There's a reason it's called a Sales "Process" & here it is.

A Series of Steps !

A process can be defined as a series of actions or steps taken to achieve an end. We've all heard of the sales process (or "The Sales Process" if you are a Consultant !) so I thought of setting out the various actions / steps that lead up on the end sale in the B2B world. Admittedly this is tilted towards the high tech market & obviously there would be cases when specific steps hold less or no relevance but I believe that as a handy cheat sheet this will offer some value. I also tried to put my mind to identifying the skills that the organisation (or the individual) should posses to be able to move successfully from one stage to the next.

Sales Stage	Description	Desired Result / Output at the end of Stage	Skills / Knowledge (Individual & Organisational)
Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning	Analysis of the available market, defining segments of buyers with homogeneous buying habits or common needs along with the relevant information about the segments like size, decision making criteria, important features etc., then based on the criteria match the segments to be targeted based on an indexation of factors like match of their needs with the capabilities of the product, market opportunity, attractiveness & growth potential of the market segment, followed by orienting the product, it's messaging, pricing & market entry methods to the chosen segments.	A list of desired target segments with a defined approach for addressing each.	Information about the universe the product / service offering operates in, ability to research for this information to fill in gaps in knowledge, capability to design the product, messaging & approach to suit each segment.
Research	Database Creation of "Suspect Universe" - identified based on clear & appropriate parameters	"Suspect List' with key contacts & contact details.	Web research - searching & key word mapping, appropriate knowledge of targeted domains (cos., products, landscape).
Initial Contact	First contact for communicating "Value Proposition" to the suspect list thru' most appropriate channel - for eg. email campaigns, web based social media, cold calls etc.	"Expression of Interest" by "Suspect" in services / products, Set up of Introductory Meeting.	"Message design", Effective & Efficient email campaigns - design & mechanisms, Appropriate leverage of web based social media, Cold Calling skills - Operations Management of Calling Team based on size of the calling operation.
Introductory Meeting	Personal Meeting or Conference Call to communicate detailed Co. / Product Value, References, establish Credibility. Exploration of possible areas of "Need" with suspect, Handling of Initial Objections	Move to "Unqualified Prospect List" if need for products / services exists in near future, Move to "Future Prospects" if future needs exists or drop from "Suspects List" if no possible match for products / services exists.	"Message design" based on criteria like projected needs of suspect, Presentation skills, Thorough understanding of own products / services offering, Reasonable level of Understanding of the "Suspect's" business & landscape, Objection Handling Skills, Questioning skills to probe for unstated needs that "suspect" may have, Relationship Building.
Follow up to Establish Needs of "Prospect"	Appropriately timed follow up meetings, communication, conference calls to define the needs more clearly, to work towards establishing the likely time frame for the fulfillment of the requirement & the possibility of a budget being allocated for the same, may need to draw upon other resources from own organisation & prospect organisation (technical, operational, commercial) at this stage.	A clearly defined need with reasonably clearly allocated resources for the fulfillment of the same & a formal or informal "Request for Proposal". Move to "Qualified Prospect" list if this occurs.	Persistence in Follow up, Relationship maintenance, Co-ordination between various parties
Bid	Understanding the requirement outlined in the RFP & responding to that with a proposal for the Products / Services best suited for addressing the requirement & the required resources (Cost, Time, Effort) for this, Establish own credibility to provide the solution, position solution appropriately against likely competition.	A "Proposal" acceptable to the "Qualified Prospect", invitation for further discussions if clarifications (technical, commercial, operational) are needed.	Proposal writing - techno-commercial communication, understanding of the likely competitive landscape & own strengths & weaknesses within same, Co-ordination with various other groups with inputs required for the proposed solution (technical, commercial, operational).
Bid Revision	Revising the "Proposal" based on objections, clarified requirements, modified needs of "Qualified Prospect" or knowledge of "Competitor" bids.	A "Revised Proposal" that addresses all the needs of the "Qualified Prospect" followed by an opening of Commercial / Contractual negotiations	Follow up skills, Objection Handling skills, Leveraging Relationships for collecting actionable information, Co-ordination with various groups
Negotiations	Identification of areas & scale of disagreement in commercial or contractual terms, finding ways to bridge these gaps - identifying "deal breakers" & possible compromise areas.	Mutually agreeable Commercial & Contractual terms.	Negotiating Skills, Understanding of contracts, Follow up skills, Objection Handling skills, Leveraging Relationships for collecting actionable information, Ability to communicate value for price offered.
Contract Sign-up & "Project Kick-Off"	Acceptance of Proposal, Initial meetings to establish project implementation mechanisms, agreement on the logistics - reporting, performance metrics, escalation matrices etc., Hand over from Sales to "Delivery / Implementation" - incl. all relevant commitments made during Bid & Negotiation stage.	"Contract" & "Project / Purchase Order" & First draft of Project Plan .	Coordinating between various groups (Technical, Commercial & operational) in own organisation & "Customer" organisation, Documentation.
On-going Relationship Maintenance / Account Management	Keeping track of the Projects under delivery, Keeping communication channels open with the "Customer", leveraging the relationship for actionable information on other opportunities within the "customer' organisation, references within & outside the "Customer" organisations, early identification of potential problem areas in existing relationships - eg. changes in "Customer" set ups or market. Possible "Collection' related interventions. Keeping the customer informed of "New Initiatives" within own Organisation that may be of interest to them.	On-going mutually profitable relationship	"Message Design" - identification & presentation of appropriate info. & a delivery mechanism geared towards regular contact maintenance, relationship maintenance skills, awareness of customer business landscape, ability to see the "big picture", Ability to probe for "unstated" needs.

I will try to focus on each distinct phase in future posts & also try to identify instances calling for departures from these steps. Till then feel free to comment or to reach out to me for clarifications at sanjeevnambudiri@gmail.com - thanks for joining !