The Sales Cycle

By Sandra Collins

This blog is about understanding the sales cycle.

 

People considering an important purchase usually go through a buying process called a “sales cycle” or “sales funnel.” Generally it includes:

  • Identifying their own wants or needs for the purchase
  • Research on available options (products/services and suppliers)
  • Evaluation
  • Decisions

A sales funnel is a visual metaphor describing, at its widest part, the whole market of potential buyers, down to its narrowest part, those who actually buy and become customers. Potential buyers descend through the funnel as they gather information and make decisions about their options – namely, which supplier and which products/services most completely fit their needs and the value they seek.

Sales Funnel 2

The length of the sales cycle varies with the business you’re in and the complexity of what you sell. With uncomplicated products/services, the process may be very condensed. If customers are comfortable with ordering via your e-commerce system, they may rarely talk to one of your company representatives at all; if that’s the case, the information you’re providing to the public must do all the work. (A note of caution here: You’ll need to examine the sales process thoroughly to be sure people will want to buy based solely on your e-commerce system, without interacting with humans at all.)

Transactions will vary as far as when a buyer goes from researching options to actually contacting suppliers. Many buyers will do a lot of their research before reaching out to you directly. In this case, again your objective is to provide clear information to the public – to ensure that when your products/services are truly a fit for buyers, you’ve helped them to understand why they should choose you as their supplier.

Of course, remember that if buyers come into contact with your company’s representatives, the strength of your sales and customer support systems is crucial and is separate from your other marketing efforts.

It’s most effective to align your marketing communications to appeal to and provide information to prospects as they are going through the buying process, to help them to know you better and consider you as a supplier. Read more about that and the sales funnel here.

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