Complete Guide to Building a Sales Process

What is a sales process?

The sales process — also known as a sales cycle — is the method your company follows to sell your product or service to customers. It involves a series of steps, from initial contact with a lead to the final sale.

The sales process is similar to developing a relationship with someone new. When you first meet, you get to know each other, learn what they like and determine their goals. Along the way, you decide if you can work together and whether you are a match. If this is the case, the relationship can proceed and grow.

How to build a sales process

Creating a sales process tailored to your business is essential for converting leads efficiently and consistently. While many sales processes share similar stages, the specifics of each step should reflect your unique product, target audience and team structure.

Here’s how to build one that works for your organization:

1. Define your ideal customer profile (ICP) and buyer personas

Begin by identifying the characteristics of your ICP. Consider factors such as industry, company size, budget and specific challenges you face. Creating detailed buyer personas will help your sales team understand and empathize with potential clients, allowing for more personalized and effective outreach.

“The most important part of building a sales process is understanding your customer and identifying bottlenecks fast,” said Mari Milenkovic, founder and CEO of With Mari and co-founder of Her Brand & Co.

2. Map the buyer’s journey

Start by understanding how your ideal customer makes a purchase decision, from awareness to evaluation to commitment. This is your chance to uncover common questions, hesitations and behaviors at the customer’s buying stages. Use the BANT (budget, authority, need and timeline) framework to see if your products align with a buyer’s budget and decision-making power.

“When I work with female founders, we ground the sales process in the context of the marketing funnel, which I break down into five key stages: Awareness, Lead Generation, Nurture, Sales and Retention,” Milenkovic said. “We start by mapping the customer journey … Each stage of the funnel may contain two to four touchpoints.”

Milenkovic provided business.com with examples of possible touchpoints of each stage:

• Someone hears about my services from a friend. (Awareness)
• They find me on LinkedIn and connect. (Awareness + Lead Gen)
• They see my posts and join my email list. (Lead Gen + Nurture)
• They book a free consultation. (Sales)
• I send a proposal after confirming they’re a fit. (Sales)
• They remain in my ecosystem via email and social media. (Nurture + Retention)
• They sign and begin services. (Sales)
• Customers refer others or return for additional services. (Retention)

This method helps you align your sales stages with your buyer’s real-world journey, ensuring your process supports them every step of the way.

3. Define your sales stages

Using the buyer’s journey as your foundation, outline the key stages of your sales process. “Once the customer journey is outlined, we assess what strategies to use at each stage,” Milenkovic said. “This is unique to each founder depending on their business model, resource availability and customer behavior.”

These typically include prospecting, qualification, needs analysis, presentation, objection handling and closing. However, don’t just follow a template — make sure each stage reflects the actual steps your team needs to guide buyers forward. Each stage you develop should have a clear objective, entry/exit criteria and measurable actions that show progress. This way you can tailor presentations and analysis to each prospect. 

“The goal is to guide the customer in a way that makes sense for them,” Milenkovic said. “There’s no one-size-fits-all formula. Clarity comes from knowing your customer.”

4. Identify actions and tools for each stage

For every stage you define, list the specific actions your sales reps should take. These could include sending a discovery email, conducting a demo or submitting a proposal. Alongside actions, map out the tools or content reps should use, such as CRM templates, case studies or pricing calculators. The goal is to make it easy for reps to know what to do, when to do it and how to do it effectively.

5. Align with your team and customers

Before finalizing your sales process, validate it with your sales team and customer-facing colleagues. Are the stages practical? Are the actions realistic? Do they reflect how your buyers want to engage? Make adjustments based on internal and external feedback to ensure the process is usable, buyer-centric and adaptable.

6. Document and measure results

Once your process is built, document it in a clear, shareable format, preferably in your CRM or sales enablement platform. Include stage definitions, activity checklists, qualifying questions and examples. A small business needs to have a structured sales process, advised Garrett Ball, owner of 65Medicare.org. “This allows you to pass on your process as the team grows and changes, while also giving you a well-defined language to use with your business.”

Train your sales team on the new process and make sure they understand not just what the process is, but why it exists and how it benefits them. This is where you analyze your results to stick with what’s working and improve where necessary. 

Why is building a sales process important?

Here are some benefits of building a sales process for your business:

• It helps you optimize the structure of your sales team to support the sales process and identify the main challenges in the sales cycle.
• It makes onboarding new sales personnel easier.
• It helps you identify short-term and long-term goals in your business plan and how each step in the sales process supports the next one.
• It highlights where time and resources are being wasted, so you can remove activities with low return on investment and focus your efforts on activities with more positive returns.
• It identifies the steps that need to be improved. This allows you to invest in training, education, and practice to improve in areas of weakness, which will help match your success in other parts of the sales process.

What are the 7 stages of the sales process?

There are seven stages in the sales process:

1. Prospect for potential customers
2. Make contact with prospects
3. Qualify prospects
4. Nurture prospects
5. Present your offer
6. Overcome objections
7. Close the deal

1. Prospect for potential customers

The first step is to prospect for customers, which requires some research. This stage has three components.

