Sales Call Procedure

The Sales Call Procedure outlines the proper methods for conducting sales calls for new and existing clients and closing sales.

This Sales Call Procedure allows the company to maximize the benefits of sales calls and achieve defined sales goals through professional conduct and implementation of best practices. (16 pages, 2076 words)

Sales Call Responsibilities:

Sales Management should train and direct the professional sales staff according to the SMP. They should also review lead and sales data, and lead and sales goals, to determine the effectiveness of marketing and sales efforts.

Sales Administrators should provide information about leads to Sales Staff and Sales Management.

Sales Staff should conduct sales calls in accordance to the best practices defined in this procedure, and provide information about sales and prospect/customer status to Sales Management. The Sales Staff should complete the SL1030-1 SALES PLAN and the SL1030-4 CUSTOMER CONTACT WORKSHEET.

Sales Call Definitions:

Sales cycle – The average or typical period of time it takes to close a sale from the initial sales staff contact until agreement to purchase. The sales cycle can vary from an hour to several months, depending on the complexity and cost of the product or service and the industry standards.

Customer database – Information from customer contacts, and for next customer contact.

Order database – Information for order entry, order tracking, and order history.

Sales pipeline – The typical of average numbers needed at various stages of the lead and sales process to reach sales goals (e.g., number of leads, number of qualified leads, and number of sales calls).

Sales Call Procedure Activities

• Planning Sales Calls
• Conducting Sales Calls
• Monitoring Sales Call Effectiveness
• Adjusting the Sales Call Process
• Sales Account Maintenance

Sales Call Procedure Forms

• Sales Plan Form
• Customer Database Form
• Order Database Form
• Customer Contact Worksheet Form
• Sales Account Maintenance Plan Form

Sales Process Approach

The concept of the continually improving process involves creating a clear plan based on company policy, overall and particular business objectives, history and experience, knowledge and research, and accepted best practices. Another important aspect of the plan is to decide what and how to measure key aspects of the process. What is the sales process approach?

As the plan is executed and when important data is captured then how the process is functioning becomes easier to discern. The better you understand how the process is working, the easier it becomes to see required corrective actions and improvements. Then it is a matter of setting priorities as you implement the improvements into your documented plan. And there you are ” your plan-do-check-act cycle is complete!

Acknowledging the Subjective Aspects of Sales

Implementing procedures that institute best practices and measurements into the sales processes is certainly an important step. It moves the sales operation to more objective ground. There are elements of sales, however, that are not so easily defined in a process plan.

For example, certain personality types seem more suited to sales. Having to force conversation or feeling uncomfortable while interacting with customers is probably not going to help sales. While interviewing and closing skills can be learned, a friendly, comfortable approach seems to be second nature for some. Good salesman intuitively steer conversations, recognize and accommodate personality types, and avoid inappropriate comments. These kinds of skills that can be take a long time and be difficult to learn if it is not part of your nature.

But just because we recognize the subjective side of sales doesn’t mean we should simply give up on trying to measure, control, and improve the sales operations. There is always room for improvement.

The Usefulness of the Sales Process Approach

No matter how great your intuitive approach, ultimately sales is a relentless pursuit of numbers. What does your sales pipeline look like, in terms of suspects, prospects and leads? How many calls do you need to make to get the necessary number of qualified leads? How many sales calls do you need to make to close the needed number of sales? It’s all about sales call management.

Thinking of sales this way makes it suitable for a well-thought out, measured and controlled approach – a sales process approach. If it usually takes 50 phone calls to set the necessary number of sales appointments, who wouldn’t want to improve and set the required number of appointments in 40 calls? That is the opportunity a continually improving process provides. The goal is for you to be in control of your sales cycle.

The sales process approach also ensures consistency in handling sales. Making sure research is conducted on potential clients, pre and post sales call sheets are completed, specific goals are set and activities needed to reach the goals are carried out. The sales process approach can also be designed to ensure meaningful, regular reports are submitted to management and to the marketing department, which should be using sales data to monitor and adjust marketing techniques.