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hello it's emily from cognizam the world's best global sales intelligence platform this week i am delving into the b2b sales process what it is why you need it and how can it help your team sell smarter so get ready for a master class [Music] if you've been following my video so far you know that one of the mottos here we have at cognizam is that sales isn't an art it's a science now i'm not saying that sales people have to be robots after all there's a lot of freedom that comes with a sales role you have to bring your personality to every demo and cold call you have to think on your feet and adapt to changing conversations so if you're thinking emily what's this talk all about science am a sales rep not scientist then let me explain the best sales people in b2b are data driven they use data to form insights and improve their performance and having a strong sales process is key to that and if you're wondering what exactly a sales process is then here's a definition a b2b sales process is a set of steps designed to help salespeople convert prospects into customers it's a scalable repeatable instruction manual for sales success i'll run through cognizant's 8-step b2b sales process in a minute but first here's why you need one having a solid process in place makes it easy for new starters to get up to date it's great for onboarding and training breaking your sales process into stages means you can quickly identify which parts aren't working so well it's great for testing and optimization having a defined sales process gives your team a structure to work in it means that nothing will be missed or overlooked a b2b sales process gives you visibility of where each prospect is in the funnel and it's great for planning and forecasting now i mentioned that cognizam has an eight step sales process and here it is the eight stages of our process are lead generation discovery qualification pitch objection handling closing up and check in now let's go through each stage one by one starting with lead generation this is the first step in the process here you have to find people who've expressed interest into your product and reach out to them now if you're not sure where to start why not take some inspo from some industry leaders back in january we asked 321 sales pros for their top lead gen methods and 51.9 percent of the people we surveyed said email whilst 27.3 said the phone in our experience here at cognizam email and phone are definitely the two major drivers in lead gen today and if you need more help in these areas then we've got a few video tutorials for you to watch i put them in the description for you so moving on to number two discovery every good sales person should know their product inside out every great sales person should also understand their prospects business by putting in the groundwork and trying to understand the prospect's pain points before you even speak to them you'll be able to provide them with solutions this research stage is called discovery researching the prospect also gives you an opportunity to qualify the lead before you pick up the phone here are some tips connect with the prospect on linkedin check that recent activity what have they commented on what have they shared have they written any articles of being featured in someone else's insights like these can be great for building rapport on your cold course click on their company's website have they published any news stories or press releases recently scroll through their blog if they have one take note of the language the company uses again this is all good information that you could use on your course read up on the latest news in their sector subscribe to industry news websites or linkedin groups when you call the prospect you want to sound like an expert not just in your field but there's the bottom line is even though discovery can take a bit of time it will make your course far more successful so going on number three qualification now that you've done the groundwork it's time to get on the phone during the first section of your cold call you should be assessing your prospect suitability as a customer this stage is called qualification a top tip for qualification ask your prospect open-ended questions these are questions that don't require a yes or a no answer and they're great for getting your prospect to open up here are some example questions that cognizant sales teams use in their process what does your current sales strategy look like how does your sales team generate new leads who would normally be involved in the buying decisions for new tech what tools are you currently using what regions are you looking to prospect into and what are your current business growth goals number four is pitch you should by this point have a good idea of the struggles the prospect is facing if so you'll be able to deliver a pitch tailored to solving their problems at this stage you can let your creativity take over the most detailed sales process in the world can't replace charisma and charm and you'll need both when delivering your pitch earlier today i asked our biz development team what makes a great sales pitch and here is what they told me a great b2b sales pitch must be short and sweet no longer than 30 seconds hit on a key point of value that the prospect will already care about arouse curiosity in the prospect and encourage them to follow up with questions of their own and focus on the benefits results that your product can deliver for them it mustn't be just a list of features number five objection handling every b2b sales person will know a prospect is rarely ready to buy after they've heard your pitch we wish beautiful cells was that easy but at this stage in the process your prospect will definitely have some questions for you these questions are called objections and how you deal with them are called objection handling the main thing to note when it comes to objection handling is the prospect is never wrong if you flat out disagree with the prospect's objection they'll hang up on you instead listen to what they have to say and reposition your offer in a way that answers their question don't blame the prospect it's likely they've just not heard the right information yet most objections you'll encounter are based on the following criteria so remember these and role-play some of the ways of handling them before your call number six is closing this stage of the b2b sales process should be the most exciting part for the prospect you've demonstrated your products value to them handled all their objections and convinced them that your solution can't be passed up on this is the stage where you can start discussing pricing negotiate if necessary offering some free added value to the deal can help you get it over the line also be sure to discuss all the remaining steps before the call ends including speaking about the stakeholders that have to sign off on the deal doing this will ensure that there are no surprising bumps along the way now the signed contract will be in sight number seven follow-up after the sales call ends it's time to send the prospect a follow-up email what should you include in the email here's some best practice from cognizant sales playbook start by telling the prospect how much you enjoyed speaking with them about your product list the key points of what you both talked about if possible attach a recording of your call provide a clear and concise next steps and timeline for completion and include any extra information at the end a good sales tip is to imagine every email you send is going to be sent to someone else and chances are it will on average there are seven people involved in any b2b buying decision lastly we have number eight check in congratulations the prospect has become a client but don't give yourself a round of applause just yet there's one step left after the new customer has been handed over to cs and onboarded wait a little bit give them some time to get used to your product then check in with them and see how they're doing not only this can gain some great feedback from this step but if they've been enjoying your product you can ask them for a case study or a referral you never know you might just get a great new lead allowing you to restart the b2b sales process all over again so there you have it cognizant's need to be sales process in eight easy steps what does your sales process look like in your company leave your thoughts in the comments i'd love to see them but that's it for this week i'll be back soon for more great b2b content but in the meantime why not check out my b2b playlist you'll find it in the link in the description and if you like this video don't forget to like share and subscribe and i'll see you next time