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in this video we're going to go through the five stages of the sales process with examples for each stage from the global tech giant [Music] apple the sales process before we go into each stage it's important to understand an overview of how the sales process actually looks often customers value good customer service above many other factors when making purchases offering good customer service is one way a business can stand out in a crowded and competitive market the process of purchasing a product or service is made up of five key stages number one being customer interest two being speed and efficiency of service three is customer engagement four is a response to feedback and finally five is the post-sales service these stages all contribute to customer satisfaction which makes the sales process a valuable part of providing good customer service as you can see the sales process is a cycle with each stage leading to the next in the hope the customer will go full circle and then purchase again if this approach to sales is conducted well by a business then it can lead to loyal customers and repeat purchases so let's have a look at each stage in more detail and have a look at how apple successfully implement it in their well-known and highly successful sales process customer interest the first stage is customer interest this stage is obviously pretty important when trying to sell a product the customer needs to know about your product and have some level of interest in buying it apple are the masters of this as they build a massive hype around their products from their keynote speeches to release day events in store where you see long lines of customers queuing in the early hours of the morning to get the latest iphone all this is building interest in the products with its customers as men apple customers are amongst the most fanatical in the world about a brand other ways that businesses encourage customer interest is by ensuring employees have good product knowledge apple manages aspect of the sales process extremely well as their genius bar provides customers with knowledgeable information about the products they sell which in turn builds trust in the customer is especially important during the sales process for technical or expensive products which apple is both finally a brand can build interest in a product via two different sales approaches these are hard and soft sales approaches a hard approach is when sales employees actively seek out customers and try to build interest in the customer by encouraging them to make a purchase this would be traditionally seen in something like car sales then there's a soft approach and in my opinion this is the one that apple uses as it's based on providing the best possible information and service when needed but does not involve a hard sell or techniques such as cold calling to make a sale or build interest in the product apple's approach allows customers to look at the product test it out in their own time and if they're interested then they will seek out more information from a knowledgeable expert or simply just make the purchase speed and efficiency of service once the customer has decided to make the purchase then this needs to be done in the fastest and most efficient way this is vital in today's world where amazon has made same day and next day delivery the norm customers are usually happy to pay more for a product if it's accompanied by excellent customer service great quality and it arrives in a quick and efficient manner apple manages process very well in a variety of ways from making sure that their website is easy to navigate the whole online sales process is designed to put as little friction between you deciding you want to buy the product and you actually purchasing it this again is true within their physical stores as they are meticulously laid out in a way to make the whole process as quick and efficient as possible their physical stores are among some of the most profitable stores per square foot across the world an example of how they make their stores efficient is how most products can be tested freely without having to ask and wait for a sales person there are also numerous employees all with devices to look up information and complete purchases this again limits the time the customer has to change their mind about the purchase this all creates an efficient process that customers really value apple customer engagement number three in the sales process is customer engagement the term customer engagement refers to the interaction that takes place between a business and its customers during a sales process however this term is now often used when describing interactions on social media with customers the term engagement is used to describe how many customers like to post or subscribe to their youtube channel after sharing a video social media is a great tool for engaging an audience and allows the business to captivate its audience with a view to them moving them down that sales funnel into them finally purchasing the product some products have lower levels of engagement required in the sales process for example you don't need much interaction with an employee at tesco or be engaged in the brand when deciding to buy a meal deal from tesco however if you were buying a three grand mac then you would expect to engage in conversation with salespeople who would engage you and build a level of trust and rapport with you you may also engage with apple online in terms of seeking out information on their website and looking up reviews slash youtube reviews this will help in the sales process as it all contributes to building a level of trust in the customer regarding the brand building and maintaining customer engagement has helped apple become a brand known globally they not only engage their customers in store with an excellent service both put out iconic adverts products and a service that's gotten them a cult of highly engaged users at number four we have response to customer feedback businesses can build positive customer relationships by responding to both negative and positive feedback this has been amplified by the rise of social media and people's ever increasing presence online using social media is an ever increasing tool used by businesses to receive feedback on a product that they have launched is also becoming more and more popular with customers seeking out information advice or to just complain about a product or service they've received this has meant that businesses have used their platforms to gain insights into not just what people think about their products or service but also the content slash advertising they are putting out on these platforms the analytics of these platforms are unbelievable and it allows businesses to receive feedback directly from customers and what they thought of a campaign via how many likes shares comments and views it's got you might be surprised to find out that despite the vast majority of companies doing this apple has not followed this at all although they have social media accounts on facebook and twitter etc they are mostly inactive no tweaks and a few cover photo changes on facebook is all that's available despite this their users of their products and fans of the brand create more than enough content on their behalf from unboxing videos to blog posts and celebrities posting pictures of their latest apple products there's no doubt apple knows exactly what customers think about their products and service although apple don't respond on social media they have a comprehensive support service in place that customers trust and can rely on both in-store and via their website and the final one in the five-stage sales process is the post-sales service this stage of the sales process can be the reason a customer returns to the business and makes a repeat purchase if post sales is done correctly it can turn into what apple have managed to do and create a loyal base of fans of the brand post-sales service involves providing support for customers who have bought a product or service from the business apple have done this excellently well apple makes it as easy as possible for customers to get their problems resolved by offering us support within store again this builds up a major amount of trust in the company with its loyal customers many retailers provide an online post-sales service in the form of chat facilities on their website where questions and problems are dealt with quickly and conveniently again building trust between the brand and the consumer apple have thousands of employees who work on providing support to customers such a post-sales service allows people to enjoy their purchase in the knowledge that apple will care for their product and needs when needed just as apple has done if you can build your sales process around the five stages in this video then it can create extremely high levels of customer loyalty an excellent reputation and a sales process that encourages customers to repeat purchase and keep going through the sales process cycle again and again thank you for watching the video to the end we really do appreciate it and if you found this video useful don't forget to give the video a thumbs up and subscribe for more weekly business videos you