Mastering Sales Process Steps — 5 Steps That Will Boost Your Bottom Line

Sales / By

A deep-dive into the 5 step sales process that has helped many successful companies increase sales and grow their operations.

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Contrary to what many think, creating a sales process is extremely important to revenue generation.

It keeps your sales team on track and ensures your sales reps use tactics that have been proven to convert leads into clients.

Plus, it makes a serious impact on your sales and profitability. Companies that implement a sales process almost always see more consumption of their products or services.

In fact, our research indicates that companies with a defined sales process have 8% higher sales growth than those that don’t.

With this in mind, it’s clear that if you don’t have a sales process, you need one. The problem is that most business owners are unfamiliar with a sales process, or feel that it’s not something that their organization needs.

Throughout this article, you’ll learn the series of steps that define your sales process. This has helped countless companies reach their goal of increasing sales and growing operations.

What is the 5-step sales process?

A sales process is a set of steps you can follow to convert leads into paying customers. It gives you a clear path from lead generation to solution mapping, then negotiation to finalizing contracts or agreements. This keeps you organized and lets you confirm the next steps in the process before moving a prospect down the pipeline too soon. 

A sales process is broken down into five major steps. Keep reading to answer the question, “What are the 5 steps of the sales process?”

Why do you need a sales process?

Sales processes take into account both customer needs and concerns. So, creating one for your business paves the way for a promising financial opportunity.

Even if you’re not experiencing problems in your sales department, a sales process only leads to better results.

Let’s dive deeper into the five steps of the sales process.

What are the 5 steps of the sales process?

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of each step, let’s review: what are the 5 steps of the sales process?

  1. Prospecting.
  2. Qualification.
  3. Nurture.
  4. Final Pitch.
  5. Closing.

Each sales process step is equally as important as the others. Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a closer look at each step.

1. Prospecting

The first step of your sales process is to prospect for new opportunities. This is the part of the sales cycle where you find the best people to sell to.

Since sales teams can reach out to anyone with even the smallest digital footprint, your choices of who to prospect are almost endless.

That said, having more choices isn’t always better. So here’s how to narrow things down and strategize for the smoothest sales process possible.

Identify your best customers

When you identify potential leads, you want to research the prospect’s background and find out if they represent your ideal buyer persona.

These are the people who:

  • Buy from you the most.
  • Leave you rave reviews, like on Google.
  • Refer their friends to you.
  • Champion your brand.
  • Make payments on time.

While you might have a good idea of who these customers are, you need to back up your assumptions with data. To do this, you’ll want to turn to your CRM solution, as it shows you who in your customer base:

  • Converted the fastest and at the lowest price.
  • Is a frequent customer.
  • Spends the most with your business.

Once you’ve gathered this information, you’ll know who your best customers are and can identify key points that tie them together.

Find similarities between your best customers

Now that you’ve established who your best customers are, you should look for similarities that unify them.

This helps you narrow down your leads and maximize your ability to convert them into customers.

Lok for characteristics your best customers share, such as their:

  • Age.
  • Gender.
  • Job title.
  • Education level.
  • Location.

Once you’ve found some patterns in your best customer list, you can now use these insights to inform your sales strategy. For example, doing this research makes decision-maker identification easier.

During prospecting, you’ll want to reach out to people who have the characteristics of your best customers.Reading up on prospective clients before performing outreach saves you time, money, and aggravation. This way, you can focus on the prospects who generate the most revenue for your business.

2. Qualification

Now that you’ve found people who are likely to buy your product or service, you’ll want to assess the fit of the product/service to ensure they can actually purchase it.

Sales processes are ineffective if you target the wrong people. So it’s important to understand the customer’s needs before reaching out.

To perform a needs assessment and qualify the lead’s purchasing intent, here are three questions to get you started:

  • Does this person have a want or need for what I’m selling?
  • Do they have the money to buy my product?
  • Do they want to make this purchase in the immediate future?

Once you’ve identified prospects with a budget and need for your product, it becomes much easier to prioritize which leads you should put the most energy into. 

3. Nurture

The next element of the five-step sales process is to focus on relationship building with prospects in your sales pipeline and engage in meaningful conversations with them.

To do this successfully, you need to be strategic with how you establish a rapport with the prospect. 

Our research indicates that 80% of sales require five follow-up calls. Be prepared to present the benefits of your product or service and resolve any questions or concerns.It’s crucial to keep an accurate record of all the touchpoints you have with a lead. While you can capture these details with a pen and paper, that’s not your best bet.

We’d recommend a tailored solution with activity tracking such as Method CRM to ensure that you document all prospect communication and associate it with the right contact. 

This kind of visibility into your nurture efforts answers when and how you last got in touch with a lead, which benefits communication.

During the nurture stage, your salespeople can demonstrate the product’s features in a way that best fits a lead’s communication habits and preferences.

This strengthens professional relationships and gives your reps the opportunity to develop a rapport with your clients. In turn, you maximize the effectiveness of your nurture efforts.

4. Final pitch

When you’re asking, “What are the 5 steps of the sales process?” the final pitch is a critical point.

