Sales are to business as oxygen is to life. Without it, no business can survive. Sales volume of an
organisation indicates its health and the presence of a system which can foster growth. For selling products
effectively, a company needs to follow a proper sales process. The sales process varies from business to
business, and forms the backbone of any sales operation.
 

 
Sales is defined as the process of exchanging goods and services for money.
There are different types of selling:
● Direct Selling: ​Selling Directly to consumers who have a need, for example: Cars, Branded
Clothes, etc. are sold directly to consumers through showrooms and stores.
● B2B Selling: ​Also known as Industrial Selling. It involves sale of goods or services from
one company to another. We saw the example of Honda purchasing location tracking
services from Vodafone. Other examples can include ​software which can help a
business track its customers,​ ​data analysis services etc.
● Retail Selling: ​The sale of a product through a retail store like Big Bazaar, Tata Croma or
through Online channels like Flipkart or Amazon refers to ​Retail Selling.
The Sales Process is a systematic approach that helps a salesperson to close more deals and
increase sales revenue. It is different for each type of selling.

B2C Sales Process:

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Properties of B2B Sales:

Properties of E-commerce Sales:

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The E-commerce sales process:

prospecting is the lifeblood of sales. It involves a host of methods that are used to find and identify potential
customers for companies. Prospecting can involve various approaches, but the most popular ones that are
employed by companies worldwide are as follows:

1. Hunting approach:​ This approach involves being on the lookout for new leads and chasing them.
This is used primarily in B2B Sales.
2. Gathering Approach: ​This approach is more focused on brand promotion and the development of
a brand that is strong enough to entice your customers to look for you.

Prospecting for B2B sales depends on data collection. Data is sourced from direct and indirect sources,
which are explained below.

● Direct sources: ​Field visits by the sales team to offices and trade fairs
● Indirect sources:​ Industry magazines and stock market data, bodies such as FICCI (Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of
Commerce of India)
● Data purchased from data agencies like Nielsen.

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The various ways of contacting a customer include making calls, scheduling appointments, conducting
surveys, and contacting through email and social media.

The most effective way of presenting your product to the customer is through the ​AIDA framework.​ It
consists of the following four parameters:

● Attention:​ This aspect deals with making customers aware of the product. A salesperson’s job is to
catch the potential customer’s attention well enough to keep them engaged and more interested in
the product.
● Interest:​ This aspect raises the customer’s interest by focusing on the product features and
demonstrating them as well as their advantages and benefits to the customer.
● Desire:​ This aspect deals with making the customer realise that the product or service is a good fit
and will satisfy their needs.
● Action:​ This aspect focuses on driving the customer towards taking action or purchasing the
product or service.

As a salesperson, it is important to classify your customers into different stages of closing the order. 

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These stages comprise the SPANCO sales funnel, which is as follows: 

● Suspect:​ Customers are those who currently have only a weak interest in the product. A sales manager 
can understand the needs of such customers and determine if there is a possibility of making a sale or 
not. 
● Prospect:​ In this stage, the sales department recognises potential buyers from the list of their suspects 
and identifies the requirements in order to modify their first product pitch. 
● Analysis: ​In this stage the needs of prospective customers are analysed to determine the likelihood of 
the product being sold. 
● Negotiations: ​In this stage, the customer makes enquiries about the price of the product. A customer 
who is interested in negotiation prices is likely to make a purchase, but he might decline the sale just 
before completion.  
○ A salesperson needs to be extremely careful when it comes to negotiations, as they need to 
keep the company targets, profit margins and customer relationship in mind.  
● Closure:​ Customers at this stage have finalised a price and are going through the terms and conditions 
of the purchase. 
● Order:​ On average, 4% of customers back out of the purchase. Customers who make the purchase are 
considered to be at this stage. 

The SPANCO sales funnel is used by managers to understand the number of customers who are converted 
into orders. The number of customers decreases as we proceed through each stage of the funnel. 

SPIN Selling is a sales methodology created to help salespeople to navigate through tough sales situations. It 
was developed by Neil Rackham in 1988 and is primarily used in B2B sales. It allows a salesperson to 
understand the viewpoint of the customer. 

The SPIN sales method is built around four types of questions, which give SPIN its name. SPIN stands for the 
following: 

● Situation:​ This is used to understand what is happening in the customer’s business 

● Problem:​ This involves an open-ended question to understand the difficulty faced by customers 
● Implication:​ This involves questioning and understanding the implications of the problems faced by 
the customer. For example: 
○ What are the negative results of the problem that is faced by the company? 
○ Is there a loss of reputation for the company because of this problem? 
● Need payoff:​ Need payoff is the stage where a salesperson quantifies the losses caused by the 
problem and the areas that will be improved when the problem is solved. 

 
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