The DriveSales™ | How to build and close enterprise sales cycle and make massive deals come together!

What sets apart a business from its adversaries is how flexible, scalable, and variable it is. A business is never successful if it is only targeted at a single type of client. The multi-client model is what makes a business worth millions of dollars.

An enterprise sales cycle is a continuous process and effort of a sales rep and a potential client to forward the deal from one stage to other. It is a well-strategized and well-organized collection of necessary stages that must all check before finally closing the deal. With the help of an enterprise sales cycle, the probability of a successful deal can increase many folds.

Enterprise sales cycle

A common and regular enterprise sales cycle consists of a few key elements such as:

1) Network building — One of the most important ingredients for the recipe of a successful enterprise is networking. Building a good rapport and a healthy relationship around your business, market and even employees can inspire your business to grow in ways you can’t even comprehend.

Hence, it has become a crucial part of the enterprise sales cycle. When you commit to a deal, you are committing to the entire business, and thus, to be able to help them effectively and to be able to put your best foot forward requires you to have healthy and friendly relations with those you choose to work with. This could turn out to be a blessing for your business and can expand your reach dramatically.

2) Defined steps — Another important element of a great enterprise sales cycle is to have well-defined and well-thought plans at each step of the cycle. If you miss out on a step, it might cost you not only your business but can also have adverse impacts on your client’s business.

Hence, it is absolutely crucial to draw out a strategic and impactful blueprint of each step to avoid any surprises.

3) Stakeholders — When you think of a business, you must also think of all the effects and impacts of your venture’s day-to-day activities. Managing a business can prove to be a difficult task of a single person. A number of factors have to be considered and several decisions have to be made.

It is usually not possible for a single person to handle all of it effectively and efficiently and hence, you must ensure you have an adequate number of decision-makers to help you out. When multiple minds are put together, all the aspects of a problem are discussed and an effective decision can be made.

4) Valuable Contracts — When you think of a business, you must also consider the contracts that you will provide your clients with. Contracts are legally binding documents that help in avoiding exploitation of your business by your clients and vice-versa.

It is of utmost importance to have a solid and meaningful contract without loopholes to avoid any sort of losses and exploitation. Everything should be documented in the contract — from your company policies to the discussed terms and conditions of the deal.

A copy of the contract should be available to both parties.

Enterprise sales cycle steps:

1) Discover — The very first step of an enterprise sales cycle is to feel your client’s interests, needs, and expectations. This is one of the major stages to gauge the credibility of the deal and to build mutual trust and a healthy relationship.

You could gather information about the client and their needs through a number of ways such as official interactions, past experiences, and internet research. This will provide you a direction and strategy on how to proceed with the client.

A few necessary details that you should focus on are your client’s goals and aspirations, decision basis, legal procedures, timelines, past experiences, company missions, etc.

2) Diagnose — To work with a client takes patience and calm. Many times, clients are not a hundred percent transparent about their company and business and this could be one of the major problems in the long run if you choose to proceed with the deal.

Hence, it is your responsibility to research thoroughly and diagnose the company as much as possible. Try to find out what information might come in handy in the future and help your customer. Probe to find out all the hurdles that might pose difficulty if not dealt with.

3) Design — Now that you know what you are dealing with and have all the relevant and essential information, begin to construct an extensive and comprehensive plan for your client. This stage is highly crucial and includes the definitive participation of your prospects.

You have to create a model that suits the needs of your client, particularly. Thus, it is a joint effort and spirit to create a collaborative, functional, and well-suited plan. You are required to constantly communicate with your prospect and deal with certain specifications.

4) Deliver — Now that you have created a well-tailored plan according to your client’s needs, and your proposal has been accepted, you need to ensure that you deliver all that you promised. Hence, you need to be consistent to implement the plan that you put together.

Moreover, you need to have solid and firm metrics in place to measure the successes and failures of your service or solution.

Now, as an effective SALESPERSON! We can do three things from here.

1. Not ignoring the opportunity and blaming the situation for revenue loss.

2. Taking important notes and going back to revisit your sales strategy with the growth mindset.

3. Reaching out to The DriveSales™ if you need any specialized help for sales.

To conclude, what you choose to think also provides some idea of your development as a consultative salesperson. It is something like Siva Devaki quotes “Sales is not about selling anymore, but about building trust and educating.”

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