The best way to get through to leads is to personalize your sales pitch demonstration as much as possible.

To do this, you need to review all the notes you have on a potential customer and put yourself in their shoes.

Think about how your product will bring value to this person specifically and then echo these benefits in your presentation.

Pitching should involve identifying and offering a solution to the issues that the individual has. Make sure to highlight a relevant use case or example at this point in the sales cycle.

You also need to address the prospect’s objections. Objection handling means thinking of every reason your buyer may not go through with the purchase and creating a strong argument against them.

Even if you do everything right, a potential customer can still change their mind at this point. It’s bound to happen, so you should work with your team on handling rejections professionally.

5. Closing

This is the final step to the question: what are the 5 steps of the sales process?

Now that you’ve brought a lead through the sales funnel, it’s time for them to take the plunge and purchase.

While this sounds simple, it often isn’t.

Despite your best efforts to qualify, nurture, and share the value of your product to your lead, they might still be on the fence at this stage of the sales cycle. Getting someone to commit — especially to sign a contract — often feels helpless.

Here are some tips to help you overcome buyer hesitation and close the sale successfully:

  • Provide content with social proof like customer testimonials and case studies to confirm their decision to purchase.
  • Present the product’s benefits and how they outweigh the cost.
  • Negotiate the terms of the deal or offer special promotions or discounts.
  • Make buying as frictionless of an experience as possible with online, self-service options like customer portals.
  • Approach the prospect with confidence to resolve any outstanding concerns.

Before heading into the final closing step, you should already be prepared with a product/service demonstration and value proposition points.

Also, sending referral requests to your best customers after closing a deal is a great way to generate hot leads.

Even if your sales process is perfect, trying to convert leads into paying customers won’t always work. But acknowledging and planning for each step of the sales process does nothing but help.

Measuring the success of the 5-step sales process

There are a few ways to measure the success of your five-step sales process.

One way is to calculate your lead-to-opportunity rate. Leads are anyone that you think will have an interest in your product. Opportunities are those who have actually confirmed that interest.

Similarly, you can measure your opportunity-to-close rate. Figuring out how many of those opportunities become paying customers gives you insight on the efficiency of your sales process.

Common mistakes in the 5-step sales process

Common mistakes in the five-step sales process include:

  • Looking in the wrong places for initial contact.
  • Valuing some steps over others.
  • Following the same generic approach for different leads.
  • Clinging onto leads that won’t work out.
  • Failing at handling objections.
  • Not aligning your sales plays with your sales process.
  • Forgetting to measure KPIs.

How to use technology to enhance the process

There are several ways to use technology to enhance the five-step sales process. However, the best way to do so is with an activity tracker like Method CRM.

Tracking each step in your CRM software helps you through the process and gives you valuable data for the future. Below is a preview of how Method enhances your sales process to help you close more deals.

5-step sales process recap

Knowing the answer to, “What are the 5 steps of the sales process?” is a critical part of any company’s success. Here’s the five-step sales process you need to follow to grow your business.

  • Prospecting – Find prospects who are similar to your best customers.
  • Qualification – Ask qualifying questions to prioritize your leads.
  • Nurture – Track all nurture activities to get the most out of your efforts.
  • Final pitch – Personalize your pitch to your potential buyer and prepare to overcome any objections.
  • Closing – Convert the lead into a paying customer.

Don’t forget to follow-up with the customer post-purchase to offer post-sale support and feedback collection.

To close out this blog, let’s review an example of the sales process. Let’s say you’re a wholesaler seeking the right distribution channel.

  1. The first step takes into account your history with existing clients. This clarifies what sort of distributors will support your business and retail your products.
  2. Next, research if these prospective distributors are able to retail your wholesale products. They might not have sufficient funds or direct access to the markets that you target. Or, they might just not be interested in what you wholesale.
  3. Then the nurturing begins. Here’s when you show your lead how the features of your wholesale business will suit their exact needs. Record your touchpoints with each distributor you nurture with an activity tracker like Method CRM.
  4. Then comes your final pitch. This is all about giving your leads a feeling of security about your business. Ultimately, leave them to make their choice, but make sure to reiterate just how much they would benefit from choosing you.
  5. Finally, once they’re content with you as their wholesaler, you need to close the deal. It sounds simple, but you could do everything right and still fail to close. What’s important is to try to reinforce their initial desire to distribute your products.

Now that you know how to answer the question, “What are the 5 steps of the sales process?” you can apply it whenever a new lead hits your radar.

5-step sales process FAQs

How do you define the 5-step sales process?

The sales process outlines the process from prospect to paying customer. It’s designed to help you figure out the best ways to acquire new customers. If you’re wondering, “What are the 5 steps of the sales process?” they are:

  • Prospecting.
  • Qualification.
  • Nurture.
  • Final pitch.
  • Closing.
  • Follow-up (though not always listed as one of the primary five, it’s an essential step in many sales processes).

Who developed the 5-step sales process?

Real-estate entrepreneur Grant Cardone developed the 5 step sales process.

Who is the target audience for the 5 step sales process?

The target audience for the five-step sales process is anyone who will:

  • Benefit from your product or service.
  • Follow through with a purchase.
  • Spread awareness of your brand.

