer needs the software and has the budget to buy.
• Demo: Schedule a product demonstration to showcase features and benefits.
• Proposal: Send a tailored proposal with pricing and an implementation plan.
• Negotiation: Discuss terms and address any concerns.
• Close: Finalize the sale and sign contracts.
• Onboarding: Guide the customer through the software implementation process.

Real Estate Sales

Real estate sales processes involve understanding client needs and guiding them through property selection in specific geographic markets. Real estate sales professionals must offer a blend of personal touch and negotiation.

This is a typical real estate sales process:

• Lead generation: Use online listings, open houses, and networking to find potential buyers and sellers.
• Initial meeting: Understand client needs, budget, and preferences during this discovery call.
• Property viewing and selection: Show properties that match the client’s criteria.
• Offer and negotiation: Make an offer on behalf of the client and negotiate with the other party.
• Closing the deal: Facilitate the paperwork and finalize the sale.
• Post-sale follow-up : Check in with clients for potential future referrals or sales.

Retail Sales

Retail sales focus on direct customer interaction, product demonstration, and enhancing the shopping experience to drive sales and build customer loyalty.

This is a standard retail sales process:

• Customer greeting: Welcome customers as they enter the store.
• Needs assessment: Ask questions to understand what the customer wants.
• Product demonstration: Show products that fit their needs and explain features.
• Cross-selling/upselling: Suggest additional products that complement their choice.
• Closing the sale: Assist in the checkout process.
• After-sale service: Provide excellent customer service to encourage repeat business and referrals.

Automotive Sales

Automotive sales encompass everything from responding to customer inquiries to delivering the vehicle, ensuring a comprehensive and satisfying buying experience. The traditional auto sales model is evolving, incorporating an on-demand, online approach to meet modern consumer preferences.

This is the usual auto sales process:

• Customer inquiry: Respond to online inquiries or greet walk-ins.
• Test drive: Arrange a test drive for the chosen models.
• Vehicle selection: Help the customer select the right vehicle based on their needs.
• Financing options: Discuss financing plans and options.
• Closing the sale: Complete the paperwork for vehicle purchase.
• Delivery: Hand over the vehicle and explain its features.

Consulting Services

The sales process in consulting services is about understanding clients’ challenges and offering tailored solutions, focusing on building long-term professional relationships.

This is a standard consultant sales process:

• Lead generation: Attend industry conferences and networking events.
• Initial consultation: Understand the client’s business challenges and goals.
• Proposal development: Create a customized proposal outlining the scope of work.
• Agreement: Negotiate terms and sign the agreement.
• Project execution: Deliver the consulting services per the agreement.
• Review and feedback: Assess the project’s success and gather client feedback.

Even the best sales process can hit bottlenecks. Being aware of common mistakes and how to avoid them can save your sales team time and headaches. Let’s explore these mistakes and how to steer clear of them for a smoother sales journey.

• Overlooking customer feedback: Not listening to customers is like driving with your eyes closed. Their feedback will help you refine your sales process. Regularly gather and integrate customer insights to stay aligned with their evolving needs.
• Ignoring sales training and development: Skimping on training is like trying to run a marathon without practice. Continuous sales coaching , training, and enablement ensure your team can handle different sales scenarios and overcome hurdles.
• Failing to adapt to market changes: Sticking rigidly to an outdated sales process can lead to missed opportunities. Stay flexible and be ready to adjust in response to changing demands and market shifts.
• Underestimating the power of data: Utilize data analytics and sales metrics to gain insights into customer behaviors, sales trends, and sales performance management . This information is critical to making informed decisions and fine-tuning your sales process.
• Neglecting post-sale relationships: Closing the sale isn’t the finish line; it’s a checkpoint. Failing to nurture relationships after closing a deal can mean missing out on repeat business and referrals. Keep engaging with customers to build loyalty and open doors to future opportunities.

Mastering Your Sales Process with Highspot

Mastering your sales process is necessary to stay ahead. From that initial contact to the final, satisfying handshake, each step in the sales journey is crucial. Whether operating in B2B software, real estate, or the retail sector, an effective sales process that aligns with the buyer’s journey is your key to success.

Experience firsthand how Highspot can transform your sales process, support your buyer’s journey, and drive your team toward unparalleled success. Schedule a demo with Highspot today!

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The complete guide to customer journey stages.

12 min read If you want to turn a potential customer into a lifetime one, you’ll need to get to know every step of the entire customer journey. Here’s why the secret to customer retention lies in knowing how to fine-tune your sales funnel…

What is the customer journey?

What do we actually mean when we talk about the customer journey? Well, the simplest way to think about it is by comparing it to any other journey: a destination in mind, a starting point, and steps to take along the way.

In this case, the destination is not only to make a purchase but to have a great experience with your product or service – sometimes by interacting with aftersale customer support channels – and become a loyal customer who buys again.

And, just like how you can’t arrive at your vacation resort before you’ve done you’ve found out about it, the customer journey starts with steps to do with discovery, research, understanding, and comparison, before moving on to the buying process.

“Maximizing satisfaction with customer journeys has the potential not only to increase customer satisfaction by 20% but also lift revenue up by 15% while lowering the cost of serving customers by as much as 20%”

– McKinsey, The Three Cs of Customer Satisfaction

In short, the customer journey is the path taken by your target audience toward becoming loyal customers. So it’s really important to understand – both in terms of what each step entails and how you can improve each one to provide a maximally impressive and enjoyable experience.

Every customer journey will be different, after all, so getting to grips with the nuances of each customer journey stage is key to removing obstacles from in front of your potential and existing customers’ feet.

Free Course: Customer Journey Management & Improvement

What are the essential customer journey stages?

While many companies will put their own spin on the exact naming of the customer journey stages, the most widely-recognized naming convention is as follows:

• Consideration

These steps are often then sub-categorized into three parts:

• Sale/Purchase

It’s important to understand every part of the puzzle, so let’s look at each sub-category and stage in turn, from the awareness and consideration stage, right through to advocacy:

Customer journey: Pre-sale

In the pre-sale phase, potential customers learn about products, evaluate their needs, make comparisons, and soak up information.

Awareness stage

In the awareness stage, your potential customer becomes aware of a company, product, or service. This might be passive – in that they’re served an ad online, on TV, or when out and about – or active in that they have a need and are searching for a solution. For example, if a customer needs car insurance, they’ll begin searching for providers.

Consideration stage

In the consideration stage, the customer has been made aware of several possible solutions for their particular need and starts doing research to compare them. That might mean looking at reviews or what others are saying on social media, as well as absorbing info on product specs and features on companies’ own channels. They’re receptive to information that can help them make the best decision.

Customer journey: Sale

The sale phase is short but pivotal: it’s when the crucial decision on which option to go with has been made.

Decision stage

The customer has all the information they need on the various options available to them, and they make a purchase. This can be something that’s taken a long time to decide upon, like buying a new computer, or it can be as quick as quickly scouring the different kinds of bread available in the supermarket before picking the one they want.

Customer journey: Post-sale

Post-sale is a really important part of the puzzle because it’s where loyal customers , who come back time and again, are won or lost.

Retention stage

The retention stage of the customer journey is where you do whatever you can to help leave a lasting, positive impression on the customer, and entice them to purchase more. That means offering best-in-class customer support if they have any issues, but it also means being proactive with follow-up communications that offer personalized offers, information on new products, and rewards for loyalty.

Advocacy stage

If you nail the retention phase, you’ll have yourself a customer who not only wants to keep buying from you but will also advocate on your behalf. Here, the customer will become one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal, in that they’ll actively recommend you to their friends, family, followers, and colleagues.

What’s the difference between the customer journey and the buyer’s journey?

Great question; the two are similar, but not exactly the same. The buyer’s journey is a shorter, three-step process that describes the steps taken to make a purchase. So that’s awareness , consideration, and decision . That’s where things stop, however. The buyer’s journey doesn’t take into account the strategies you’ll use to keep the customer after a purchase has been made.

Why are the customer journey stages important?

The short answer? The customer journey is what shapes your entire business. It’s the method by which you attract and inform customers, how you convince them to purchase from you, and what you do to ensure they’re left feeling positive about every interaction.

Why this matters is that the journey is, in a way, cyclical. Customers who’ve had a smooth ride all the way through their individual journeys are more likely to stay with you, and that can have a massive effect on your operational metrics.

It’s up to five times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to keep an existing customer, but even besides that: satisfied customers become loyal customers , and customer loyalty reduces churn at the same time as increasing profits .

So companies looking to really make an impact on the market need to think beyond simply attracting potential customers with impressive marketing, and more about the journey as a whole – where the retention and advocacy stages are equally important.

After all, 81% of US and UK consumers trust product advice from friends and family over brand messaging, and 59% of American consumers say that once they’re loyal to a brand, they’re loyal to it for life.

Importantly, to understand the customer journey as a whole is to understand its individual stages, recognize what works, and find things that could be improved to make it a more seamless experience. Because when you do that, you’ll be improving every part of your business proposition that matters.

How can you improve each customer journey stage?

Ok, so this whole customer journey thing is pretty important. Understanding the customer journey phases and how they relate to the overall customer experience is how you encourage customers to stick around and spread the news via word of mouth.

But how do you ensure every part of the journey is performing as it should? Here are some practical strategies to help each customer journey stage sing…

1. Perform customer journey mapping

A customer journey map takes all of the established customer journey stages and attempts to plot how actual target audience personas might travel along them. That means using a mix of data and intuition to map out a range of journeys that utilize a range of touch points along the way.

One customer journey map, for example, might start with a TV ad, then utilize social media and third-party review sites during the consideration stage, before purchasing online and then contacting customer support about you your delivery service. And then, finally, that customer may be served a discount code for a future purchase. That’s just one example.

Customer journey mapping is really about building a myriad of those journeys that are informed by everything you know about how customers interact with you – and then using those maps to discover weaker areas of the journey.

2. Listen like you mean it

The key to building better customer journeys is listening to what customers are saying. Getting feedbac k from every stage of the journey allows you to build a strong, all-encompassing view of what’s happening from those that are experiencing it.

Maybe there’s an issue with the customer sign-up experience, for example. Or maybe the number advertised to contact for a demo doesn’t work. Or maybe you have a customer service agent in need of coaching, who only makes the issue worse. By listening, you’ll understand your customers’ issues and be able to fix them at the source. That customer service agent, for example, may just feel disempowered and unsupported, and in need of the right tools to help them perform better. Fixing that will help to optimize a key stage in the customer journey.

The key is to listen at every stage, and we can do that by employing the right technology at the right customer journey stages.

