Establishing Sales Flow
A common view of the sales process is one that sees only the close and those activities that are associated with it. Just as with other processes, it is important to identify each part of the development process, ensure that resources are assigned to each stage, report on movement from one stage to the next and measure the results in each stage so that flow can be increased or decreased to accommodate.
If the focus in sales is always on the sale, the process turns into a search for those deals that will come into the pipeline quickly and close quickly - something that rarely happens. An alternative view is to focus on the development of critical mass at each stage of the sales process. Know the number of deals that need to close, then work backwards into the funnel to determine what critical mass is needed to get your company there. Once the numbers are identified, the process can be executed against the goals for each stage.