Download your free ebook for insights on how to take your sales process to the next level.

Image credit: Christina via Unsplash

8 work from home apps to increase your productivity

Small Business / By / 1 Comment

With many teams now working remotely, we look at the top work from home apps to keep you organized, productive and focused.

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Working from home isn’t anything new. It’s been around for decades now, with some arguing its existence for centuries. 

In recent years, however, we’ve seen large improvements in how people work from home and collaborate remotely. This is mostly because of advances in technology like the cloud, wifi, and work from home apps.

With many businesses shifting to flexible and remote work environments, we look at 8 work from home apps that will keep your team productive at home. Here we go! 

The work from home apps you need to stay productive

1. Slack

A must for teams looking to stay connected, Slack is an instant messaging tool that lets you stay in touch with your teammates – without the pain of sifting through lengthy email chains. 

From asking how they’re holding up to where a project is at, Slack is an easy and quick way for teams to touch base. 

Price: A freemium solution, the free version of Slack gets you access to video calls and 10,000 messages. 

2. Jira

Just one of the work from home apps the Method team uses, Jira’s Next-Gen project boards keep us organized and focused on the task at hand. 

A staple of morning stand-ups at Method, Jira keeps us aligned, makes project progress clear and gives team members a chance to connect on roadblocks in real-time. 

Price: Another freemium tool, you can have a team of up to 10 people on Jira for free. 

3. Google Calendar

A crucial part of staying productive while working from home is blocking off time to focus on tasks and projects. 

At Method, we schedule these periods into Google Calendar so our teammates know when we’re in the zone and when we’re free to connect. 

Plus, with the option to include a Google Hangouts link in each calendar invite you create, it’s simple to turn a phone call into a video meeting. 

Price: Google Calendar itself is free and will let you share schedules and events with your team. For added security and collaboration capabilities, Google Calendar for Business may be worth the few extra dollars a month. 

4. InVision

For creatives and planners alike, InVision makes it possible to whiteboard your thought process digitally. And considering most of us don’t have a whiteboard handy while working from home, InVision fills an important niche. 

A favorite amongst our design and product teams, InVision is a great way for remote workers to jot down their ideas and share them in real-time. 

Price: InVision is free for small and medium-sized businesses, with paid plans available for enterprise companies. 

5. Loom

A tool we just started using at Method to adapt to our new work from home protocol, Loom makes it feel like the person you’re chatting with is right by your side. 

By sharing a user’s screen, voice, and face in a single window, nothing gets lost in translation for remote teams. 

Price: In response to COVID-19, Loom has added bonus features to both their free and paid plans. 

6. Google Drive

Nothing is worse than working with outdated files and this is why we’ve included Google Drive (G-Drive) as one of our essential work from home apps. 

As G-Drive users both in and out of the office, the Method team knows firsthand how much of a lifesaver the G-Drive is when you need to access documents remotely and securely. 

With live updates made to every file on the G-Drive, remote teams can work through problems, edit documents and crunch numbers together, in real-time.  

Price: At just $6/user/month, the G-Drive is affordable for businesses of all sizes. 

7. Zoom

One of our favorite work from home apps here at Method, we love Zoom for its ease of use, multi-user video calls, and funky background options. 

Zoom is a great way for remote teams to keep culture alive and morale high with fun online company gatherings.

Here’s an example of how we use Zoom to connect as a team at the end of each week during our Friday Beer O’Clock.  

Method CRM team using Zoom to have Friday evening happy hour beers together.

Price: Zoom’s basic package is free and will allow you to host calls with up to 100 people for up to 40 minutes. 

8. Method CRM

While we may be a bit biased with this one, we wanted to share how Method CRM helps teams stay productive when working from home. 

An online CRM, Method allows teams to access QuickBooks data remotely and ensures everyone has access to the information they need to do their job. And thanks to our two-way QuickBooks sync, Method CRM ensures your teammates work only with data that’s accurate and up to date.  

Price: Start using Method CRM with a free trial and then select the pricing option that works best for you. 

Wrap up

With many businesses transitioning to full-time remote work during COVID-19, the work from home apps you choose can make or break your success. 

To help you make the right selection, here’s a rapid-fire summary of the work from home apps we recommend:

  • Slack for strong team communication. 
  • Jira to keep projects on track. 
  • Google Calendar for day to day organization.
  • InVision to let your creative juices flow.  
  • Loom for clear communication online. 
  • Google Drive to ensure everyone’s working with up to date information. 
  • Zoom for fun face-to-face chats. 
  • Method CRM to make QuickBooks data easily accessible to your team. 

Start your free trial of Method CRM and see why it’s one of the best work from apps! 

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Coronavirus stimulus package: What small businesses need to know

Small Business / By

A historic first, the coronavirus stimulus package is the largest in U.S. history and couldn’t have come at a better time for small businesses.

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Last week the CARES Act, a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, was passed by the U.S. Federal Government. 

A historic first, the coronavirus stimulus package is the largest in U.S. history and couldn’t have come at a better time. With mass layoffs and shelter-in-place regulations in effect, the futures of the U.S. economy and many small businesses are at stake. 