Customer surveys, for instance, can help you understand what went wrong from the people who’re willing to provide that feedback, but conversational analytics and AI solutions can automatically build insights out of all the structured and unstructured conversational data your customers are creating every time they reach out, or tweet, or leave a review on a third party website.

3. Get personal

The other side of the ‘listening’ equation is that it’s worth remembering that each and every customer’s journey is different – so treating them with a blanket approach won’t necessarily make anything better for them.

The trick instead is to use the tools available to you to build out a personalized view of every customer journey, customer journey stage, and customer engagemen t, and find common solutions.

Qualtrics Experience iD , for example, is an intelligent system that builds customer profiles that are unique to them and can identify through AI, natural language processing , and past interactions what’s not working – and what needs fixing.

On an individual basis, that will help turn each customer into an advocate. But as a whole, you’ll learn about experience gaps that are common to many journeys.

Listening to and understanding the customer experience at each customer journey stage is key to ensuring customers are satisfied and remain loyal on a huge scale.

It’s how you create 1:1 experiences, because, while an issue for one person might be an issue for many others, by fixing it quickly you can minimize the impact it might have on future customers who’re right at the start of their journey.

Free Course: Customer Journey Management Improvement

Related resources

Customer Journey

Buyer's Journey 16 min read

Customer journey analytics 13 min read, how to create a customer journey map 22 min read, b2b customer journey 13 min read, customer interactions 11 min read, consumer decision journey 14 min read, customer journey orchestration 12 min read, request demo.

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From Prospecting to Closing: 7 Essential Sales Cycle Stages

What is a sales cycle and why is it important?

7 stages of the sales cycle.

• Sales cycle management
• Sales cycle stages with Luru

Imagine if each sales opportunity flowed through your pipeline like a well-oiled machine - smooth, predictable, and delivering reliable revenue.

This sales utopia is possible when you optimize your sales cycle stages. Mastering the progression from prospect to satisfied customer is the key that unlocks growth.

This comprehensive guide will provide the blueprint to engineer a high-converting sales cycle that captivates buyers and expedites deals. You'll learn the must-know stages within the sales cycle and how to facilitate seamless progression through each phase.

Whether you need to increase conversions, reduce sales times, or maximize profits - these insights will illuminate the path to sales cycle excellence.

You'll discover what levers to pull at each stage to accelerate opportunities and delight customers. Consider this your insider's guide to sales cycle mastery.

So buckle up as we unlock the secrets to maximizing results across every sales cycle stage. First, what exactly are the key stages in the sales journey? Let's find out.

The sales cycle is the strategic sequence of stages a prospect progresses through on their journey from stranger to satisfied customer. It maps out the predictable milestones and inflection points spanning initial awareness of your offering all the way to becoming a paying user.

In essence, the sales cycle outlines the entire progression or lifecycle a prospect goes through in their buying process with your business.

Understanding this full chain of events enables you to identify the key stages that ultimately lead to conversions. This allows you to engineer tailored strategies to guide prospects smoothly through each phase, accelerating deals and optimizing outcomes.

Also, there are different types of sales cycles.

The relationship between sales cycle stages and the sales process 

The sales cycle stages have a close relationship with the overall sales process. But they are distinct in a subtle way.

Think of it like a road trip - the sales cycle stages are the sequence of stops on your route like gas stations, restaurants, and hotels. These are the required milestones along the journey.

Whereas the sales process represents how you actually travel between stops - the act of driving, navigating, and maneuvering based on road conditions.

That means, 

• The sales cycle outlines the stages a deal progresses through, from initial prospecting to closed deals.
• The sales process refers to the actual activities and tactics executed within each stage to move the deal forward.

For example, during the prospecting stage, sales activities like cold calls and emails are sales process elements that occur within that cycle phase.

For the presentation stage, giving demos and conveying product value are sales process activities carried out in that cycle milestone.

In essence, the sales cycle maps the journey, while the sales process details the strategies to traverse it. Or to put it simply:

• Sales cycle stages = the steps to close a deal
• Sales process = how salespeople carry out those stages

To learn more about the sales activities and process steps executed by sales teams, see this guide on the key sales process steps .

Importance of understanding sales cycle stages

The sales cycle is a pivotal concept for a few reasons:

• It provides a detailed blueprint of the customer’s buying journey and transition points. This helps align sales activities and communication to each distinct phase.
• Knowing the length and stage probabilities of your sales cycle aids immensely in revenue planning and forecasting.
• It shines a spotlight on the stages where prospects are most likely to drop out or fall through the cracks so you can enhance win rates.
• Granular insights into metrics, behaviors, and patterns within each step allow you to optimize processes to shorten cycle length and boost conversions.

In summary, an optimized sales cycle acts as a high-converting engine that propels revenue growth through higher conversion rates and accelerated opportunities. Mastering its stages is pivotal for sales success.

The sales cycle can be categorized into 7 main stages, starting from initial prospect outreach up until customer onboarding and retention. Each phase has distinct goals and buyer mindsets that your sales reps need to guide prospects through to progress opportunities further down the funnel.

Let’s examine each stage:

Stage 1: Prospecting

The prospecting stage involves sales teams proactively casting a wide net to source and identify promising potential leads. This requires rigorously leveraging tactics like cold calling into target accounts, securing referrals from satisfied customers, networking at industry events, purchasing lookalike lead lists, and tapping existing networks.

The priority is sourcing leads who align with your ideal customer profile and have a higher likelihood of needing your solution based on their demographics, interests, and firmographic attributes.

Comprehensive prospecting early on provides a robust pipeline of fresh opportunities to feed into the subsequent sales cycle stages.

Stage 2: Initial contact

Once promising leads have been identified, the focus shifts to actually reaching out to connect with them. You can do this through emails, phone calls, social media outreach, and other communication channels before competitors do.

The outreach messaging aims to succinctly introduce the offering, highlight its value in addressing the prospect's needs, and initiate a two-way exchange of information to gain mindshare.

At this stage, resist the hard sales pitch. The priority is to deliver relevant, valuable insights that persuade the prospect to devote more attention to your solution amidst competing priorities. The goal is to spark meaningful engagement.

Stage 3: Lead qualification

Now that initial contact has been made, this next phase focuses on having in-depth discovery-oriented conversations. You aim to gather information to determine if leads are a good fit.

Sales reps need to assess prospect needs, pain points, priorities, budget, authority, existing solutions, buying processes, and overall readiness to gauge alignment with your offering.

Tools like lead surveys needs analyses, and discovery calls enable sales reps to directly ask prospects questions and capture details to qualify the lead. They can gauge if the lead has the budget, authority, urgent need, and timeline to make a purchase decision.

Strong lead qualification ensures only properly matched, sales-ready leads with interest, means, and opportunity enter the next phase. Unqualified leads are nurtured further.

Stage 4: Present solution 

For leads who have passed the qualification stage and expressed interest, the sales cycle progresses to this fourth phase of elaborately showcasing your solution.

This phase provides interested prospects the chance to extensively evaluate your offering through tailored demos, proposals, and proofs-of-concept. They demonstrate how you comprehensively address the needs and priorities uncovered during previous nurturing conversations.

Sales reps aim to deliver robust presentations, demos, and collateral customized to the prospect's unique processes, concerns, and goals identified during the qualification stage.

The priority is convincing leads you have the ideal solution and building their confidence in the value you provide.

Stage 5: Handle objections

Despite close alignment and a stellar, customized presentation, it’s exceedingly common during the sales cycle for even warm prospects to voice objections, concerns, or reservations. These could be around solution pricing, required integration efforts, training needs, total cost of ownership, or general adoption fears.

Address such objections and concerns, either proactively or as they arise during conversations, with empathy, logic, expertise, and patience. Handling objections is pivotal for sales reps to provide reassurance.

It's imperative to uncover deeper-rooted concerns prospects may have through probing. Help prospects vocalize and work through concerns professionally to win trust and confidence.

Stage 6: Close the deal

At this final phase, after nurturing the prospect through the previous stages, the sales rep clearly communicates the value delivered, asks for the business, and aims to close the deal.

Sales reps need to guide leads to close by presenting pricing and package options. They must be aligned to the prospect's needs, negotiating contracts, facilitating agreement on final terms, and inking the deal.

This stage requires sharp communication skills to convey value and confidence and establish rapport. The sales reps need to ask the right questions to persuade the prospect to finalize the purchase. Mastering the art of gracefully closing deals accelerates opportunities through this crucial final stage.

Stage 7: Follow up and get referrals 

For many, the sales process may seem complete once the deal is closed and the contract is signed. However, the process isn't over.

Diligent sales reps continue engagement post-purchase by following up consistently on customer onboarding, expansion revenue opportunities, and securing referrals.

This phase focuses on nurturing successful, satisfied customers who become advocates. Proactive follow-through ensures smooth onboarding, delights clients and turns them into partners who fuel future revenue by referring your business to their networks.

Sales cycle management 

Sales cycle management ( SCM ) refers to the strategic process of monitoring and enhancing how opportunities progress through your sales funnel. The overarching goal is to perfect your sales cycle.

Here are key areas in sales cycle management:

• Identifying and tracking leads

Employ sales intelligence tools to identify promising leads based on demographics, interests, and activities across digital and offline touchpoints. Lead scoring provides a quantified assessment of quality.

Marketing automation tracks granular lead behavior journeys to surface engaged prospects before competitors. Establish a rigorous tracking process to ensure no leads slip through cracks in the pipeline.

• Analyzing and evaluating sales opportunities

Conduct thorough analysis to uncover data-driven insights on which types of leads convert versus those likely to drop out at each stage.

Evaluating conversion rates, cycle length, and fall-out ratios by opportunity characteristics like source, geo, channel, and industry is crucial to pinpoint optimization areas.

Assess pain points, objections, and bottlenecks causing drop-offs. Cycle length analysis by opportunity types, steps, and fail points reveals areas to target improvements.

• Monitoring sales performance

Centralize tracking of metrics like lead response times, sales cycle length, conversion rates, win/loss percentage, and revenue by rep. Ongoing monitoring equips managers to coach reps and refine sales processes. We built Luru to help sales teams to monitor their processes. More on this towards the conclusion of the blog.

Diagnose the effectiveness of current training programs. Identification of skill gaps helps target required training to boost individual rep and team performance.

• Adapting and improving the sales cycle

Leverage insights gathered to regularly implement enhancements. Take an agile approach to test and fine-tune strategies, optimize messaging, double down on effective channels, and address bottlenecks.

Improvement areas could include better lead nurturing, objection handling training, improved hand-offs between teams, or compensation structure adjustments to incentivize the right behaviors.

The goal is to shorten cycle length, boost win rates, and enable predictable revenue growth through a data-driven iterative approach.

