Consider if someone asked you to speak at an event or in public on some topics. What would you do to prepare a speech? What comes to mind? Could you prepare an outline for your speech that adds information and value? If you want your audience to gain value and learn something new from your presentation, you’ll likely create an outline that is well organized.
You also need a bit of well-organized structure or process for your B2B sales efforts, much like that speech at the conference.
Your sales process should be able to reduce conversion rates, convert more potential customers to customers and convert more leads to sales. It should also give your reps the opportunity to deliver truthful, positive experiences to your customers, regardless of who they talk to.
Most sales managers, however, have trouble creating consistent sales engineering processes that help them earn revenue for their business.
Current Scenario
In the 21st century of innovation and creativity, business models are changing rapidly. Every business has different sales targets and challenges. As an example, sales processes are no longer linear. Businesses are adopting inbound marketing methods. Previously, sales strategies appeared stagnant; however, new technologies have enabled businesses to engage with their customers no matter where they are. Thus, sales and marketing teams now work closely together to close deals.
A well-defined sales process is essential to the success of any business. A well-organized and defined sales process may not be relevant to your business if you don’t think it will. CRM tools and sales automation tools have made it easier than ever before to design winning sales processes. Some companies are using these developments to boost their sales (and marketing) productivity. Right. The amount of statistical analysis you will run on your salespeople, your accounts, and your efficiency would waste a lot of time, but I won’t. In my opinion, sales processes are the best to use Six Sigma methodologies.
Process improvement is the goal of Six Sigma. Every process can be optimized by removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability. The DMAIC methodology still holds for most sales processes, even if a prospective customer rejects them. It assumes that having a rigid process that’s data-driven and may be enforced will foster improvement in any process.
Sales Process Engineering: the business automation benefits
The goal of sales process engineering is to improve sales processes. The goal is to determine more precisely how to increase sales and revenue. I would like to highlight a few of the benefits of sales process engineering:-
Improves efficiency: An experienced sales team can feel confident when selling to close more deals and provide a better user experience.
Aids in organization: You also need to define the roles of each sales department to ensure that everyone works together.
Increases revenue: A well-managed sales process will help to generate more sales and success for your company.
Accountability management is made easier: Additionally, an organized sales team can help your company hold team members accountable.
Predicts more accurately: A firm with a well-structured and well-managed sales process is better positioned to forecast bookings than one that doesn’t. It is important to make accurate sales predictions to make sure everything is working properly.
Having a sales process in your company makes perfect sense for all of the reasons listed above and many more. Your business needs a website if it does not already have one!
Classifications
The sales process includes seven steps:
Prospecting: The process of obtaining new sales leads. On popular professional websites like LinkedIn or Quora, you can conduct research. Further, you can also ask current clients or colleagues to refer potential clients for your product or service.
The sales team contacts the early-stage lead to gather information. Make your products or services more appealing by using this information. Additionally, it is crucial to qualify new leads to ensure that they are a good fit for your business and likely to progress in the buyer’s journey.
During this stage, you must research each company and show that your service or product is a practical solution to their problems. If your rep wants to convey the business and its objectives holistically, he or she will need to meet with a variety of departments. Good salespeople know their company better than individual prospects.
While presenting the product, the salesperson should demonstrate its features. After the connecting and qualifying steps, it occurs gradually. Reps should not waste time on avoidable tasks.
During the sales pitch and proposal, the prospect may have objections. It is expected that the sales process includes this step. Any objection should be handled by your sales team.
A deal is nearing its end during this part of the sales process. This could mean delivering a quote, negotiating compromises, or winning the approval of decision-makers.
It is not the goal of sales reps to pack up with customers when they close deals. The rep should facilitate a smooth transition of customers to the department responsible for customer satisfaction and onboarding.
What is Business Automation
You can automate your business regardless of your industry or technology, and business automation, processes are automated. In addition to lowering business costs, it will improve ROI and increase productivity. You can automate your business manually or In terms of automation, you can either do it manually or use the software. Business Automation Software can automate your business.
If you spend most of your time executing manual processes that do not produce effective results, you will not get the most bang for your buck. Automating your business processes will gradually increase the potential of your company.
Objective of Business Automation
To get rid of the tedious activities of your business process and make your workflow less monotonous so that you can utilize more time focusing on your real business goals.
One major problem with manual processes is that they are often done in the wrong stage or at the wrong order of the process. As a consequence, there is a delay in the execution of the other processes whereas with the help of Business Automation the business can get the desired results.
As there is a lack of association between the people engaged in the business process therefore by using business automation you will be provided with real-time feedback to make sure that you can accomplish your objective.
Types of Business Automation
Basic Automation
Basic Automation automates rudimentary and simple tasks. It removes the error and increases the transactional work pace. BPA and RPA are examples of basic automation.
Process Automation
Process Automation enhances efficiency, productivity, uniformity, and transparency. It also delivers valuable business insights. Workflow Automation and Process mining are examples of Process Automation.