At a high level, the coronavirus stimulus package will support small businesses with:

  • $377 billion in loans and grants
  • Additional tax credits and extended deadlines
  • Relaxed operating regulations

Throughout this post, we look at how each of these initiatives will help small businesses withstand this challenging time. 

Small business funding

The U.S. Federal Government has introduced $377 billion in loans and grants to help small businesses retain their employees. 

Under the coronavirus stimulus package, a paycheck protection program of $350 billion is now available to small businesses across the country.

Intended to keep paychecks flowing, the program provides 8 weeks of cash-flow assistance loans to small businesses. 

“The coronavirus stimulus package provides 8 weeks of cash-flow assistance to small businesses.”

Senator Marco Rubio, 2020

Certain businesses will also qualify to have these loans partially forgiven by the Federal Government. And those that use the money for payroll, employee benefits, rent, and utilities will have their loans converted into grants. 

Payroll tax credits

The coronavirus stimulus package includes $280 billion worth of business tax cuts. While this figure applies to businesses of all sizes, small businesses will benefit the most from tax credits related to payroll. 

Under the stimulus plan, small businesses will receive a 50% refundable payroll tax credit on employee wages. They will also be granted extended deadlines for payroll taxes including their social security contributions.

Flexible regulations

The coronavirus stimulus package includes updates to numerous laws that affect small business operations. Under the stimulus plan, small businesses can now:

  • Retroactively claim interest and tax deductions 
  • Deduct losses against taxable income from previous years
  • Pay down employee student debt tax-free
  • Get tax credits for interior renovations faster

Looking forward

House members, as well as speaker Nancy Pelosi, have said that the coronavirus stimulus package is just the start of federal small business support during this time. As more government relief packages become available, we’ll continue to include the latest updates in this post. 

While we wait for house members to return to Washington, the business community has rallied to give small businesses additional support during this time. For financial resources outside of the government stimulus plan, click here. 

See how Method CRM helps small businesses do more — with less. 

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The Insider Tips You Need to Perfect Your Sales Strategy

Sales / By

Small businesses that want to grow need to incorporate workflow automation and data-driven insights into their sales strategy.

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This week, Method hosted a webinar on how small businesses can make the most of their sales workflows. 

The big takeaways were that to improve your sales strategy, you need to leverage:

  1. Data-driven customer profiles
  2. Workflow automation tools 

In this post, we take a deeper dive into these topics and look at how small businesses can incorporate these tactics into their sales strategy. Let’s get started!

Use customer data to inform your sales strategy

To win more deals, you need to have an excellent understanding of your ideal customer profile (ICP) and embed this into your sales strategy. For those of you new to the concept of an ICP, it simply represents who your best customers are. 

Your ICP will include things about your target audience like their:

  • Demographic details
  • Buying habits
  • Communication preferences 
  • Personal values 

To get this data, you’ll need to look at the information you have about your existing customers.

Your CRM is a great place to start as it will give you insights into the demographics, purchase history and shopping habits of your customer base. 

Tools like FullContact and LinkedIn Sales Navigator provide you with additional ways to build up your customer knowledge. 

Expand your customer profile with marketing insights

To make the most of your sales strategy, you’ll also need your sales and marketing teams to work together when it comes to identifying your target market. 

Your sales team will need to connect with marketing to understand the market insights they’ve gained from:

  • Pay-per-click advertising
  • Customer surveys 
  • Social media 
  • Email campaigns 

With this information, you’ll be able to reach out to prospects with personalized messaging, extend custom offerings, and create an enjoyable, frictionless buying process.

All of this will help you convert more sales opportunities to closed-won deals. 

Automate your sales process to increase productivity

Every small business wants to be able to work faster and more efficiently. And you can, with the help of workflow automation tools. 

From using automated lead generation forms to capture every lead to using dial automation software to streamline sales calls, technology is the backbone of any successful sales strategy in 2020. 

Sales software not only reduces human errors like dialing the wrong number or making a typo when recording a qualified lead’s information, but it also puts time back into your sales team’s day. 

When you consider that the average sales rep spends 25 hours a month leaving voicemails (a process that’s easily automated), it’s clear that a tech-enabled sales strategy will help your team’s productivity skyrocket. 

“Sales reps spend 25 hours a month just leaving voicemails.” 

There are also workflow automation solutions like customer portals that both increase your efficiency and help you serve your customers better. 

By enabling 24/7 self-service, tools like portals allow your customers to: 

  • Pay invoices
  • Check account balances
  • Review their warranty
  • Submit repair requests
  • View support resources 

All at their convenience. 

Recap: Tips to Perfect Your Sales Strategy

Here’s a quick summary of tactics that will help you achieve your sales goals and maximize your conversion rate. 

  1. Use data-driven customer profiles to determine your ideal customer profile (ICP). 
  2. Build your sales process around the buying habits and preferences of your ICP. 
  3. Leverage insights from marketing initiatives to inform your sales strategy. 
  4. Personalize your sales pitch, product offering, and buying process to meet the needs of your potential customers.
  5. Take advantage of workflow automation tools to increase team productivity and improve your customer experience. 