With diligent management, you can systematically optimize your sales cycle performance over time. However, executing improvements requires choosing the right supporting tools.

Streamline your sales cycle stages with Luru

An optimized sales cycle acts like a formula unlocking predictable revenue growth. But too often, sales cycles are disjointed - siloed activities rather than connected stages, managed reactively rather than proactively.

The result? Stalled deals, frustrated reps, and performances lagging behind potential. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Here’s where Luru, a sales process automation app comes in. Since both sales processes and sales cycles are related, you can transform the way you manage your sales cycle with this app. 

Luru aligns your revenue operations for peak collaboration and performance. It gives you data-driven insights to track buyer progression and pinpoint bottlenecks. The power of workflow automation eliminates needless manual work, letting your reps focus on high-value selling activities.

With Luru, you can connect the dots across systems, processes, and teams to accelerate opportunities smoothly through each sales cycle stage. Deals progress frictionlessly, revenue gets unlocked, and potential gets fulfilled.

The signs are clear. To orchestrate an efficient sales cycle that delivers predictable growth, you need Luru . Book a personalized demo to see how we can redefine your sales cycle management. Let’s discuss how to empower your sales teams to hit their stride.

• What are the 7 stages of the sales cycle?

The 7 key stages in a typical sales cycle include prospecting, initial contact, lead qualification, presenting solutions, handling objections, closing the deal, and follow-up and referrals. Each plays a crucial role in moving leads through the buying journey.

• How to improve the sales cycle?

Strategies to enhance your sales cycle include identifying bottlenecks, tracking lead behaviors, refining lead nurturing, automating tasks, speeding up response times, addressing objections early, and converting leads faster. Sales cycle optimization is continuous.

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How to Build a Sales Process for the 7 Stages of the Sales Cycle

• March 25, 2024

What do you do when you meet someone you instantly fall in love with? You don’t immediately get on your knees, take out a ring, and propose to them.

Instead, there’s a process that begins with getting to know them – their likes and dislikes – then gradually spending more time together to see if the relationship is really meant to be.

In much the same way, when a company meets a potential new customer or lead, there’s an established process they use to convert them into a buyer. This is called the sales cycle.

What Is a Sales Cycle?

A sales cycle is a process used by companies to successfully convert leads into customers. It outlines the key steps that should be taken in order to nurture a lead and close the deal, offering a road map for all salespeople in the company.

Why Should I Have a Process for My Sales Cycle?

As a salesperson, you probably take great joy in coming up with new ideas and improvising. However, knowing and naming the steps in your sales cycle can make all the difference in your business’s success.

There are a few key benefits to knowing the steps in your sales cycle. First, you can optimize your team structure to support your sales cycle. For example, if you know your biggest challenge is finding qualified leads, you can put more team time into that stage of the sales cycle.

Secondly, having a sales cycle process makes it easy to onboard new staff. It’s an easy way to see what the short-term and long-term goals are, and how each step in the cycle supports the next.

You might also notice places where large amounts of effort are going to waste. Knowing your process lets you eliminate low ROI projects and helps your team focus on the efforts that give you the most results.

Finally, you can better pinpoint which steps in the sales cycle need improvement. You might discover that your team is excellent at generating leads but bad at making contact. Because you can pinpoint this, you can now consider offering training on how to write better emails, get past gatekeepers , and other obstacles they might face.

The Seven Stages of the Sales Cycle

• Prospecting
• Make Contact
• Qualify your prospect
• Nurture your prospect
• Present your offer
• Overcome objections
• Close the sale

Let’s break down the seven main stages of the sales cycle: prospecting, making contact, qualifying your lead, nurturing your lead, presenting your offer, overcoming objections, and closing the sale . We’ve also included one additional bonus step that can help speed this sales cycle up.

Steps of the Sales Cycle

#1 – prospecting: find your dream client.

Prospecting is the first step in the sales process. In this stage, you might be looking at your target customer profiles, identifying potential clients for contact, and considering the best way to approach them.

Don’t rush it! Taking the time to thoroughly research your prospects is the best thing you can do to close more sales.

How do you research a sales opportunity? Let’s break this step into three stages:

1. Creating and Using an ICP

Start by creating an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). While you may take it for granted that you know who your ideal customers are, the process of creating an ICP gives you a laser focus and can uncover new insights for your sales campaign.

It’s critical to know who you’re contacting and why.

At its most basic, your ICP will be a fictional company (based on real data) that:

• Represents companies who both offer you great value (in terms of revenue, influence, etc.) AND
• Receive great value from you (usually in terms of ROI, improved service, etc.).

You can get an idea of what goes into an ICP by taking Belkin’s  online questionnaire .

2. Identifying Potential Leads

Once you have an ICP to work from, you can begin generating a database of potential leads who match that profile.

Finding those companies will depend on your specific requirements, but possibilities include social media (such as LinkedIn) and online databases (such as Crunchbase).

When you find those ideal companies, compile a list of the individual prospects at those companies for your sales team to contact and qualify.

3. Initial Qualification

Even when working from the best ICP, you’ll still need to qualify your individual prospects. Here’s an interview we did on how to qualify prospects if you’re curious, but in short, you’ll want to look for four key factors:

• Timing of Need

You can then look into additional qualifiers depending on your unique requirements, such as company size, growth, geography, and so on.

While you may need to speak directly with your prospect to fully qualify them, you can usually get a good indicator of these factors during your initial research phase.

#2 – Make Contact: Reach Out and Say Hello

Now that you’ve identified your dream client, it’s time to reach out and build a connection.

This stage of the sales cycle can be broken down into two distinct steps:

1. Identifying the Best Method

What’s the best way to get hold of your prospects? Maybe they’re particularly active on a specific social network, or they’re only reachable by phone. Maybe  cold email  is the best method, or an old-school postcard is needed to stand out from the competition.

Perhaps you’re just not sure which means of communication is right for your ICP. As a general rule, we recommend steering clear of phone calls unless you have no other option.

Studies show that 80% of phone calls go right to voicemail – and only 2% of the calls that get answered result in an appointment. Talk about slim chances!

The good news is, 78% of decision-makers say they’ve arranged an appointment or attended an event due to a cold email. Email is a great way to make direct, personalized contact with your lead.

The best time to send emails is usually between 8 am-10 am and 3 pm-4 pm. During these times, people usually aren’t at their busiest, and might be checking email to wind up or wind down.

Using social media will depend widely on the platform and your audience – but it doesn’t hurt to try. Consider pairing it with email marketing to boost your chances of making a connection.

However, in all likelihood you will use a combination of methods.

For example, you might interact with them on social media, send an email, then follow-up with a phone call. Either way, you have to remember to use the method that’s best for your client.

You may love reaching out with connection requests on LinkedIn, but if your contact is inactive, doesn’t respond to connection requests, or isn’t even on the platform, even the most original, clever outreach message may as well be smoke signals.

2. Execution

They say you only get one chance to make a good first impression. So, no pressure.

When you finally reach out, it’s important to have your objective clearly in mind. In most cases, this will not be “making a sale”. After all, would you buy anything off a complete stranger on the internet?

The higher your price point, the less likely someone is to buy from your initial outreach efforts, whatever its form. Instead,  use your outreach  to introduce yourself, to build trust, and ultimately start a conversation. The sale comes later.

#3 – Qualify Your Prospect: Learn About Their Goals and Challenges

Qualifying your lead is your chance to learn more about your target prospect. Work to understand their goals, challenges, budget, and other important decision-making factors. In this stage, it’s also essential to establish that you’re speaking with the right decision-maker and to identify opportunities where you can offer high value (as per your ICP).

This step is also a chance to further qualify them as a prospect and confirm whether they meet the four key criteria I set out in step #1. If you realize they wouldn’t be a good match, don’t get discouraged. It’s normal for less than 50% of initial prospects to turn out to be a good fit.

Avoid wasting time and team resources by communicating this concern to them. They’ll either appreciate your honesty, or you’ll learn a new detail about why they’re still interested in hearing more. Talking directly with a prospect is the best (and often only) way to be certain they are the right prospect for you.

#4 – Nurture Your Prospect: Be a Reliable Resource

Now it’s time to prove your relevance to your prospect. Prepare yourself to answer key questions about your unique offers and benefits, as well as what problems you can solve for them.

Based on what you learn, you can nurture your lead. Even without objections, most prospects will need some kind of nurture sequence. For example, you’ll likely need to move them along the stages of awareness, from pain aware to most aware. You’ll still need to build trust, and the best way to do that is offer consistent value.

Nurturing leads involves educating them about the general product, service, or industry, personalizing your communication, and addressing common challenges.

While nurturing, you’re working to establish a reputation for being helpful, responsive, and a reliable resource in your area of expertise.

In addition, you will likely come across prospects who are interested and otherwise qualified, but for whatever reason aren’t ready to sign up right now. In this case, it’s important to maintain regular contact — again offering valuable help — to stay top of mind. When they are ready to buy, you’ll be the first person they think of.

In this stage, or possibly in stage three, you might even learn that your prospect wants a product or service urgently. Once you get to this point, it’s best to move on to stage five.

#5 – Present Your Offer: Provide Them a Solution

So far, the cycle has focused on your prospect. You’ve met them where they are, learned about their needs, and educated them on their questions and concerns.

It’s time to take all that knowledge and present the best possible offer you can.

Keep your offer relevant, targeted, and personalized to the needs you previously discussed. Connect your offer to their challenges, budget, and long-term ambitions. Finally, think about creative ways you can present and package your offer.

#6 – Overcome Objections: Justify How Your Offer Is Their Best Option

You’ve provided information, support, and even given your best possible offer. Now, the ball is in your prospect’s court. Usually, they return with an objection to your offer. The most common objections include price vs. value, risk, content of the offer, contract terms, and more.

If you can, it’s best to try to handle these objections early, like in the nurturing phase. But sometimes it’s just not possible to handle them ahead of time.

When you respond, be patient and empathize with their concerns. No one responds well to being rushed or pressured.

Make sure that you handle objections that relate to each other, as well. For example, if your lead is concerned with price, make sure they understand exactly what’s included in your offer.

Once you’ve offered an explanation, ask them to confirm that you’ve handled their objection.

However, in some scenarios these objections won’t be explicitly stated, meaning you’ll need to learn to read between the lines. “We’re not interested” might mean they’ve tried similar services before and been let down, and are worried about that happening again.

Familiarizing yourself with general objections will help. But to get to the real root of the objection, you’ll often have to ask more questions. Once you’ve asked a question, remember to listen carefully to their answer rather than preparing what you’re going to say next.

Once all objections are handled, you can move into the final stage.