1. Create an ICP: The goal here is to identify and understand your ideal customers. This helps you determine whom to contact and why you are reaching out to them as potential customers. The ICP uses real data to create a fictional characterization of a client who meets the following criteria:
   • They can provide your company with value (e.g., revenue, influence)
   • Your company can provide value to them (e.g., return on investment, better service)
2. Identify potential leads: Use the ICP to create a list of potential leads that fit this profile. Use a variety of sources (e.g., online databases, social media) to develop a list of ideal client companies. Then create a list of prospects from these companies that your sales team can contact and qualify.
3. Perform initial qualification: First, qualify the company by conducting research to see if it meets the criteria that matter to you (e.g., company size, geography, industry and growth phase). Then qualify the prospects with an interview to determine if they are a good fit as a customer. Determine if the prospect has all of the following:
   • A need for your product or service
   • The budget to purchase your product or service
   • The authority to make the purchasing decision
   • The timing to make the purchase

To perform these three stages, Milenkovic suggested using technology to assist in the process. “Use tools like audience personas, referral networks and outreach channels to build a list of qualified leads,” Milenkovic said. “I also recommend founders use the Value Proposition Canvas from Strategyzer to better understand their customer’s pains, gains and jobs to be done. This makes prospecting more precise and effective.”

2. Make contact with prospects

After identifying the ideal prospect, reach out to contact them. “Contacting prospects is the first step toward fitting the product with the prospect,” Ball said. “Sales reps should meet the prospect on their terms and listen more than they speak.”

This step has two parts:

1. Determine the best way to contact the prospect (e.g., telephone, email or social media).
2. Reach out to the prospect. Make sure you are prepared (e.g., with a script, introduction and questions) before you contact them. Introduce yourself and work on building trust, not making a sale.

3. Qualify prospects

Although you have already done your research to qualify the prospect before making contact, you still need to determine if they would make an ideal customer. This can only happen in a direct conversation with the prospect (either over the phone or in person).

To qualify the prospect, learn more about them. Ask about their goals, budget, challenges and other issues that will help you to make your decision. Make sure that the person you are speaking with has the power to make decisions on doing business with you. When speaking with the prospect, identify opportunities to provide value.

Qualifying the prospect involves confirming whether they meet the criteria of a good customer. If they are not a good fit, tell the prospect why. If they are still interested, determine why.

4. Nurture prospects

Once you have qualified the prospect, demonstrate the relevance of your solution to them. This typically involves answering questions about your unique offer, the benefits you provide and the problems you solve.

When answering the prospect’s questions and learning about their needs, you have to nurture them along the process of making a decision. “Nurturing prospects through the sales process can look different in different industries,” Ball said. “The one thing that all industries have in common is that prospects are on their own timetables frequently. Nurturing prospects just means that we recognize their timetables but also want to keep the process moving forward toward the sale.”

Nurturing prospects involves:

• Moving the prospect along the stages of awareness
  • Unaware: The person does not know they have a problem.
  • Problem aware or pain aware: The person knows they have a problem but is not aware of a solution.
  • Solution aware: The person knows there is a solution but does not know about your product.
  • Product aware: The person knows about your product but does not know if it can solve their problem.
  • Most aware: The person knows a lot about your product but needs to know about its benefits.
• Educating the prospect about the product, service or industry
• Personalizing your communications
• Responding to common challenges
• Building your reputation with the prospect as someone who is helpful, responsible and reliable in your area of expertise

Some prospects may be both interested in your offering and qualified, but might not be ready or able to become a customer at this time. To nurture this type of prospect, stay in touch going forward and demonstrate your ability to help. This will help to keep you at the top of their mind when they are ready to buy.

5. Present your offer

Use the information you have collected to this point to present the prospect with your best possible offer. Make the offer personalized, targeted and relevant to your prospect’s needs. Craft the offer to address their challenges, budget and goals.

“Share your services or product in a way that solves a real problem,” Milenkovic said. “Everyone is trying to solve a problem and show up as the hero; this is your opportunity to be the solution they’ve been looking for. Be clear about outcomes, pricing and how it works.”

While the content of your offer is very important, how you present the offer can be the difference between success and failure. Consider your audience and the situation when deciding how to present your offer. Creativity can be very effective, but you should also focus on what works best for you given the experience of previous presentations.

6. Overcome objections

You’ve made the best possible offer — now it’s up to the prospect to make the next move. The most common response is some type of objection to your offer, like those listed below:

• Price (e.g., too expensive for the value provided)
• Risk (e.g., too “dangerous” to switch to a new solution)
• Content of offer (e.g., offer does not provide enough detail)
• Contract terms (e.g., term is too long)

Ideally, you addressed the common objections during the nurturing phase or when creating the offer. However, you cannot always address every objection before the prospect makes it. “Address hesitations head-on,” Milenkovic advised. “Understand their concerns: most often these come down to time or money. Acknowledge those realities and help them feel confident in moving forward by showing how your solution saves time, reduces opportunity cost or simplifies their workload.”