Enhance your sales strategy with a free trial of Method CRM. 

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COVID 19 business resources to get you through the pandemic

Small Business / By

Despite many mandated closures, small businesses of every kind have come up with innovative ways to remain relevant. To keep this momentum going, we’ve compiled a list of resources to help you weather the storm of what’s to come.

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The recent uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 has left many small businesses worried about the future of their operations as well as the economy at large. 

Despite mandated closures and shelter in place regulations, small businesses of every kind have come up with innovative ways to stay relevant. From breweries producing hand sanitizer instead of beer to restaurants pivoting to delivery-only models, small businesses remain resilient. 

To keep this momentum going, we’ve compiled a list of small business resources that will help you weather the storm of what’s to come.

Small business resources for COVID-19

1. Economic injury disaster loan program

Provided by the national Small Business Administration (SBA) agency, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program is a low-interest loan intended to support American small businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With up to $2 million available per company, the goal of this loan is to help small businesses cover expenses like payroll and accounts payable during COVID-19.

Focused on giving small businesses time to recover, the repayment period can be up to 30 years and interest rates for the loan remain low at 3.75%. 

To be considered for this program you must not have any alternatives for credit.

To apply, you will need to provide your 2019 business tax return and 2020 YTD financials among other documentation.

You can submit your application for this business loan here. 

2. Facebook’s small business grants

Facebook is pledging $100M in cash grants and ad credits to 30,000 small businesses around the world. The purpose of the initiative is to help small businesses: 

  • Cover rent and operating expenses
  • Continue to support and pay their teams 
  • Expand their customer base

3. JPMorgan’s small business resources

JPMorgan is putting forth $5 million worth of loans to help small businesses in the U.S. overcome challenges related to COVID-19. This loan program is focused on supporting small businesses through slower times as well as in the transition to remote work. 

The small business resources JPMorgan is offering include low or zero-interest loans and interest rate buydowns. This program is intended to help entrepreneurs of color as well as other underrepresented business owners. 

4. Kiva’s interest-free loans

In its commitment to helping small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiva and its lenders are giving 0% interest loans to American entrepreneurs. As a direct response to COVID-19, Kiva is offering a grace period of up to 6 months on loan repayment.

With loans of up to $15,000 available, Kiva wants to help keep small businesses running across the country – even if their doors are temporarily closed. You can apply for your interest-free loan here. 

5. Google’s small business resources

Google is offering $340 million worth of Ad credits to small and medium-sized businesses to help stimulate their growth during COVID-19. Redeemable until the end of 2020, these credits are available to small and medium-sized businesses who have been actively advertising with Google since 2019. 

In addition to these credits, Google is pledging $15 million to non-profit organizations so they can provide small business resources and loans to companies in need. 

6. PayPal’s COVID-19 support

PayPal, a payment gateway many of our small business customers rely on, is a platform that’s ingrained into the small business community.

Recognizing this, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman has offered its 300+ million business accounts alternative financing options as well as free professional consulting during COVID-19. 

7. The coronavirus stimulus package

The coronavirus stimulus package provided by the U.S. Federal Government under the CARES Act offers American companies the following small business resources:

  • $377 billion in small business loans and grants
  • 50% refundable tax credit on payroll during COVID-19
  • Additional tax and interest deductibles 

The CARES Act is noted as the first wave of small business resources the U.S. Federal Government hopes to provide the business community with, as they plan to provide additional stimulus plans to support business and economic development. 

8. Business for all grants

Presented by Hello Alice and Verizon, the Business for All program supports small businesses with grants of up to $50,000. The program is open to small businesses across the US, except for Puerto Rico, and aims to empower new majority business owners including: 

  • Women
  • People of color
  • LGBTQ+ individuals 
  • Military personnel 
  • People with disabilities

You can apply for the Business for All program here.

Wrap Up

Considering that 50% of small businesses have only 2 weeks worth of cash buffer, it’s smart to get ahead of cash flow problems related to COVID-19 — especially as more entrepreneurs start to take advantage of these small business resources.

“50% of small businesses have less than 15 days of cash buffer”

JPMorgan, 2019

In addition to the small business resources above, there are many grants and loans being offered by local municipalities and states. You can look for more small business resources in your area here as well as on your local governor’s website.

Learn how Method CRM drives small business efficiency today!

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Sales workflow secrets you don’t want to miss out on

Sales, Small Business / By

Whether your sales process is in its early stages or formally defined, there are many sales workflow best practices small businesses overlook.

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Most small businesses have a sales workflow that’s unique to their product, customer base, and team size. 

Their sales process, however, is often ad-hoc and lacks a strategic approach. 

Whether your sales process is in its early stages or formally defined, there are many sales workflow best practices small businesses overlook. 

Today, we look at how small businesses can improve their sales workflow to close deals faster and improve productivity. 

Sales workflow best practices

To keep things simple, we’ll go through our sales workflow tips based on the stage of the sales cycle they apply to.

Let’s get started!

Prospecting

At the start of the sales cycle, you want to make sure your sales reps are looking for prospects who are similar to the type of customers you want more of. 