#7 – Close the Sale: Thanks for Doing Business

So you’ve done a great job and you didn’t let them see you sweat. It’s time for the final stage of the sales cyle: closing the sale.

There are two separate parts to this step:

1. Sealing the Deal

If the prospect matches your ICP, you’ve reached out in a way that suits them, and you’ve demonstrated value, then hopefully they’ll be eager to buy.

You should never feel the need to “trick” them into buying, but even a perfect prospect may require a nudge before making their decision. You can’t rely on them closing themselves.

The key is to make it easy for them to say “yes”.

Closing the sale not only confirms their engagement, but also works to set up next steps. At this time, you can ask for a starting date or offer an extra benefit if they sign today.

It might be counterintuitive, but avoid offering discounts – studies show that this can decrease the odds of successfully closing a sale by 17%.

Closing is also an opportunity to remind them of a specific result you believe you can achieve for their business. However you choose to do it, feel free to be a little creative. There are a variety of great ways to close the sale, ranging from indirect (“Are you happy with the features in this particular package?”) to the direct (“Would you like to go ahead and sign up now?”).

You can also introduce other factors, such as:

• Urgency/scarcity (“The price goes up at midnight”)
• Offering incentives
• Including a free trial (“Why not try it out for a week and see how you get on?”)

For example, at Belkins, the team is very confident in its ability to consistently deliver qualified leads to our clients over time, so they don’t lock companies in with a minimum engagement period of three or six months, allowing them to pay as they go month-by-month. This policy helps them to close more business than their competitors, since clients don’t feel obligated to a long-term contract from the first month.

If, after all this, the prospect still seems hesitant, it’s often best to simply ask them what else they’d need to know to make a decision.

Once you’ve closed the deal and gotten their commitment, stick around to answer any remaining questions and provide them with clear next steps.

If you’re having an in-person meeting, offer to send a summary email to them and their assistant or superior that reviews your conversation and agreement.

2. Follow-Up

Finally, even with your best efforts, factors outside your (or the prospect’s) control may mean the answer is “Not yet.”

In this case, the best thing you can do is add them to a nurture campaign (see above), regularly following up with any prospects who aren’t yet ready to say yes.

You could also use this as an opportunity to reach out to additional contacts within the same company.

Best Practices for Creating Your Sales Process

Rex Bibertson, founder of LeadCar and author of Outbound Sales No Fluff , shares his 4 best practices for creating your own sales process.

Sales is a combination of science and art: you have to solve a basic formula in a way that wows your prospects. I’ve consulted dozens of startups all trying to master this critical pairing, and it’s not  easy.

Fortunately, the perfect sales process is not some elusive dream. It  can  be built. It just might surprise you  how it gets built (hint: it has a lot more to do with what your ideal customer needs to experience than whatever you think you need to do). Although tools such as CRM let you automate parts of the sales process, it is the human touch points in your sales process that matter the most.

Start with the customer in mind, not the tools

Sales technology has gotten so advanced that we are starting to forget that a critical rule: Our tools shouldn’t dictate our processes — our processes should dictate our tools.

When you’re planning out your process, don’t worry about what software you’ve already bought. These days you can make most tools do what you need them to.

Start with your customer in mind. Think about the mindset they have before they learn about your product:

• What are the problems they’re experiencing and how are they trying to solve them today?
• What changes need to happen in their knowledge and attitude toward your product for a sale to happen?

Then design the steps you take around the path they must follow

Here’s an example (written from the perspective of the customer):

• I have a problem with X that I’m willing to pay to solve
• I’m currently trying Y solution, but it’s (a) ineffective (b) overpriced [these should be based on your competitive product advantages]
• I learn about Product and wonder if it’s worth replacing what I’m doing now.
• I talk to a sales rep and can tell this company knows a lot about the problem.
• The rep makes me feel like she understands exactly what I’m struggling with and what to do about it.
• I find out the necessary details to make a decision and am starting to feel more confident that this solution can help me.
• The sales rep provides ample evidence of companies like mine that have found the benefits I’m looking for. I feel much more confident and can now explain to my team why we are making this transition.
• The buying process is easy and next steps are clear all along the way.
• I sign up and immediately am made to feel that my decision was right.

How much better is this as a starting point than: “Day 1: Email + Call. Day 2: Call and leave VM”

We’ll get there eventually, but the detailed steps aren’t important unless they take your future customer on the right path.

Map your actions to the customer’s journey

Personally, I use Lucidchart for all my process mapping. They make it insanely easy for me to create and share ideas (plus I just  LOVE their brand )

Next to each step the customer needs to go through, write the corresponding actions you need to take to ensure the customer can take those steps.

Here’s an example from the customer journey I mentioned above:

• Need a discovery call framework that highlights the problem with statistics and high value questions that dig into the problem.
• Customer stories that highlight each variation of the problem we solve.
• To ensure sales reps have all relevant data on the company ahead of the call so time is spent on valuable questions, not time wasters.
• To teach reps to actively listen. If we see reps struggling because they’re taking too many notes to really be present, we can put a call recording & transcribing tool in place so they can focus and get notes logged afterward.
• To help the customer feel like they’re getting personal engagement and all of our attention, we will use a video conferencing tool to show our reps’ faces (even if the client doesn’t turn on their camera).

Look at how much can be developed based on what the  prospect  needs to feel. Ditch the “best practices” – do what’s best by the customer.

Map your actions to the tools needed to execute them

At this point you know what you need to do. Now you need to develop  how  to do it.

For example, if I need to design and distribute a discovery call framework, I have a few options:

• Add custom fields to my contact record in CRM based on necessary data to uncover during discovery
• Create a form for the rep to fill out while on the call (like a Google form)
• Generate a document outlining the questions to ask and have reps keep call notes
• Any combination of the above solutions

It’s finally time to start thinking about your own team and not your customer. Here are four questions to consider when developing each step in the process:

• Does this step contribute to helping our prospective customer make the right decision?
• Is this step adding any unnecessary complexity?
• Do we need to buy or implement a new tool to execute on this step?
• If we need a new tool, will the sales reps integrate it into their workflow?

Measure and improve over time

If you think you’ll be able to design the perfect sales process right out of the gates, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

You should track your sales funnel metrics  before  implementing new changes, then after the change is implemented. This way you can make a decision based on real data, not feelings, about how a particular step in your process is affecting your sales output.

Here’s a list of some metrics you’ll want to track:

• Dial to connect rate i.e. Out of your call attempts, how many conversations are you having with the intended contact?
• Positive email response rate i.e. Out of the emails you’re sending, how many prospects respond positively?
• Conversion rate i.e. Out of your first conversations, how many convert to a next sales conversation (meeting/demo)?
• Sales accepted rate i.e. Out of your next sales conversations, how many become a qualified sales opportunity?
• Close rate i.e. Out of your qualified sales opportunities, how many become a customer?

How to Improve Your Sales Cycle

To finish things off, you should always have an eye on what you could be doing to improve your sales process.

According to Dale Dupree of  The Sales Rebellion , there are 3 places you should invest your time to do that:

Dale has 3 recommendations in each discipline to up your game.

Take 30–60 minutes in the morning and invest it in yourself.

We often live lives that are subject to our circumstances. In most cases, this is a choice we make. It is rare for people to take control of their surroundings and cultivate an environment that facilitates success. Setting aside time for you, preferably in the morning, is the first step in being able to make your life what you want it to be. Remember, the morning sets up the rest of your day.

Use your lunch break to connect with people on a deeper, more meaningful level.

In essence, we are telling you to never eat lunch alone. Sales is an emotional rollercoaster. A community mindset and the action fellowship will help to keep you grounded in reality and focused on the bigger picture behind your goals. What better time to recharge and continue to build alliances than over lunch? It’s a classic way to bring people together.

Educate yourself in a subject that you love.

This is not work. It’s about having a passion for something, even if it is not what you do for a living. This is the practice of intentionally observing what is important to those you are looking to serve. Whether it’s a better understanding of your product, your prospect’s entire business ecosystem, or topics that might be outside of your scope of work. People will be attracted to your enthusiasm and knowledge. Be willing to learn. Be willing to share it.

2. Prospecting

Start integrating your story into your sales pitch.

The purpose of a story is to ignite the brain and make people engage with you from a different point of reference. Make your story relevant to your prospect and the pains they’re experiencing that you can relieve. It should be meaningful for the conversation you’re having. Make it blur the line between personal and professional personas. You are not separate from your 9–5, make sure people know it.

Listen more than you speak

In other words, build your active listening skills and seek to read between the lines. What you see may not be what’s really going on. For example, “not interested” can mean a host of different things, none of which legitimately means “not interested.” People use common phrases like this one to move the conversation in the direction they want. Look to discover the real meaning behind people’s words.

Use a first touch piece

It’s the 21st century. There is no need to call a prospect who is so cold, they could give you frostbite. Utilize a pre-contact strategy that will create a sense of curiosity in your prospect before you ever reach out to them. But be aware: A brochure or flyer doesn’t count. Everybody sends those; they end up in the trash. Create a marketing piece that expresses your personality and unique value while empowering your sales goals . Then, send it to them before you ever call.

3. Pipeline

Redefine your territory/list.

Know that your territory/list is more than just a source of potential opportunity. It is a representation of many different people, and these people are tired of being treated as a means to an end. Be a champion to your community and a protector of your prospect’s interests. Drop the agenda and look to truly serve. Then watch the opportunities grow.

Create a hybrid outlook

Too many salespeople focus on the short term and forfeit opportunities that have not yet come to fruition. Create a five-year outlook. Who’s going to be your client three, four, and five years from now? Create a 2-year campaign that has quarterly touchpoints. The aim should be to build a relationship with this prospect not to show them the latest offer for 20% off. By taking this approach, you will win business sooner than it is “up” while cultivating a much healthier 30/60/90 day funnel.

Build community

This is the Jedi move for your long game. This is about recognizing that your value proposition is you and your ability to bring people together, solve problems, and give back. All of these actions build your reputation — a highly overlooked piece of the puzzle for long-term sales success. Start building a reputation you can be proud of and your prospects feel honored by.

How to Build a Sales Process FAQs

What are the 7 steps of the sales cycle.

The 7 steps of a sales cycle are: prospecting, making contact, qualifying your prospects, nurturing your prospect, presenting your offer, overcoming objections, and finally closing the sale.

Which step is the most important to the sales cycle?

Qualifying your prospects is perhaps the most important step in the 7-step sales cycle. This is because it helps you identify and target the right potential customers, as well as understand their needs more deeply.

Why build a sales cycle?

A sales cycle gives your salespeople a roadmap to follow when selling. This helps them stay organized and focused, which can lead to more successful conversions more quickly.

