Sales are to businesses, like oxygen is to humans. Without it, your business will suffocate and die!
The sales department plays a key role in the success of the business in any organization, by bridging the gap between the potential customer’s needs and the products/services which the organization offers.

Why Sales is Important?

1.  It helps in determining business needs, offering solutions to create customer loyalty which can lead to remarkable business growth.
    
2.  Salesperson can gain customer’s trust by meeting him face 2 face, as this helps the customer to see how the salesperson is an expert in order to build credibility that guarantees customer retention.
    
3. It enables your sales team to understand exactly what they need to do to succeed, by having a clear sales process. It also helps you to plan out a well-defined sales cycles that can generate more revenue with less effort. Because your sales team has a map that tells them exactly which activities they need to do, and when to do them. Your sales process is that map which everyone has to follow. 
    
4. The sales process can also help you in tracking your team’s process because when you know the steps that your team is taking to close deals, you’ll know how everyone is spending his time and you will be able to identify where he is struggling or if the process itself is falling short. 

Now we will talk about the phases of the sales process 

Prospecting

The first phase in the sales process is prospecting. In this stage, you find potential customers, determine whether they have a need for your product or service and decide if they can afford what you offer.

Preparation

In the second phase, you prepare for initial contact with a potential customer, make a research for the market and collect all relevant information regarding your product or service. 

Approach

In the approach phase, you make the first contact with your client either face to face or on the phone. 
There are two common approach methods.
A) Question approach: Asking a question to get the prospect interested.
B) Product approach: Giving the prospect a sample or a free trial to review and evaluate your service.

Presentation

In this phase, you actively demonstrate how your product or service meets the needs of your potential customer.

Handling objections

Perhaps the most underrated phase of the sales process is handling objections. This is where you listen to your prospects' concerns and address them.

 
Closing

In this phase, you get the decision from the client to move forward. 

Following-up

Once you have closed the deal, your job is not done! The follow-up phase keeps you in contact with customers you have closed with, not only for potential repeat business but for referrals as well. And since retaining current customers is six to seven times less costly than acquiring new ones, maintaining relationships is the key.

Most salespeople do their best when they focus on the checklist of things they need to do every day—make a call, schedule a meeting or work on a proposal. That is why obtaining an active and repeatable sales process is so important.
Now you know what sales process is, what are the phases of it, how to create and manage a sales process for your team and finally how to design one that will help your team to build relationships with their prospects, close more deals, and navigate the sales process with confidence.