And while I’m sure we can all think of a few of these customers, you’ll need a CRM solution to get a comprehensive view of who your best customers are.

By looking at the demographics and purchase habits of your customers, you’ll be able to get a strong sense of who your target audience is. 

Equipped with this information, you’ll be able to make it clear to your sales reps who they should be seeking out as prospects if they want to close more deals.

Qualifying

In the second stage of the sales process, sales reps must incorporate qualifying questions into their sales workflow. This way they can strategically prioritize which leads to focus on.

Make sure your sales workflow includes these 3 questions:

  1. Does my buyer need what I’m selling? 
  2. Can they buy my product?
  3. Do they plan to make this purchase in the immediate future?

Outreach

Considering the number of messages prospects get every day, sales reps need to cut through the noise with their sales outreach efforts. 

One way to do this is by getting creative with subject lines.

After all, it’s the first thing your potential customer will see!

Give prospects a reason to open your message by: 

  • Focusing on the value you have to offer them
  • Relating your product to a timely event such as a holiday or trend
  • Mentioning a project they’re working on or an interest they have

Nurture

Now that you’ve made initial contact with a prospect, you have to keep them interested in your product by nurturing them.

The first thing to do here is to incorporate activity tracking into your sales workflow. 

To do this, you’ll need to keep track of every touchpoint you have with a lead. And whether that’s an email or a quick call, every bit of nurture needs to be documented.

To maximize your nurture efforts, you’ll also want to introduce social media engagement into your sales workflow. 

You can do this by sending a potential customer a few likes on their social posts or sharing a congratulatory comment.

Whatever method you choose, this engagement will go a long way in building trust and credibility with potential customers. 

Final pitch

Here are a few things to make sure you build into your sales workflow so sales reps can nail their final pitch.

Objection handling

Before you make your final pitch, you’ll want to think of every reason your potential buyer won’t go through with a deal. 

Once you’ve done this, you’ll need to prepare a strong argument as to why not buying your product is a bad decision for this prospect. 

Competitor comparison

You need to be ready to take on any competitors a prospect might bring up during your final pitch. 

Look at where you win and lose against each of your competitors and highlight why your product is a prospect’s best choice. 

Closing the deal

Finally, let’s look at sales workflow best practices for when your sales team is closing a deal. 

They’ll want to:

  1. Share case studies and customer testimonials to validate a prospect’s decision to buy 
  2. Highlight how the benefits of your product offset its cost
  3. Be transparent about the terms and conditions of a sale to reduce buyer anxiety and ensure the best customer experience
  4. Make the buying process as frictionless as possible with self-service customer portals 

Recap: Sales workflow tips

Here’s a rapid-fire summary of the sales workflow best practices you need to use to increase your revenue and team productivity. 

  1. Use a CRM solution to find out who your best customers are and look for similar profiles when prospecting
  2. Prioritize leads with qualifying questions
  3. Get creative with your outreach messages
  4. Keep track of all sales nurture activities and go the extra mile to build strong relationships with potential customers
  5. Come prepared to overcome any objections and competitors mentioned during your final pitch
  6. Provide potential customers with the resources they need to make the purchase

See how Method CRM can help you streamline your sales workflow.

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How Automation Helps You Get the Most from a Lead Gen Form

CRM, Sales / By

With Method’s automated lead gen forms, nothing stops potential buyers from getting in touch with you and closing deals gets that much easier.

How Automation Helps You Get the Most from a Lead Gen Form Read More »

We recently surveyed some of our top customers and got some pretty interesting results. The first thing we found is that lead tracking and sales pipeline management is a challenge for more than half of the small businesses we surveyed. 

51% of small businesses struggle with lead tracking and sales pipeline management. 

The second thing we found is that 57% of small businesses rely on time-consuming, manual processes that hurt their productivity. 

Time-consuming, manual processes hinder the success of 57% of small businesses.

When looking at the biggest challenges facing our customers, it became clear that Method had a solution right at the intersection of these two issues. Our web to lead forms! 

Method CRM’s Lead Gen Form

Method’s lead generation forms make it easy for small businesses to manage their leads and sales pipeline in an efficient, automated way. Here’s how they work. 

Method’s web to lead forms help small businesses capture lead details from their website visitors 24/7 through web forms. After a lead submits a web form, Method CRM automatically:

  • Records their contact details 
  • Creates a sales opportunity
  • Notifies one of your sales reps
  • Schedules a follow-up activity

Below is an example of what our lead gen form looks like.

Method CRM Lead Gen Form

With Method’s web to lead forms, you can ensure that every lead is nurtured and no potential buyers fall through the cracks. Plus, once you’ve converted these leads to customers, you can sync all their information over to your QuickBooks account in just a few clicks.

Our web to lead forms are also completely customizable so you can automate any workflow from customer quotes to service requests and payment collection. Whether you decide to customize yourself, or with the help of our Professional Services team, our lead gen forms are a great way to automate your sales workflows.

The Benefits of an Automated Lead Gen Form

Now that we’ve covered how our lead gen form works, let’s review the benefits of automated web to lead forms for small businesses.