What is sales cycle management?

Sales cycle management is the process of tracking and managing each stage of your sales cycle to ensure that all leads are nurtured and converted into paying customers. This involves defining KPIs, tracking progress through each step, and making changes as needed to optimize the process.

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Mapping the customer sales journey: Making sales buyer centric

Daniel O'Dowd

When does the customer journey begin? In your organization, it might depend on who you ask: 

Sales : “When I arrange a call with them.”

Marketing : “When they see our ad on Google.”

Customer success : “When we begin onboarding them.”

Finance : “When they sign the contract.”

It can be easy for each department to focus on the channel that they ‘own’ - but your customers don't care about that.

"One of the top reasons customers stop buying is that organizations make it too difficult to buy from"

"Buyers don't care about MQLs, opportunities or pipelines. They just want a frictionless process to buy your product when they’re ready. This means an organizational shift and approach."

- Brett Trainor, iQuipt

Your job as a sales enabler is to empower sales reps to engage with customers, so it makes sense that you embed an understanding of the customer journey and experience into their minds. 

The buyer’s experience should be the bedrock of sales enablement.

While your reps might only consider the ‘sales’ journey from their own perspective, in reality it’s more important for your organization to understand the entire customer sales journey - which starts before your salespeople interact with a prospect, and continues after the deal is closed. 

In fact, Gartner reports that "when B2B buyers are considering a purchase‚ they spend only 17% of that time meeting with potential suppliers.

"When buyers are comparing multiple suppliers‚ the amount of time spent with any one sales rep may be only 5% or 6%."

And according to the Aberdeen Group, only 36% of companies currently have a process in place for mapping customer journeys. Yet for sales teams, customer journey maps can be a powerful tool.

What does it mean to map the customer sales journey?

The customer sales journey covers the entire cycle of their relationship with your company - from the first stage of the customer becoming aware of your business to becoming (and hopefully remaining) an enthusiastic advocate.

Within each step of this journey, the customer interacts with your brand in many different ways. Understanding the customer journey allows you to see those touchpoints in a more meaningful context. 

You can even map their journey to identify areas it can be improved to:

• Increase engagement through better targeting
• Eliminate ineffective touchpoints
• Increase conversion
• Retain/upsell
• Ultimately, improve the customer experience

The ideal outcome puts you in a position to use this map to align your sales process - in terms of cadence, sales script, the content or information provided - with the customer journey so prospects are given just the right experience at the right time.

For enablement, and your company as a whole, laying out the customer journey like this helps to: 

• Identify and optimize moments of truth in the CX.
• Shift to a customer-focused perspective.
• Break down silos between departments and facilitate cross-functional collaboration.
• Assign ownership of various customer touchpoints to increase employee accountability.

Why is the customer sales journey important?

You, your sales reps, marketing, and the C-suite may think you already know what your customer journey looks like. You may all have different perspectives. You need hard truths so that you can map a realistic journey that uncovers areas of friction for customers and identifies solutions that allow sales to address them. 

With the rise of mobile internet use and voice search, your target audience now has information at their fingertips. This means they have much higher expectations than ten, or even five years ago.

They expect:

• To be able to easily find information and resources to inform them of the options available.
• To be able to easily find detailed information on your website (and other online presence, such as social media or customer reviews) about your product, pricing, and differentiation.
• To have access to onboarding and training on how to use your product, as well as continuous support.

Become an SEC Pro member and gain access to this template and a whole host of other benefits, including hundreds of hours of event footage, mentorship opportunities, and more.

So put yourself in the shoes of the customer: 

• What's it like to experience your company from their perspective? 
• How easy is it to find what you’re looking for (through a web search, site navigation, even social media?) 
• How helpful and engaging are the touchpoints? 

Once you understand your existing customer experience, you can start mapping out the ideal sales journey and innovate to stay ahead of the competition. 

Having today's journey and your ideal journey defined will help you discover and fill in the gaps of those experiences. 

From your marketing strategies, to sales processes, to how you work with existing customers, creating a customer journey map can provide fresh perspectives on your customer interactions.

How to map the customer sales journey: getting started

As we've established, creating a map of the customer sales journey is a powerful way to align cross-functionally and empower your sales reps to understand their prospects.

Here's how to actually get started with mapping. 👇

1. Define the scope of your map

Most organizations won’t have one definitive customer journey - the number of products you sell, types of customer and possible situations are complex.

A financial services company, for example, may offer advice on investment planning and retirement planning, as well as corporate financial services and mortgage brokering - all completely different. 

So start by focusing on one customer segment and one customer journey for one product or service - don’t try to do everything at once . This can then serve as a model or template in the future. 

2. Identify your customer

Time to refer to those customer (or buyer) personas and pick one whose shoes you're going to step into. What are their motivators, their challenges? Who do they report to?

This gives you a starting point for framing things from the potential customer’s viewpoint and painting a true picture of their trajectory.

3. Define customer touchpoints

Think about each stage of the sales journey and about the customer’s objectives at each point. This means considering the challenges and frustrations they may be experiencing, as well as their actions and the channels through which you are reaching them.

Invite input from all stakeholders and build your customer journey map collaboratively to ensure accuracy. 

This will help you to evaluate whether you are currently really delivering the experience they expect - and identify where there’s room for improvement.

Your customer’s journey may begin much earlier than many in your organization think. It doesn’t start from the first call from someone in sales .

It begins when they first become aware of your brand or product, often through marketing activities such as search engines, social media, advertising, email marketing etc. 

Sales reps may not directly be involved in these activities, but they certainly need to be familiar with them so that they know what their prospects/leads already know about your company, where they have found this information and, most importantly, the messaging they have received, to give them the opportunity to offer a seamless experience when they make contact.

Great, you’ve piqued their interest - they may have signed up for a newsletter, started to follow you on social, or even called your business.

This is the point at which continuing that engagement, and nudging them further along their journey (or through the sales funnel) is paramount.

High-quality content, relevant to their needs, is key to establish trust and brand authority . The prospect should be nurtured.

This may be the point at which your business identifies them as MQLs and begins to research their company, needs, and buying process and makes contact.

Consideration

The customer is evaluating your product and probably comparing it with competitors or other options. It’s at this point they may be considered SQLs. They need information to make a rational choice on whether the product is right for them - and this is where reps have their time to shine as trusted advisers, consultants and, hopefully, as thought leaders. 

Now coming into play:

• Explaining benefits in detail
• Overcoming objections
• Storytelling using case studies

Remember that, for B2B buyers, this stage usually gets pretty complex .

According to Gartner’s The New B2B Buying Journey report:

" The typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves six to 10 decision makers, each armed with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently and must deconflict with the group. "At the same time, the set of options and solutions buying groups can consider is expanding as new technologies, products, suppliers and services emerge. "

Take this into account when assessing pain points and considerations - even if you’re dealing with one individual, there will be other stakeholders that influence whether to buy.

The customer has made the decision to buy, and now is the time to follow through on your promises by delivering the product in a way that builds on your brand values and impresses your new client.

Now comes the time for contract negotiations (which can be a pain point, if the customer has a complex and long-winded sign-off process), product delivery and training, and onboarding. At this point, sales reps often hand over to account managers . 

You’ve got the customer to sign on the dotted line, but that’s not the end of the sales process by any means. You need to keep these customers . It’s not just about renewal, but also encouraging repeat purchases, upselling and cross-selling where relevant. 

This is done by delivering excellent customer service, through:

• Responding to customer queries promptly and effectively.
• Staying up-to-date with customer priorities and challenges.
• Keeping product knowledge up to speed so that you spot opportunities that could be a good fit for them.
• Ultimately, providing your customer with value .

The final stage, which you ideally want every customer's journey to reach is advocacy. A great experience as a customer means they shout about your brand, helping to strengthen brand recognition and trust - and win new customers.

People trust personal recommendations and social proof more than marketing and sales messages: 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review . Likewise, each negative review costs the average business about 30 customers .

4. Map future states

Now that you’ve visualized your existing customer sales journey, your map will probably show some gaps in your CX, information overlap, poor transitions between stages, and significant pain points or obstacles for customers.

Use mapping tools to plan out potential solutions and compare the current state of the customer journey with the ideal, future state.

Present your findings company-wide to bring everyone up to speed on the areas that need to be improved, with a clear roadmap for expected change and how their roles will play a part in improving the customer journey.

Using a data-based approach to understand your customer sales journey

Follow the above steps and you'll find yourself with a good understanding of the entire customer sales journey - and you'll have the ability to teach that to your sales team as well.

But you can dive even deeper by embracing a data-driven approach to understanding the customer sales journey.

Here's some ways to get started:

Google Analytics provides deep insights into customers’ behavior, from the moment they enter your website:

• Where they came from
• Where they entered your site
• Their browsing activities
• Where they leave
• And much, much more. 

This tells you what they’re interested in and what puts them off - a goldmine of info for customer experience optimization.

You also have access to informal and more formal customer feedback. Online reviews, for example, a CSAT (customer satisfaction index), or NPS (net promoter score).

Those data points can (often instantly) inform you of ways to improve the customer sales journey, and make future prospects' interactions with you better.

Lastly, don't ignore the all-important feedback from customer-facing employees . Not just sales reps but your those who deal with customers after the sales, such as account managers and customer success managers.

Gather whatever you can to help inform and continuously update your map, and improve your understanding of how to define success for your organization.

Join over 7,000 of your sales enablement peers in our Slack community! Network, idea-share, ask questions, and more today .

Written by:

Copywriter / Content @ SEC

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Sales Pipeline Stages and Management: The Ultimate Guide

Jenny Keohane

What Is a Sales Pipeline?

Sales pipeline vs. sales funnel, what are the main stages of a sales pipeline, sales pipeline stages, sales pipeline management, establish and execute.

A thorough and effective sales pipeline streamlines your sales process and allows your sales team to visualize where all potential customers live in the buying process.

Keeping your pipeline healthy and controlled will boost sales velocity and revenue outcomes.

Think about it — if it takes three weeks for any given deal to make it through your sales pipeline instead of four, then by the end of any given period, you’ll have closed 33% more deals . The key is building out a successful pipeline and consistently managing it.

Although every company has its own process that works best for them, in this article we will cover the basics of what a sales pipeline is, the fundamental steps required, and how you can best manage your pipeline. 

Your pipeline also helps forecast results and revenue by viewing which stages the prospects are currently in and how many will make it through the pipeline by a given time. 

Two commonly confused sales terms are sales pipeline and sales funnel.

The sales funnel is a visual representation of the journey that customers go on with your business. This also helps businesses measure the conversion rates of each stage.

