A structured sales process is the difference between chaos and consistent quota attainment. Here's how to master all 7 stages.
Stage 1: Prospecting
Goal: Find potential customers who match your ICP
Activities:
- LinkedIn outreach
- Cold calling
- Email campaigns
- Networking events
- Inbound lead capture
Best practices:
- Spend 30-40% of your time prospecting daily
- Build a list of 100+ qualified prospects
- Use social selling (comment, engage before pitching)
Common mistake: Only prospecting when pipeline is empty
Stage 2: Qualifying
Goal: Determine if they're a good fit
Use BANT:
- Budget: Can they afford it?
- Authority: Are they the decision-maker?
- Need: Do they have the problem you solve?
- Timeline: When do they need it?
Best practices:
- Disqualify early and often
- If they fail 2+ BANT criteria, move on
- Ask direct questions about budget and timeline
Read more: BANT Framework Guide
Stage 3: Researching & Developing Rapport
Goal: Understand their business and build trust
Research:
- Company website, LinkedIn, recent news
- Competitors they might be using
- Their pain points (from forums, reviews)
- Key stakeholders
Building rapport:
- Reference something specific about their business
- Find common ground (shared connections, interests)
- Be genuinely curious about their challenges
Stage 4: Presenting
Goal: Demonstrate how you solve their problem
Structure:
- Recap their problem: "You told me X is costing you Y"
- Show the solution: Demo the specific feature that solves it
- Quantify the value: "This saves you $Z/year"
- Social proof: "Company A saw B results"
Best practices:
- Let them drive the demo (ask: "What would you like to see?")
- Focus on 3 key features, not 30
- Use their data/examples in the demo
Stage 5: Handling Objections
Goal: Address concerns without being defensive
Common objections:
- "It's too expensive": Reframe as cost vs. value
- "Not right now": Dig into the real reason
- "We're happy with our current solution": Find the gaps
- "I need to think about it": Uncover the hidden objection
Framework: LAIR
- Listen: Let them finish
- Acknowledge: "I understand your concern"
- Identify: "Is that the only thing holding you back?"
- Reverse: Turn it into a question back to them
Read more: How to Handle Sales Objections
Stage 6: Closing
Goal: Finalize the deal
Closing techniques:
- Assumptive close: "When would you like to start?"
- Summary close: "So we're aligned on X, Y, Z. Let's move forward."
- Direct close: "Are you ready to proceed?"
- Trial close: "If we can solve X, would you move forward today?"
Best practices:
- Ask for the sale explicitly
- Be silent after asking
- Have the contract ready
- Make next steps crystal clear
Stage 7: Following Up & Nurturing
Goal: Ensure satisfaction, get referrals, upsell
Post-sale activities:
- Week1: Check in on onboarding
- Month 1: Ensure they're seeing value
- Month 3: Ask for testimonial/referral
- Quarterly: Business review meetings
Why this matters:
- Referrals close 5x faster
- Upsells are 80% cheaper than new customers
- Happy customers renew
Tracking Your Sales Process
Key metrics by stage:
- Prospecting: # of new leads/week
- Qualifying: % of leads that pass BANT
- Presenting: Demo-to-close conversion rate
- Closing: Win rate %
- Overall: Average sales cycle length
Use a CRM to track every stage and identify bottlenecks.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Skipping stages (going straight from prospecting to demo)
- Not qualifying hard enough
- Presenting before understanding their problem
- Avoiding the close
- Abandoning customers after the sale
Conclusion
Master each stage. Don't skip steps. Track your metrics. The reps who follow process consistently are the ones who hit quota.
Want to build a sales funnel? Read How to Build a Sales Funnel.