Added Convenience

A lead gen form allows incoming leads to submit requests to your business 24/7 instead of just within your regular 9-5 business hours. This way you don’t miss out on potential business just because you’re closed or your phone line was busy. 

The immediacy of this process is especially helpful if you have competitors who are open earlier or later than you. By allowing leads to submit a request with your business right when they want to, you reduce the risk of them going to one of your competitors. 

Faster Service

By empowering potential customers to submit their information online through a lead gen form, you save them from having to spend time on hold – waiting to be assisted. Instead, they simply fill out their contact details, hit submit and then wait for a sales rep to follow up with them.

Increased Efficiency

With the web to lead process now automated, your team can focus on closing deals instead of wasting time manually capturing prospect information.

Plus, for those customers that do call you for assistance, you won’t have to worry about long wait times making them go with your competitors.  

Wrap Up

Method’s automated web forms streamline your workflows so that your leads and customers are served as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

With Method’s web to lead form, nothing stops leads from getting in touch with your business and your sales team is set up for success when it comes to closing deals. 

In the video below, check out how an integration with Method helped double this shipping container company’s revenue in just three years.

See how automated web to lead forms can help your business grow!

Image Credit: StreetSignsForKids

People around a table looking at analytics

The Value of Shared Accounting Data

Accounting, QuickBooks / By

Accounting data is most valuable when it’s safely shared with the right people and when it’s used to enable collaboration across teams and business units.

The Value of Shared Accounting Data Read More »

Accounting data is often kept under lock and key. 

And rightfully so, as it contains sensitive information like your customers’ financial data and your staff’s salaries. 

Full of information you need to keep private and safe, accounting data isn’t something you want everyone at your company to have access to. 

With that being said there is, however, value in sharing certain accounting information with your team. 

The key here is to make sure you have complete control over the accounting information they can access. That way, you can tailor the financial data you share for the exact team member and business process it’s for.

This is where Method CRM’s fully customizable user permissions are helpful, as they allow you to give your teams access to only the accounting data they need to drive better business outcomes. 

Here’s how they work. 

Safely Share Your Accounting Data with Method CRM

With Method CRM you can control exactly who can view, edit, add, delete, approve, and manage specific aspects of your accounting data – outside of your actual accounting platform itself. 

Method’s flexible permissions allow you to customize user access to match the unique needs of your employees and business processes. 

With Method CRM, you can adjust the permissions of each user so that they only have access to the information they need and nothing else.

For, let’s say, warehouse workers, this could mean only being able to see the:

  • Orders they need to assemble
  • Contact details of the person picking up the order
  • Payment status of the order

Your Management team, on the other hand, may need access to financial reports and accounting data to properly forecast things like revenue and team performance. They may need to see and edit the permissions of other users so they can effectively delegate tasks and manage their team. 

Whatever your employee’s needs, Method CRM makes it easy for them to access the information they need and to complete transactions relevant to their role. 

Your sales reps, for example, are empowered with Method CRM to create and update customer sales transactions such as:

  • Invoices
  • Payments
  • Sales orders
  • Sales receipts

With Method’s automatic QuickBooks sync, these transactions are then reflected in your QuickBooks account right away. This saves your team from having to complete any double data entry and ensures you have an up-to-date record of every sales transaction.

For Money Going Out

Method also helps simplify the expense process by allowing teams without QuickBooks access to add vendors and upload bills in Method CRM. 

The benefit of this is that once an expense is added, it will automatically show up in your QuickBooks as an outstanding expense that needs to be paid. With Method CRM, you can be sure that you’ll stay on your supplier’s good side, as nothing gets dropped from the time your team places an order to when the vendor gets paid.

To ensure no faulty expenses are logged in your QuickBooks, you can customize Method to require approval before it syncs expenses to your QuickBooks. This way your accounting data is always accurate and you stay in the know about outgoing expenses. 

Wrap Up

Accounting data is most valuable when it’s safely shared with the right people and when it’s used to enable collaboration across teams and business units. 

And this is where Method CRM comes in. By providing team members with custom access to your accounting data, you can rest easy knowing that this information remains confidential, but at the same time, doesn’t impede the productivity of your team.

See how Method CRM makes the most of your accounting data.

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Everything you need to know about Method’s Updated Experience

Customer Experience, Method Customers / By

The main job of a CRM is to provide small businesses with a complete picture of their contacts. In this updated experience, you’ll enjoy an improved at-a-glance view of Contacts and their related information.

Everything you need to know about Method’s Updated Experience Read More »

At Method, we’re always looking to simplify the way small businesses get their work done. As part of this effort, we’ve gathered your feedback and used it to improve your experience with Method. 

Here’s everything you need to know about this update. 

More Information At-A-Glance

Instead of you having to jump from let’s say Contacts to Activities in Method, we’ve updated your experience to give you more insights in one screen.

Designed to increase your productivity, this update will give you more information related to a contact such as their activities, invoices, and opportunities in a single screen. 

Rolling out throughout March 2020, what you’ll see in your updated experience will depend on if you have a customized View Contact screen or a default View Contact screen. 

In this article, we go over what those with no customization will see and then dive into how this change will affect customized accounts. Let’s get started!