So although both terms represent the buyer’s journey, the sales pipeline is from the point of view of the sales rep: the sales team’s process of turning a prospect into a customer. Where the sales funnel is from the point of view of the buyer: the journey the prospect goes through with a business before becoming a customer.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the sales funnel stages:

• T op of the Funnel: this is where customers become aware of your business. They might be looking for a solution for a problem they have and come across your product or service while carrying out their research
• Middle of the Funnel: this is where prospects become leads. They like what they see but they aren’t yet ready to invest in you just yet
• Bottom of the Funnel: this is where leads are ready to become customers

Here’s a great visualization to help align your sales funnel with your pipeline stages:

Now, let’s look at the main stages of a sales pipeline.

The main stages:

• Prospecting
• Demonstrate

1. Prospecting

The pipeline begins with Prospecting (or Lead Generation).

Prospecting is the process of identifying potential customers that your product or service will benefit, and then systematically communicating with them. Lead Generation is the process of attracting and engaging prospects through marketing activities such as campaigns, events, and content marketing.

Tip: Here are 7 techniques with email templates to help you get to “yes” faster.

2. Qualifying

Before taking the prospect through the pipeline, make sure they’re a good fit. Through research and conversation — dig into their pain points , buyer persona, company size, budget, etc. This will also help establish who your high-value prospects are and prioritize deals based on the likelihood of them leading to a sale.

A sales technique for qualifying your leads is through BANT . This is a formula used to determine whether it’s the right time to sell to a prospect and helps to separate hot deals from time-wasters through a series of questions. 

3. Demonstrate

This is where you demonstrate the product or service to the prospect to make sure it resonates with them.

This will differ according to your product or service, but it’s important to demonstrate all the features and capabilities, emphasize the advantages of implementing your solution, handle any objections, and answer all questions.

4. Proposal

Once you’ve qualified the prospect and demonstrated your solution, your proposal will be much easier to personalize and tailor to the specific prospect.

Your proposal dives into the details of your solution such as price and length, all while staying personalized and directed towards their pain points and why your product or service will benefit them specifically.

Here are some fundamental elements to include in your proposal:

• Executive summary
• Personalization

Whether the prospect becomes a customer or you lose the deal, closing for both is important. If you’ve won the sale — follow up, get them the paperwork they need, provide onboarding steps if necessary, and make the transition as smooth as possible. If you have lost the sale — do your best to maintain a relationship for the future, ask for feedback, and reflect.

Tip: Once the sale is closed, salespeople can still follow up with the customer to make sure they’re happy. This helps with loyalty but also remaining in contact with the customer for future sales. Loyal customers can come back to the sales pipeline by repurchasing additional products or services such as upgrading their accounts. 

1. Keep Your Sales Pipeline Healthy

Always keep track of your sales pipeline and monitor its growth and health . Your pipeline should always be growing or at least staying consistent with new deals leaving and entering simultaneously.

Another indicator of a healthy pipeline is to consistently have prospects at every stage. Make sure these opportunities maintain momentum — don’t let a good lead slip through the cracks!

2. Prioritize Top Deals

Monitoring the length of the deal to estimate the closing period can help with prioritization and sales activities. Certain deals move through your sales pipeline differently than others. And some deals you need to prioritize.

A tip is to have certain qualification criteria for each stage to determine the top priorities you need to work on first. If you’re consistently monitoring your pipeline, you’ll begin to understand patterns of length and likelihood of dropping depending on the kind of deal.

3. Drop Deals That Aren’t Progressing

Deals that aren’t moving and are stuck at a particular stage are in most cases not likely to make it through the pipeline. These are a waste of time — so make sure to clean up your sales pipeline regularly to avoid clutter.

When a prospect is at a standstill, either decide to remove them or focus on picking up momentum with this particular deal. A key indicator is if they’ve surpassed the average sales cycle length.

4. Monitor Pipeline Metrics

Monitoring your metrics is a key indicator of the growth and progress of your sales initiatives. Focus on metrics that indicate pipeline health such as the number of deals in your pipeline, the average lifetime of a deal, the average size of deals, and the percentage of deals that make it through the pipeline.

It’s also important to monitor your pipeline to identify opportunities or areas in the sales process that need improvement. Your sales pipeline can also indicate barriers and identify blockers that your sales manager needs to address.

5. Reflect and Improve

Which sales techniques are working and which are not? 

What stages are taking longer than others? 

It’s important to regularly review your pipeline and the progress of your sales team. Indicate barriers and what is slowing down the momentum, then work on and improve your sales techniques accordingly.

Yesware Best Practice:

Yesware syncs your email and calendar activity automatically so that you no longer need to manually input your messages into Salesforce CRM. With our activity dashboard — you can compile this data into informative reports to help forecast your sales and keep your pipeline activities accurate. These centralized dashboards help managers understand how sales activities are contributing to the pipeline and what to work on with the sales team.

Curious to try? Automate your sales process today (free trial).

Establish your pipeline, execute, measure, and reflect.

Your sales pipeline is essential for growth in not only your sales team but your business as a whole.

Establish what each stage of your pipeline entails and your team’s plan and techniques for each. Use the data and metrics your sales pipeline provides to improve your sales process.

From prospecting to closing — keep the stages in a sequence and maintain a process-oriented visual sales dashboard of your pipeline to avoid any opportunities from slipping through the cracks.

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Customer Journey Maps: How to Create Really Good Ones [Examples + Template]

Updated: April 17, 2024

Published: May 04, 2023

Did you know 70% of online shoppers abandoned their carts in 2022? Why would someone spend time adding products to their cart just to fall off the customer journey map at the last second?

The thing is — understanding your customer base can be very challenging. Even when you think you’ve got a good read on them, the journey from awareness to purchase for each customer will always be unpredictable, at least to some level.

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While it isn’t possible to predict every experience with 100% accuracy, customer journey mapping is a convenient tool for keeping track of critical milestones that every customer hits. In this post, I’ll explain everything you need to know about customer journey mapping — what it is, how to create one, and best practices.

Table of Contents

What is the customer journey?

What is a customer journey map, benefits of customer journey mapping, customer journey stages.

• What’s included in a customer journey map?

The Customer Journey Mapping Process

Steps for creating a customer journey map.

• Types of Customer Journey Maps

Customer Journey Mapping Best Practices

• Customer Journey Design
• Customer Journey Map Examples

Free Customer Journey Map Templates

Free Customer Journey Template

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free templates.

• Buyer's Journey Template
• Future State Template
• Day-in-the-Life Template

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The customer journey is the series of interactions a customer has with a brand, product, or business as they become aware of a pain point and make a purchase decision. While the buyer’s journey refers to the general process of arriving at a purchase, the customer journey refers to a buyer's purchasing experience with a specific company or service.

Customer Journey vs. Buyer Journey

Many businesses that I’ve worked with were confused about the differences between the customer’s journey and the buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey is the entire buying experience from pre-purchase to post-purchase. It covers the path from customer awareness to becoming a product or service user.

In other words, buyers don’t wake up and decide to buy on a whim. They go through a process of considering, evaluating, and purchasing a new product or service.

The customer journey refers to your brand’s place within the buyer’s journey. These are the customer touchpoints where you will meet your customers as they go through the stages of the buyer’s journey. When you create a customer journey map, you’re taking control of every touchpoint at every stage of the journey instead of leaving it up to chance.

For example, at HubSpot, our customer’s journey is divided into three stages — pre-purchase/sales, onboarding/migration, and normal use/renewal.

1. Use customer journey map templates.

Why make a customer journey map from scratch when you can use a template? Save yourself some time by downloading HubSpot’s free customer journey map templates .

This has templates that map out a buyer’s journey, a day in your customer’s life, lead nurturing, and more.

These templates can help sales, marketing, and customer support teams learn more about your company’s buyer persona. This will improve your product and customer experience.

2. Set clear objectives for the map.

Before you dive into your customer journey map, you need to ask yourself why you’re creating one in the first place.

What goals are you directing this map towards? Who is it for? What experience is it based upon?

If you don’t have one, I recommend creating a buyer persona . This persona is a fictitious customer with all the demographics and psychographics of your average customer. This persona reminds you to direct every aspect of your customer journey map toward the right audience.

3. Profile your personas and define their goals.

Next, you should conduct research. This is where it helps to have customer journey analytics ready.

Don’t have them? No worries. You can check out HubSpot’s Customer Journey Analytics tool to get started.

Questionnaires and user testing are great ways to obtain valuable customer feedback. The important thing is to only contact actual customers or prospects.

You want feedback from people interested in purchasing your products and services who have either interacted with your company or plan to do so.

Some examples of good questions to ask are:

• How did you hear about our company?
• What first attracted you to our website?
• What are the goals you want to achieve with our company? In other words, what problems are you trying to solve?
• How long have you/do you typically spend on our website?
• Have you ever made a purchase with us? If so, what was your deciding factor?
• Have you ever interacted with our website to make a purchase but decided not to? If so, what led you to this decision?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how easily can you navigate our website?
• Did you ever require customer support? If so, how helpful was it, on a scale of 1 to 10?
• Can we further support you to make your process easier?

You can use this buyer persona tool to fill in the details you procure from customer feedback.

4. Highlight your target customer personas.

Once you’ve learned about the customer personas that interact with your business, I recommend narrowing your focus to one or two.

Remember, a customer journey map tracks the experience of a customer taking a particular path with your company. If you group too many personas into one journey, your map won’t accurately reflect that experience.

When creating your first map, it’s best to pick your most common customer persona and consider the route they would typically take when engaging with your business for the first time.

You can use a marketing dashboard to compare each and determine the best fit for your journey map. Don’t worry about the ones you leave out, as you can always go back and create a new map specific to those customer types.

5. List out all touchpoints.

Begin by listing the touchpoints on your website.

What is a touchpoint in a customer journey map?

A touchpoint in a customer journey map is an instance where your customer can form an opinion of your business. You can find touchpoints in places where your business comes in direct contact with a potential or existing customer.

For example, if I were to view a display ad, interact with an employee, reach a 404 error, or leave a Google review, all of those interactions would be considered a customer touchpoint.

Your brand exists beyond your website and marketing materials, so you must consider the different types of touchpoints in your customer journey map. These touchpoints can help uncover opportunities for improvement in the buying journey.

Based on your research, you should have a list of all the touchpoints your customers are currently using and the ones you believe they should be using if there’s no overlap.

This is essential in creating a customer journey map because it provides insight into your customers’ actions.

For instance, if they use fewer touchpoints than expected, does this mean they’re quickly getting turned away and leaving your site early? If they are using more than expected, does this mean your website is complicated and requires several steps to reach an end goal?

