{"id":825,"date":"2015-08-05T19:39:19","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T19:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejuntoinstitute.com\/shop\/?p=825"},"modified":"2022-02-10T20:21:55","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T20:21:55","slug":"defining-your-startups-sales-process-from-the-customers-point-of-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejuntoinstitute.com\/shop\/defining-your-startups-sales-process-from-the-customers-point-of-view\/","title":{"rendered":"Defining Your Sales Process from the Customer’s Point of View"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t think about the entirety of your customer experience, you short change yourself from the opportunity to engage with your customer.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0– Jason Ulaszek<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently,\u00a0Jason Ulaszek, an experienced design executive and founder of Inzovu, spoke to Junto members about customer engagement. He stressed that a customer\u2019s experience is the company’s brand in living form. Being intentional and strategic about every step of that experience is not simply brand engineering and UX\/UI, but business<\/em> engineering. Jason stressed that to optimize growth, sales leaders must learn to empathize with customers and re-engineer each business process through their eyes.<\/p>\n

To make his point, he led Junto members through an exercise of mapping their current sales process from their customer’s\u00a0point of view. The activity was eye-opening, and one that virtually any company can follow. Here is a summary of the exercise.<\/p>\n

1. DEFINE THE STAGES\u00a0IN THE CUSTOMER\u2019S WORDS\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The first step was to write out each of the stages in the company\u2019s sales process but by using the customer\u2019s words. A step that once was named \u201cExpress Interest\u201d turned into \u201cWhat is this tool I keep hearing about?\u201d and \u201cDecide to buy\u201d turned into \u201cYes, I totally dig this and need to try it.\u201d Jason also had the companies include periods of waiting or reflection as separate stages, like \u201cWaiting for the proposal\u201d or \u201cReflecting on initial meeting\u201d.<\/p>\n

2. LIST TOOLS & TECHNOLOGY USED<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Below each step, the Junto members listed the the tools, technology and resources used during each stage of the sales process, again from the customer’s perspective. Examples included\u00a0slide decks, Zoom meetings, references, the company\u2019s website, etc. Listing these items allowed the company to analyze all the tools that influenced each stage, and how. Does the company website confuse customers? Is the slide deck easy to understand without the sales rep there to explain it? Did we give them background info on existing customers before they reach out for references?<\/p>\n

3. MAP THE CUSTOMER\u2019S EMOTIONS<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Above each stage, the companies mapped the thoughts and emotions a customer is likely to experience during each point of engagement. Jason urged everyone to reflect on how they would feel in the same situation; empathy and brutal honesty were key. Scanning the room, a variety of words and phrases were peppered above the engagement stages: \u201cintrigued and excited\u201d, \u201cimpatient and frustrated\u201d, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to tell my team about this!\u201d, and \u201canxious and nervous\u201d.<\/p>\n

4. HIGHLIGHT POINTS OF UNCERTAINTY<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Next, Jason had the companies highlight the places where they were unsure exactly what was happening or what the customer was feeling. The Junto members were asking themselves: Does our slide deck answer the questions they have at this point? When a prospective customer reaches out to a former customer with questions, do they respond promptly? Do we know what happens when the initial point of contact goes back to tell their team about our product?<\/p>\n

5. COMPARE TO STAGES AS DEFINED BY THE COMPANY<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In this step, the members reflected on the sales process that their company had been using prior to this exercise. They overlaid their pipeline\u00a0stages above the new customer-centric ones. Almost every company remarked on important moments of the customer\u2019s journey that had been completely missing from their prior sales stages.<\/p>\n

6. LIST CHANGES TO MAKE<\/strong><\/h4>\n

After a morning full of several \u201caha! moments\u201d, the last step was to for each company to craft\u00a0a list of changes to make going forward. Jason questioned, \u201cWhat can be done to avoid moments of stalling or loss of momentum?\u201d and \u201cWhat can be done to shed more light on \u2018unknowns\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

The members reported on plans to turn engagement points with negative emotions to neutral or positive; change their pipeline stages to reflect the customer\u2019s true steps of engagement; take slide decks that likely confused consumers, and consolidate and clarify the message; and take control of the process of getting customer references\u00a0to eliminate uncertainty in the responsiveness and overall experience.<\/p>\n

By going through this exercise, the companies gained a new awareness of the customer\u2019s experience, an understanding of how each moment of engagement influenced the growth of the company, and a list of changes to implement to better align their sales process with customers\u2019 success.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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