“Measure innovations by what they contribute to market and customer.” — Peter Drucker
Mapping out the sales process is an important step for firms that want to improve sales performance. No training or implementation of any new technology should be undertaken unless the mapping has been done first. Useful sales process maps start with asking: Why are we doing the things that we do? What is the value to the customer? From these types of questions, clearly defined outputs or measurable actions can be developed which will aid in making the customer steps easier.
The sales process is not “what salespeople do,” but rather the entire system for finding, winning, and keeping customers. By creating a process map first, managers gain a better understanding of the sales process as a production system rather than as selling skills or a standard sequence of steps.