Whatever the case, understanding touchpoints help you understand the ease or difficulties of the customer journey.

Aside from your website, you must also look at how your customers might find you online. These channels might include:

• Social channels.
• Email marketing.
• Third-party review sites or mentions.

Run a quick Google search of your brand to see all the pages that mention you. Verify these by checking your Google Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from. Whittle your list down to those touchpoints that are the most common and will be most likely to see an action associated with it.

At HubSpot, we hosted workshops where employees from all over the company highlighted instances where our product, service, or brand impacted a customer. Those moments were recorded and logged as touchpoints. This showed us multiple areas of our customer journey where our communication was inconsistent.

The proof is in the pudding — you can see us literally mapping these touch points out with sticky notes in the image below.

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How Personalized Marketing Keeps Customers Past the Honeymoon Stage

You’ve got to focus on the whole journey — not just the conversion — to keep customers engaged long-term.

Kelly Eliyahu

Share article, your guide to personalized marketing, what is personalized marketing, the 6 do’s and don’ts of personalized marketing, personalized marketing in action, how salesforce uses data cloud to close deals faster.

It feels like you’ve found “the one” — a customer ready for a long-lasting brand relationship built on personalized marketing. But then, just as quickly as the sparks fly, they fizzle out. Engagement plummets, and those once-enthusiastic customers disappear. What went wrong?

In the world of personalized marketing, making the wrong moves can turn a promising relationship into a fleeting encounter. The truth is, our data shows that 81% of customers expect faster interactions as technology advances, and a whopping 73% crave better personalization . Without these, you risk losing customers because of poor service, which is the number one reason customers stop purchasing.

With timely data at your fingertips , influencing customer behavior seems like a slam dunk. But there’s a catch: not using all the data you have available can negatively impact customer experiences — and push customers away faster than you can say “unsubscribe.” 

So, what can you do to build one personalized marketing journey rather than a series of personalized, yet disparate, interactions? First, let’s define what personalized marketing is, then cover some do’s and don’ts as you plan for better long-term customer relationships.

Personalized marketing ditches the one-size-fits-all approach, using data to tailor messages and offerings to individual customers. This can range from including a customer’s name in an email, to recommending products based on past purchases, to tailoring customer conversations with chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Done right, it fosters loyalty and boosts revenue. Done wrong, it becomes annoying and intrusive.

What constitutes a “personalized” experience continues to evolve, and there’s a stark difference between how marketing teams are adapting. We found that more than half of marketers take a lifecycle approach to personalization — targeting potential customers with awareness campaigns and nurturing existing ones with product support and loyalty programs. 

During that journey, marketers engage customers across an average of 10 channels . And that’s exactly what customers expect. But, access to up-to-date data can make it difficult to reach customers across all of those channels — much less influence them to take the next step.

Just like any relationship, personalized marketing requires effort to make it work. Companies have to collect and analyze customer data responsibly, while ensuring it translates into clear audience segments. They also have to share this customer data across departments to create a truly connected experience. Every interaction, big or small, counts and can make or break a relationship. 

Maintaining personalization also requires constant monitoring and adaptation — a challenge for businesses with limited resources. Here’s where size comes in. Large enterprises often have more data that requires the infrastructure and data analysis capabilities to execute complex personalization strategies. 

Small businesses, on the other hand, may rely on simpler tactics to apply customer preferences or offer targeted promotions. While the scale differs, the core idea remains — understanding your audience and tailoring your marketing to resonate with them. But just like in real-world relationships, rushing things or being overly clingy can lead to disaster.

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Imagine getting served irrelevant ads, or worse, recommendations for something you already bought. The key to avoid losing your customer is building trust with your audience. Flip your relationship from doomed to devoted with these tips.

1. Don’t rush the “get to know you” phase

Sure, you want to personalize, but not before you understand your audience’s needs. It’s just as important as knowing if your partner likes coffee or tea, roses or tulips, sweet or salty. 

Take time to collect accurate data and segment your audience based on this data. Look beyond demographics and delve into past campaign interactions to form a deeper understanding of their preferences. You need all the information about a customer to truly know them — and that data can live anywhere, so don’t let data live trapped in silos.

2. Don’t forget to collaborate

A truly successful customer relationship thrives on open collaboration between departments and shared understanding of the customer. This requires data that’s securely accessible and actionable across the business. Marketing has customer engagement activity, sales has lead details, and service has case history, and commerce has past purchases. Break down departmental silos and share the customer data to create deeper connections, anticipate customer needs, and streamline processes for the future.

3. Don’t be selfish

Think of customer data as a two-way street. The more information they share (with clear explanations of how it’s used), the more you can tailor their experience. But remember, it’s a give-and-take. Offer valuable content, discounts, or loyalty rewards in return for their insights. 

4. Don’t send too many messages

There’s a fine line between interested and overbearing. And you definitely do not want to appear desperate. Using incomplete or inaccurate data can lead to overwhelming customers with irrelevant recommendations in hopes that they respond. Techniques like waterfall segmentation and propensity to purchase scores can prioritize truly interested audiences and prevent oversaturated promotions.

5. Don’t ignore the little details

Make them feel valued with a truly personalized experience in real time. Offer targeted promotions when they’re most engaged and on the channels they frequent. Imagine getting a discount on that jacket you just browsed — on your phone, while you’re still contemplating the purchase. That’s personalization done right. 

6. Don’t be inconsistent

Consistency in communication is key. Don’t rely on inaccurate or siloed data to only give them what they want every now and then. Set the bar high by unifying your customer profiles across all platforms and departments. This ensures your messaging stays consistent across all channels, no matter how a customer interacts with your brand — chatting on your website, clicking on an ad, talking to a sales rep, or via email.

Sure, the honeymoon stage is blissful, but it’s the next phase that makes or breaks the relationship. Let’s see how personalized marketing done right can keep your customers coming back for more.

Consider Northern Trail Outfitters (NTO), a fictional outdoor apparel retailer facing a challenge with stagnant conversion rates on their website. They knew personalization was key, but with a diverse customer base ranging from casual hikers to hardcore mountaineers, a one-size-fits-all approach wouldn’t cut it.

Here’s how they tackled the problem:

Using advertising insights 

NTO started by analyzing customer behavior data gleaned from their advertising campaigns. They looked at which ads different customer segments responded to, the products they clicked on, and even their browsing history post-ad click. This provided valuable insights into customer intent and preferences .

Waterfall segmentation with a twist 

Instead of a static segmentation based on demographics, NTO implemented a dynamic “waterfall” approach. Here’s how it worked:

• Basic demographics: All website visitors were initially categorized by basic demographics like age and location.
• Behavioral segmentation: Based on browsing behavior, visitors were further segmented and prioritized into subsets of outdoor shoppers, like “Hikers,” “Campers,” or “Rock Climbers.” This ensured each subset was only included in one campaign most relevant to them to avoid oversaturation.
• Real-time personalization: Within each behavioral segment, NTO used up-to-date data to further personalize the experience. For example, a customer buying a climbing rope, who has purchased items in the past, might receive a special offer at checkout, along with recommendations for complementary climbing gear. 

By delivering personalized shopping experiences, NTO saw a significant increase in conversion rates. Waterfall segmentation helped them prioritize various subsets of their audience so they could further personalize offers, retain loyal customers, and avoid oversaturation of promotions.

Let’s take another look from a B2B perspective to see how we at Salesforce use our own product ( Data Cloud ) to cut our time between a lead expressing interest and it being sent to the correct sales rep from 25 minutes to 45 seconds. 

Since we process more than 20 million leads every year, that’s a lot of time saved. Previously, our system relied on over 2 million lines of custom code. Now, it’s down to a few thousand lines built natively into our automation platform, Flow . 

Data Cloud is more than just a customer data platform for marketers; it’s a data platform built for the entire company. It unifies customer data from any source including website behavior, customer relationship management (CRM) platform interactions, ad performance, and more. This unified data is then accessible to marketers (as well as sales reps, service agents, and merchandisers) who can then activate it to power personalized marketing and connect customer experiences.

Intelligent lead routing

When a prospect expresses interest in our products, the first step in our routing process is to ingest this lead into Data Cloud. We can then perform data transformations on the form submission to enrich the data we’ve collected, with the data we already have on this customer, and create a usable lead record. 

To route the lead to the correct individual, we use Data Cloud-powered Flows to assign leads to the correct sales reps, giving them all the info they need to convert.

Automated sales alerts & tasks

From there, we create a dynamic segment of customers who visited a pricing page on our website in the last 24 hours. Whenever one of these leads visited a pricing page, it triggered an instant alert in Slack, specifically tailored for the sales rep assigned to that lead. These alerts are personalized with recommended next steps based on previous interactions and what product or pricing pages were visited.

Using AI for data-driven responses

Using the data garnered from these interactions, we built a holistic view of quality leads and assigned product interest scores with AI-powered predictive models . This helps our sales reps better understand which products key leads are most likely to buy in the future.

With all customer data accessible, reps are not only alerted of hot leads, their conversations with potential customers are more focused and impactful. Using Data Cloud also helped us become much more agile, which changes being implemented in minutes vs. weeks. 

Personalized marketing is a balancing act that demands resources and expertise to build lasting customer relationships. But, truly personalized marketing is dependent on data from across the entire business — data that is shared, accessible, and actionable across marketing, sales, service, commerce, and more. 

So, ditch the one-size-fits-all approach, invest in your data strategy, and watch your customer relationships blossom with relevant recommendations and experiences that keep them coming back for more. Personalization is all about building relationships, and just like in love, remember that every interaction — big or small, marketing or not — counts.

Say hello to Data Cloud

Want to improve your personalization and break down silos that lead to a disjointed customer experience? Data Cloud brings it all under one platform, having all your teams working together.

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The state of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s breakout year

You have reached a page with older survey data. please see our 2024 survey results here ..

The latest annual McKinsey Global Survey  on the current state of AI confirms the explosive growth of generative AI (gen AI) tools . Less than a year after many of these tools debuted, one-third of our survey respondents say their organizations are using gen AI regularly in at least one business function. Amid recent advances, AI has risen from a topic relegated to tech employees to a focus of company leaders: nearly one-quarter of surveyed C-suite executives say they are personally using gen AI tools for work, and more than one-quarter of respondents from companies using AI say gen AI is already on their boards’ agendas. What’s more, 40 percent of respondents say their organizations will increase their investment in AI overall because of advances in gen AI. The findings show that these are still early days for managing gen AI–related risks, with less than half of respondents saying their organizations are mitigating even the risk they consider most relevant: inaccuracy.

