The importance of a repeatable sales process
What a Repeatable Sales Process Does for Your Business (and How to Check If You Have One)
“…a repeatable process that creates and delivers something of value that other people want or need at a price they are willing to pay, in a way that satisfies their customers’ needs and expectations so that the business brings in enough profit to make it worthwhile.”
Adapted from Josh Kaufman, The Personal MBA
I have borrowed this definition of a business and used it in sales training programmes for years.
The key part is “a repeatable process” that clearly defined, documented sequence of steps that every salesperson follows, from first contact to closed deal, with clear criteria for moving a prospect from one stage to the next.
Leave aside for a moment any sales enablement technology that might support the process, lets look at what a repeatable process can do for your business.
Seven benefits of a repeatable sales process
Predictable results. When every deal goes through the same stages, you can measure conversion rates between stages. For example, if 30% of discovery calls become proposals and 40% of proposals close, 12% of discovery calls become sales. From that, you can work out how many discovery calls you need to hit a revenue target.
Diagnosing problems. A defined process shows exactly where deals are being lost. If conversion drops between proposal and close, you know where to focus. Without it, you only see that sales are down, not why.
Less dependence on individual performers. In many sales teams, results depend on one or two strong people. A repeatable process captures what those people do and makes it teachable, so results are less affected when someone leaves or has a poor quarter.
Faster onboarding. New hires learn a documented method rather than working it out through trial and error, which shortens the time before they are productive.
Scalability. You cannot reliably grow a sales function by adding people if each person sells differently. A standard process lets you add capacity and expect similar results.
Better coaching. Managers can coach against specific stages and behaviours (“your qualification step is being skipped”) rather than general outcomes (“you need to close more”).
Consistent buyer experience. Prospects receive the same standard of discovery, follow-up and communication regardless of who they deal with.
How do you know if your sales process is flawed..or non-existent?
If you can set aside any internal biases, take a closer look at your current set-up and ask yourself these questions.
Is the sales process documented?
Is there a documented list of sales stages that everyone uses?
Does each stage have clear entry and exit criteria? For example, “a deal moves to Proposal only when budget, decision-maker and timeline are confirmed” Would two salespeople describe the process the same way if asked separately?
Is your process based on how customers buy?
Are the stages linked to the buyer’s decisions (identifying a need, evaluating options, getting approval) or only to the seller’s activities (call, demo, send proposal)? Do you know who is involved in the buying decision at a typical customer, and at what point?
Can you measure it? Do you know the conversion rate between each stage? Do you know the average length of your sales cycle? Do you know your average deal size and win rate? Can you say where most deals are lost?
How well is it followed in practice?
Pick your 10 most recent deals, won and lost, and check whether each went through every stage and met the criteria.
Check CRM or pipeline records against what actually happened. Missing or out-of-date records usually mean the process is not being used.
Are results consistent across people?
Compare win rates and cycle lengths between salespeople. Large differences suggest people are selling in different ways and the process is not guiding them. Ask whether results would drop significantly if your top performer left.
Is forecasting accurate?
Compare the last few quarters’ forecasts with actual results. A variance of more than 10–15% usually points to unclear stage criteria or poor pipeline data.
Do you use it for coaching and review?
Are there regular pipeline reviews that look at deals stage by stage?
Is coaching based on specific stages (for example, qualification or negotiation) rather than overall numbers?
Is it reviewed and updated?
When was the process last changed? Is lost-deal feedback collected and used to adjust it?
Where sales enablement technology fits
Sales enablement technology can bring structure and order to a sales process – I will talk about what that might look like in my next post.
But if the process is wrong from the start, the technology may only amplify the mistakes you are making.
If your sales process isn’t repeatable, it’s holding you back. Want to find out how your sales team is performing? Click here
Thanks for reading
