How to Build a Simple, Repeatable Sales Process

Research & Sources / Sales & Revenue Growth

Every family has a dish that only grandma makes properly. She does not measure anything, she just knows. When grandma is away, nobody can make it. Then one day someone writes the recipe down, with amounts and steps, and suddenly the whole family can cook it. Many businesses sell like grandma cooks. A sales process is the written recipe.

Why selling stays in one head

In many young companies, the entrepreneur is the best salesperson. They know the product, the clients and the right words. Sales happen through instinct, experience and personal relationships.

That works until the company needs to grow. Then new people join, and nobody can explain to them exactly how sales work here. Each person invents their own way. Results vary wildly, and the entrepreneur remains the only one who can close the big deals.

What research says

Jason Jordan and Robert Kelly studied B2B companies and found that those with a clearly defined, formal sales process grew revenue noticeably faster than those without one.¹ A process does not replace talent. It makes good results repeatable.

The idea is similar to checklists in medicine. When a group of hospitals introduced a simple surgical safety checklist, complications and deaths after surgery fell.² Experienced surgeons did not become better doctors overnight. A simple, shared list made sure the important steps were never skipped.

Keep it simple

A sales process does not need to be a thick manual. For most small companies, one page is enough. It answers four questions:

• What are the stages? Defined by what the buyer has done, for example “confirmed problem” or “requested proposal”.
• What must happen in each stage? The key questions to ask, the information to collect.
• What moves a buyer to the next stage? A clear exit rule for each stage.
• What tools help? A few templates: a call guide, a proposal template, a follow-up email.

How to write it

Start from what works. Look at your last ten won deals. What happened, in what order? That is your draft.

Include the questions. The best part of any sales process is the questions. Neil Rackham’s research on large sales showed how much the quality of questions matters.³

Test it with someone new. Give the one page to a new team member and let them run a sale with it. Where they get stuck, the recipe is unclear.

Improve it every quarter. Add what you learn, remove what nobody uses.

A process is not a script

A good recipe still leaves room for taste. A sales process describes the steps and the purpose of each one. It does not dictate every word. Buyers can tell when someone is reading a script, and they don’t like it.

What this means for you this week

• Review your last ten won deals and write down the common steps.
• Define four to six stages with a clear exit rule each.
• Write five key questions for your first real buyer conversation.
• Put it on one page and share it with the team.

Grandma’s dish was always delicious. Now the whole family can make it.

Sources

1. Jordan, J. & Kelly, R. (2015). Companies with a Formal Sales Process Generate More Revenue. Harvard Business Review, January 2015. hbr.orgA defined sales process, regular pipeline reviews and clear stage rules go together with faster revenue growth.
2. Haynes, A. B. et al. (2009). A Surgical Safety Checklist to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality in a Global Population. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(5), 491-499. doi.orgA simple 19-item checklist reduced complications and deaths after surgery in eight hospitals worldwide.
3. Rackham, N. (1988). SPIN Selling. Routledge (originally Gower). routledge.comThe Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-payoff question model for large sales.