The organizations that have already embedded AI capabilities have been the first to explore gen AI’s potential, and those seeing the most value from more traditional AI capabilities—a group we call AI high performers—are already outpacing others in their adoption of gen AI tools. 1 We define AI high performers as organizations that, according to respondents, attribute at least 20 percent of their EBIT to AI adoption.

The expected business disruption from gen AI is significant, and respondents predict meaningful changes to their workforces. They anticipate workforce cuts in certain areas and large reskilling efforts to address shifting talent needs. Yet while the use of gen AI might spur the adoption of other AI tools, we see few meaningful increases in organizations’ adoption of these technologies. The percent of organizations adopting any AI tools has held steady since 2022, and adoption remains concentrated within a small number of business functions.

Table of Contents

• It’s early days still, but use of gen AI is already widespread
• Leading companies are already ahead with gen AI
• AI-related talent needs shift, and AI’s workforce effects are expected to be substantial
• With all eyes on gen AI, AI adoption and impact remain steady

About the research

1. it’s early days still, but use of gen ai is already widespread.

The findings from the survey—which was in the field in mid-April 2023—show that, despite gen AI’s nascent public availability, experimentation with the tools  is already relatively common, and respondents expect the new capabilities to transform their industries. Gen AI has captured interest across the business population: individuals across regions, industries, and seniority levels are using gen AI for work and outside of work. Seventy-nine percent of all respondents say they’ve had at least some exposure to gen AI, either for work or outside of work, and 22 percent say they are regularly using it in their own work. While reported use is quite similar across seniority levels, it is highest among respondents working in the technology sector and those in North America.

Organizations, too, are now commonly using gen AI. One-third of all respondents say their organizations are already regularly using generative AI in at least one function—meaning that 60 percent of organizations with reported AI adoption are using gen AI. What’s more, 40 percent of those reporting AI adoption at their organizations say their companies expect to invest more in AI overall thanks to generative AI, and 28 percent say generative AI use is already on their board’s agenda. The most commonly reported business functions using these newer tools are the same as those in which AI use is most common overall: marketing and sales, product and service development, and service operations, such as customer care and back-office support. This suggests that organizations are pursuing these new tools where the most value is. In our previous research , these three areas, along with software engineering, showed the potential to deliver about 75 percent of the total annual value from generative AI use cases.

In these early days, expectations for gen AI’s impact are high : three-quarters of all respondents expect gen AI to cause significant or disruptive change in the nature of their industry’s competition in the next three years. Survey respondents working in the technology and financial-services industries are the most likely to expect disruptive change from gen AI. Our previous research shows  that, while all industries are indeed likely to see some degree of disruption, the level of impact is likely to vary. 2 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023. Industries relying most heavily on knowledge work are likely to see more disruption—and potentially reap more value. While our estimates suggest that tech companies, unsurprisingly, are poised to see the highest impact from gen AI—adding value equivalent to as much as 9 percent of global industry revenue—knowledge-based industries such as banking (up to 5 percent), pharmaceuticals and medical products (also up to 5 percent), and education (up to 4 percent) could experience significant effects as well. By contrast, manufacturing-based industries, such as aerospace, automotives, and advanced electronics, could experience less disruptive effects. This stands in contrast to the impact of previous technology waves that affected manufacturing the most and is due to gen AI’s strengths in language-based activities, as opposed to those requiring physical labor.

Responses show many organizations not yet addressing potential risks from gen AI

According to the survey, few companies seem fully prepared for the widespread use of gen AI—or the business risks these tools may bring. Just 21 percent of respondents reporting AI adoption say their organizations have established policies governing employees’ use of gen AI technologies in their work. And when we asked specifically about the risks of adopting gen AI, few respondents say their companies are mitigating the most commonly cited risk with gen AI: inaccuracy. Respondents cite inaccuracy more frequently than both cybersecurity and regulatory compliance, which were the most common risks from AI overall in previous surveys. Just 32 percent say they’re mitigating inaccuracy, a smaller percentage than the 38 percent who say they mitigate cybersecurity risks. Interestingly, this figure is significantly lower than the percentage of respondents who reported mitigating AI-related cybersecurity last year (51 percent). Overall, much as we’ve seen in previous years, most respondents say their organizations are not addressing AI-related risks.

2. Leading companies are already ahead with gen AI

The survey results show that AI high performers—that is, organizations where respondents say at least 20 percent of EBIT in 2022 was attributable to AI use—are going all in on artificial intelligence, both with gen AI and more traditional AI capabilities. These organizations that achieve significant value from AI are already using gen AI in more business functions than other organizations do, especially in product and service development and risk and supply chain management. When looking at all AI capabilities—including more traditional machine learning capabilities, robotic process automation, and chatbots—AI high performers also are much more likely than others to use AI in product and service development, for uses such as product-development-cycle optimization, adding new features to existing products, and creating new AI-based products. These organizations also are using AI more often than other organizations in risk modeling and for uses within HR such as performance management and organization design and workforce deployment optimization.

AI high performers are much more likely than others to use AI in product and service development.

Another difference from their peers: high performers’ gen AI efforts are less oriented toward cost reduction, which is a top priority at other organizations. Respondents from AI high performers are twice as likely as others to say their organizations’ top objective for gen AI is to create entirely new businesses or sources of revenue—and they’re most likely to cite the increase in the value of existing offerings through new AI-based features.

As we’ve seen in previous years , these high-performing organizations invest much more than others in AI: respondents from AI high performers are more than five times more likely than others to say they spend more than 20 percent of their digital budgets on AI. They also use AI capabilities more broadly throughout the organization. Respondents from high performers are much more likely than others to say that their organizations have adopted AI in four or more business functions and that they have embedded a higher number of AI capabilities. For example, respondents from high performers more often report embedding knowledge graphs in at least one product or business function process, in addition to gen AI and related natural-language capabilities.

While AI high performers are not immune to the challenges of capturing value from AI, the results suggest that the difficulties they face reflect their relative AI maturity, while others struggle with the more foundational, strategic elements of AI adoption. Respondents at AI high performers most often point to models and tools, such as monitoring model performance in production and retraining models as needed over time, as their top challenge. By comparison, other respondents cite strategy issues, such as setting a clearly defined AI vision that is linked with business value or finding sufficient resources.

The findings offer further evidence that even high performers haven’t mastered best practices regarding AI adoption, such as machine-learning-operations (MLOps) approaches, though they are much more likely than others to do so. For example, just 35 percent of respondents at AI high performers report that where possible, their organizations assemble existing components, rather than reinvent them, but that’s a much larger share than the 19 percent of respondents from other organizations who report that practice.

Many specialized MLOps technologies and practices  may be needed to adopt some of the more transformative uses cases that gen AI applications can deliver—and do so as safely as possible. Live-model operations is one such area, where monitoring systems and setting up instant alerts to enable rapid issue resolution can keep gen AI systems in check. High performers stand out in this respect but have room to grow: one-quarter of respondents from these organizations say their entire system is monitored and equipped with instant alerts, compared with just 12 percent of other respondents.

3. AI-related talent needs shift, and AI’s workforce effects are expected to be substantial

Our latest survey results show changes in the roles that organizations are filling to support their AI ambitions. In the past year, organizations using AI most often hired data engineers, machine learning engineers, and Al data scientists—all roles that respondents commonly reported hiring in the previous survey. But a much smaller share of respondents report hiring AI-related-software engineers—the most-hired role last year—than in the previous survey (28 percent in the latest survey, down from 39 percent). Roles in prompt engineering have recently emerged, as the need for that skill set rises alongside gen AI adoption, with 7 percent of respondents whose organizations have adopted AI reporting those hires in the past year.

The findings suggest that hiring for AI-related roles remains a challenge but has become somewhat easier over the past year, which could reflect the spate of layoffs at technology companies from late 2022 through the first half of 2023. Smaller shares of respondents than in the previous survey report difficulty hiring for roles such as AI data scientists, data engineers, and data-visualization specialists, though responses suggest that hiring machine learning engineers and AI product owners remains as much of a challenge as in the previous year.

Looking ahead to the next three years, respondents predict that the adoption of AI will reshape many roles in the workforce. Generally, they expect more employees to be reskilled than to be separated. Nearly four in ten respondents reporting AI adoption expect more than 20 percent of their companies’ workforces will be reskilled, whereas 8 percent of respondents say the size of their workforces will decrease by more than 20 percent.

Looking specifically at gen AI’s predicted impact, service operations is the only function in which most respondents expect to see a decrease in workforce size at their organizations. This finding generally aligns with what our recent research  suggests: while the emergence of gen AI increased our estimate of the percentage of worker activities that could be automated (60 to 70 percent, up from 50 percent), this doesn’t necessarily translate into the automation of an entire role.

AI high performers are expected to conduct much higher levels of reskilling than other companies are. Respondents at these organizations are over three times more likely than others to say their organizations will reskill more than 30 percent of their workforces over the next three years as a result of AI adoption.

4. With all eyes on gen AI, AI adoption and impact remain steady

While the use of gen AI tools is spreading rapidly, the survey data doesn’t show that these newer tools are propelling organizations’ overall AI adoption. The share of organizations that have adopted AI overall remains steady, at least for the moment, with 55 percent of respondents reporting that their organizations have adopted AI. Less than a third of respondents continue to say that their organizations have adopted AI in more than one business function, suggesting that AI use remains limited in scope. Product and service development and service operations continue to be the two business functions in which respondents most often report AI adoption, as was true in the previous four surveys. And overall, just 23 percent of respondents say at least 5 percent of their organizations’ EBIT last year was attributable to their use of AI—essentially flat with the previous survey—suggesting there is much more room to capture value.

Organizations continue to see returns in the business areas in which they are using AI, and they plan to increase investment in the years ahead. We see a majority of respondents reporting AI-related revenue increases within each business function using AI. And looking ahead, more than two-thirds expect their organizations to increase their AI investment over the next three years.

The online survey was in the field April 11 to 21, 2023, and garnered responses from 1,684 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. Of those respondents, 913 said their organizations had adopted AI in at least one function and were asked questions about their organizations’ AI use. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP.

The survey content and analysis were developed by Michael Chui , a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute and a partner in McKinsey’s Bay Area office, where Lareina Yee is a senior partner; Bryce Hall , an associate partner in the Washington, DC, office; and senior partners Alex Singla and Alexander Sukharevsky , global leaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, based in the Chicago and London offices, respectively.

They wish to thank Shivani Gupta, Abhisek Jena, Begum Ortaoglu, Barr Seitz, and Li Zhang for their contributions to this work.

This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, an editor in the Atlanta office.

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The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E. Kilunovskaya and V. A. Semenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova  (Moscow, Russian Federation).  (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Kharis Mustafin  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Irina Alborova  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Alina Matzvai  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected]

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