Advanced Automation
Advanced Automation takes together machines and humans to integrate several systems across the business. It priorly relies on unstructured data coupled with natural language processing, machine learning, and analysis.
Intelligent Automation
Intelligent Automation driven by AI means the machine can learn and are based on the various situation they have analyzed. Virtual assistance powered by AI can reduce costs by enabling smart interactions between human agents and customers.
Importance of Business Automation
Business Automation is an excellent technique to enhance streamline operations and drive business growth. Since automation tools are designed to restore human labor with machine labor.
Uses of Business Automation
Marketing Activities
Email Marketing Automation lets companies send out emails on a schedule to client distribution lists. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) uses social media to send automated messages to customers.
Human Resources
A Human Resources Management System automates a wide range of HR activities, including interview scheduling, employment offers, onboarding, and payroll processing. Analytical tools can also provide insight into worker productivity.
Finance and Accounting
Business will have enough time for strategy, analysis, and collaboration with stakeholders by automating accounting functions and financial planning. Account Payable is automated, so when invoices are matched with documents, they are automatically routed to approval.
Sales Processes With software-as-a-service (SAAS) and salesforce, the sales team can record deal-related activities with minimum effort and time. Through these tools, repetitive tasks like creating data-backed sales forecasts and qualifying leads are automated throughout the sales process.
How to re-engineering a Business Process
Reengineering an organization’s processes to enhance efficiency, improve product quality, and/or reduce costs is the definition of business process re-engineering (BPR). Introducing radical redesign to the management of change means re-designing the tasks related to achieving a certain objective. To begin, the business workflows are analyzed in-depth to identify key areas that should be improved. In addition to analyzing workflows between and within enterprises, BPR identifies tasks that provide minimal value to the customer. These experts, also called Business Process Re-engineering specialists, assist companies in converting their processes to be more standardized.
In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, BPR was a key management concept. Michael Hammer of MIT and Thomas Davenport of Babson College are generally credited with the concept. PriSM (Partnership for Research in Information Systems Management), a research program Hammer and Davenport developed together, began as a collaboration. They developed a model for implementing new technologies, such as Internet access and personal computers (PCs), to help large companies take advantage of recent advances in technology. Their endeavors were sponsored by some of the largest companies at the time.
The two scientists published separate research papers in 1990 and separated professionally. These papers later became popular books. At least initially, Hammer, Davenport, and their co-authors, James Champy and James Short were met with high approval by the community. BPR has quickly taken root at a range of giant companies, including Union Carbide and GTE, according to a 1993 Fortune Magazine article titled “Reengineering: The Hot New Managing Tool.”
BPR’s rapid rise was largely driven by technology vendors, who promoted their enterprise resource planning (ERP) products as solutions for the redesign and improvement of business processes and turned BPR into a multi-billion-dollar industry overnight. In addition to consulting firms, reengineering firms suddenly found themselves in high demand when promoting their systems thinking expertise. The backlash against BPR followed as fast as its popularity rose. Although BPR proved to be expensive and risky, the most frequent criticism focused on how the change would affect people and culture instead of considering the impact of technology and cost reduction. The term reengineering came to be associated with two practices that had a radical impact on corporate life by the late 1990s — downsizing and outsourcing.
The need for radical changes within organizations
Michael Hammer, a management author and computer science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), contributed an article to Harvard Business Review in 1990 that introduced business process registration. In the 1990s, he argued, enterprises needed to improve despite traditional methods of performance enhancement. Because product development cycles were slow, the order fulfillment process was flawed, and inventory levels were out of whack with demand, large enterprises were ill-equipped to compete in these fast-changing times. In Hammer’s view, information technology (IT) is merely a means to automate inefficient processes for better performance and customer service. To create entirely new processes, companies must rethink the way they use technology.
Re-engineering initiatives at Ford Motor Company show the benefits of BPR’s holistic approach instead of an ad-hoc one, and how IT contributes to this. The Ford account payable department no longer needed to match paper documents and invoices with purchase orders since they were able to use online databases instead of paper. Taking advantage of new technology-enabled accounts payable to reduce headcount by 75%. Hammer called discontinuous thinking a way to break away from established assumptions in this reengineering project.
Business Processes Engineering: Principles and practices
Several years after Hammer published his research paper, he wrote a book with organizational theorist James Champy that elaborated on his ideas. A manifesto for business reform, titled “Reengineering the Corporation” became a national bestseller shortly after being released. For reengineering an entire work process and improving the efficiency, effectiveness, speed, and profitability of the process, the authors offered seven principles to follow.
- As if resources were centralized, treat resources dispersed geographically.
- Once and only once should the information be captured.
- The real work that produces the information should be integrated with the work that processes it.
- Don’t organize around tasks, but outcomes.
- Instead of just integrating the results of parallel activities, link them together in the workflow.
- Control the process by placing the decision point where the work is completed.
- Analyze all the processes in a business and prioritize them according to their degree of redesign urgency.
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