To overcome or address objections:

• Be patient and measured in your response. Listen to the prospect’s concerns objectively. Do not rush or pressure the prospect to move forward.
• Address objections that are related to each other. For example, if the prospect questions the value and price, go over everything you’ve included in the offer to show how the value you provide exceeds the price.
• When you have explained your reasoning, ask the prospect if you have properly addressed their objection.
• Read between the lines of generic objections (e.g., “We are not interested”).
• Ask more questions to determine the real reasons behind each objection. Listen carefully to the answers before responding.

7. Close the deal

Once you have overcome all objections, you can close the deal to make the sale.

First, work on sealing the deal. The goal is to confirm the prospect’s engagement and work toward the next steps. 

The key is to make it easier for the prospect to say yes to the deal. Prime the prospect by reminding them how they will achieve a specific goal in purchasing your product or service. To close the deal:

• Ask a direct question or make a direct statement (e.g., “Would you like to sign the deal now?”).
• Ask an indirect question (e.g., “Are you satisfied with what is included in the offer?”).
• Provide an incentive to close the deal (e.g., add a sign-up bonus).
• Offer a free trial period (e.g., “Try it for one week”).
• Emphasize the urgency or scarcity of the offer (e.g., “This is a limited-time offer”).
• Ask what else the prospect requires to make a decision.

“Make it easy to say yes,” Milenkovic said. “Send a proposal, walk them through next steps and provide clear guidance on onboarding or purchase. And don’t forget the follow-up — your urgency to close the deal isn’t always their priority. People get busy. Kind nudges are often welcome and appreciated.”

When the prospect has committed to the purchase, answer any additional questions they have and give them details on the next steps. Provide a written agreement and summary of the conversation so their supervisor or other stakeholders can review it for accuracy.

If the prospect still responds with “not yet” or “not now” for reasons beyond your control (or theirs), then return the prospect to the nurturing stage. Stay in touch and follow up with prospects who are not ready to purchase.

How do you implement a sales process?

Consider the following approach to implement the sales process in your organization.

Understand the customer

The sales process begins with the buyer. To implement an effective sales process, you must understand the buyer and then design your sales process to address their goals, motivations and needs. This requires identifying and then answering their “why” question. For instance, why is the buyer looking for a solution? Why are they looking to you for the solution?

Build a sales process to help your salespeople find the answer to the key question. Conduct interviews with buyers and salespeople and perform industry research to find the answers to include and increase sales through these tactics.

Set milestones

Once you’ve defined the stages of your sales process, establish the key steps and milestones within those stages. A milestone could be identifying where the buyer is in the sales process or engaging with stakeholders within a certain time period. Score each milestone to determine how many resources to invest into that part of the sales process.

When you set a milestone for each stage, train salespeople to meet that milestone at the assigned stage. This will prevent them from skipping steps or taking the wrong approach at the wrong time (such as talking about the price too soon). Instructing salespeople on when and how to do handoffs will also help correct problems in the sales process. This simplifies the process of helping buyers move from one stage to the next.

Apply skills and resources

Build skills, resources and activities into the sales process to help your salespeople move to the next milestone. Resources could include brochures, case studies and whitepapers for a salesperson to share with customers. Provide your salespeople with specific training for particular milestones or have them engage in activities for other milestones.

Iterate and improve

A sales process is not static; it should be refined and improved over time. Get feedback from salespeople, measure buyer behavior, and track and analyze sales data to evaluate the effectiveness of your sales process. To further understand how to iterate and improve the sales process, you need your entire team to be on the same page with training on your consumers’ specific needs.

“Small businesses implement a sales process through training and coaching their teams on how to best find the fit between product and prospect,” Ball said. “It is important that all members of a sales team be on the same page with understanding the expectations of the business. By keeping the sales process uniform, this also allows any team member to jump in at any stage of the process, if needed, to move the prospect along to the next stage of the process.”

Use the results to solidify the successful activities and resources within the sales process, implement activities and processes to prevent negative outcomes, and remove activities and resources that do not advance the sales process. This will keep the sales process relevant, actionable and efficient.

By constantly iterating and improving your sales process, you will:

• Reduce the time it takes to onboard new salespeople.
• Increase the percentage of successful sales.
• Minimize costly mistakes.
• Improve sales forecasting.
• Reach sales targets on a more consistent basis.

Align your technology and systems with the sales process

Equip your salespeople with technology (such as CRM software) that enables them to perform each step of the sales process efficiently. However, software tools alone won’t make salespeople more effective or encourage them to follow best practices. Combine the technology with supportive systems, guidance and resources.

Provide technology that streamlines the sales process, collects and organizes information on customers, and lists the required activities for salespeople to follow. “The critical factor is daily use,” Milenkovic said. “Your CRM is your command center: it helps you track performance, analyze what’s working and adjust as needed. The simpler and more intuitive the system, the more likely a founder will stick with it.”

Create systems and resources to support the sales team’s use of the technology during the sales process, such as these:

• Checklists to make sure all steps are performed in order
• Content and video to demonstrate the importance of the stages and milestones
• Buyer-focused content tied to where they are in the sales process
• Reminders to prevent salespeople from skipping steps
• Training content for each step in the sales process

Amanda Hoffman and Jamie Johnson contributed to the reporting and writing in this article.