Nov 18th, 2008| 
A sales cycle consists of different milestones and stages. The one I’ve listed below is based on 5 mile stones from initial contact to closing the sale. Your sales cycle may look different and not all leads follow through these stages. So treat the following as a guide in understanding your model and improving on it. Marketing collaterals can help your sales guy move faster through these stages and reduce the sales cycle days.
Initializing Stage:
After a lead has arrived, you want to make initial contact and develop rapport with the lead. Here the main objective is to qualify the lead and inform them of your product offerings. Brochures, datasheets, online presentations came in handy in this stage. They work two folds – first by decimating product information and educating the lead. And second as a quick filter to qualify the lead.
Product Review Stage:
In selling a technical product, it’s very often that your lead may wish to trial or demo the product. The “try before you buy” mantra goes a long way in removing risk for the lead, but at the same time allowing your product to “hook” them into your solution. Here making the experience as painless as possible is the goal. So strong product documentation, quick-start guides, online FAQs and well prepared tech support personnel are needed.
Price Negotiation Stage:
After the lead is hooked on your product the price negotiation comes into play. Here you can use feature matrix, comparative charts with competing products and ROI chart to justify your price point.
Closing Stage:
After a final quote is handed out, a lead may just sit on the fence at this stage. Usually an internal approval is required, either by one key person or a board. But whatever the case your sales guy can provide additional information to facilitate the approval in your product’s favor. This includes business justification report, ROI Calculator, success stories and Fast-track papers.