Your New View Contact Screen

The main job of a CRM is to provide small businesses with a complete picture of their contacts. And since the View Contact screen is usually a starting point for most of our customers, we’ve focused on giving you as much information as possible in this screen. 

Here’s what the View Contact screen will look like in your updated experience if you haven’t customized it.

The new View Contact screen.

Throughout the rest of Method, you’ll see changes that reflect our goal of increasing the ease and speed that you can get important information. Below is an example of what your new Opportunities experience will look like.

Your updated experience on the Opportunities screen with the related information panel expanded.

Updates to Customized View Contact Screens

While the new View Contact screen represents our vision for an ideal experience, we are being careful with the rollout to make sure it doesn’t disrupt your customized version of the screen. As we work towards giving all users a new View Contact screen, here’s the experience you can expect in the meantime. 

Your updated experience on the View Contact screen with the related information panel expanded.

If you would like to see how the updated experience works with your existing customization, you can follow these instructions to do so. 

Wrap Up

The main goal of a CRM is to provide small businesses with a full view of their contacts. Thanks to Method users like you, who shared their feedback through surveys, chat, and user research interviews, Method now does this better.

In your updated experience, you can expect an improved at-a-glance view of a contact and their:

  • Activities
  • Opportunities
  • Invoices 
  • And more!

Questions, comments, or concerns about our updated experience? 

Drop us a line at success@method.me – we’d love to hear from you!

How Small Businesses Can Win Against the Big Guys

Customer Experience, Small Business / By

In a world where global giants like Amazon, Alibaba, and Walmart are steamrolling over small businesses with lower prices and faster service, there’s something to be said about the power of a great customer experience.

How Small Businesses Can Win Against the Big Guys Read More »

In a world where global giants like Amazon, Alibaba, and Walmart are steamrolling over small businesses with lower prices and faster service, there’s something to be said about the power of a great customer experience. In fact, it’s critical to small business success when you consider that just one bad experience causes 51% of customers to cut ties with a company.

“51% of customers would never go back to a business after receiving poor customer service there.”

When you look at the seemingly limitless budget and hundreds of people big enterprises have to develop strategies and technology that maximize the customer experience, it doesn’t seem like small businesses have much of a chance. 

This is why we’ve created a solution that improves customer service for small businesses and their customers. Our powerful self-service portals allow small businesses of any size and sort to give their customers the personalized service they deserve. 

It’s our goal, at Method, to create technology that simplifies the lives of business owners and helps them grow. Our portals are just one way we hope to help small businesses win against the Amazons, Alibabas, and Walmarts of the world.

So without further ado, let’s break down exactly how Method’s portals make this happen. We’ll kick things off with a quick explainer video.

Improve Customer Service with Method’s Portals

Now that you’ve seen exactly how our portals work, let’s take a look at how they help small businesses improve customer service.

1. A Personalized Customer Experience

One of the best ways to improve customer service is to give your buyers a personalized experience. Research shows that consumers who receive personalized customer service are more likely to buy additional items as well as pay more for them.

Method’s custom portals are a simple way for small businesses to provide an experience that’s personalized to the needs of their customers. Whether they want to let their customers make warranty claims online or connect their community on a forum, it’s possible with custom portals.

With so much to gain from providing personalized service, this is an area where small businesses need to excel. Especially when the companies they’re competing against have whole departments dedicated to creating these experiences.

Here’s an example of how Method’s portals can help small businesses manage their customer warranty claims and registrations. 

And another that shows you a small business community forum created with a Method portal.

Whatever the needs of a customer are, small businesses can use custom portals to meet them and provide an awesome, personalized experience. 

2. Added Convenience

With people used to having access to pretty much anything from anywhere these days, small businesses need to provide their customers with this level of service if they want to compete with the big guys. 

A large undertaking for most small businesses, Method’s portals are here to help. With our portals, customers now have 24/7 access to their account and the ability to:  

  • Pay QuickBooks invoices 
  • Accept estimates
  • Update account information
  • Review transactions
  • Check on support cases

All, of course, from the device and location of their choice. 

3. Faster Service

At almost any small business, it’s expected that you wear multiple hats. So much so, that any one team member may end up doing everything from sales to order fulfillment and customer support. 

When this is the case, customer service is likely to suffer. And with 51% of customers cutting ties with a business after just one bad experience, this is a risk small businesses can’t afford.

This is where Method’s portals come in. 

By letting customers serve themselves, Method’s portals allow small businesses to provide their customers with fast turn-around times and make it possible for them to give better customer service than enterprise organizations with 100-person support teams. 

With our portals, small business customers enjoy fast service that keeps them coming back for more!

Wrap Up

With mega-corporations threatening the future of entrepreneurship, small businesses need to provide the ultimate customer experience to stay competitive. And we’re here to help with this. 

Beneficial to both customers and companies, Method portals keep customers happy by enabling self-service and increased convenience. With Method’s portals, small businesses can now provide the best round-the-clock service – at a fraction of the cost the competition is paying.  

So what are you waiting for? Try Method’s portals today!

Watch the magic of Method’s portals in a 1 on 1 demo!  

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