What are deal stages?

If you're in sales, chances are you've heard the term "deal stages" before. Deal stages can be defined as a predetermined and well-defined set of steps in the sales process. 

This is what makes them so effective: they help with transparency and reporting accuracy by providing clear milestones for what has been accomplished to date.  

It's vital that your stages match your sales cycle--which is why we created this guide! 

We'll teach you what deal stages really are, how they work best for lead management, and what type of information should go into each one; we even provide templates to get started on creating your own!

Deal Stages are a highly effective way to manage your sales pipeline. Well-defined deal stages can help increase transparency and improve reporting accuracy. Learn some best practices to know what are deal stages. 

Use our guide to understand what are deal stages and define essential sales stages for your selling process like prospecting, follow up, and maintaining relationships with CRMs.

Sales teams that do not follow a well-defined sales cycle to manage their sales stages generate less income.

Effective pipelines are closely linked to corporate success, according to a study done by Vantage Point Performance and the Sales Management Association. 

Companies who have mastered an effective sales cycle have experienced a 28 percent increase in revenue growth compared to those that have not.

The pattern is clear: high-performing sales teams accelerate their sales processes with pipeline management and sales stage definition.

We'll walk you through how to properly manage your own pipeline over sales stages in this guide:

Let's take a look at each sales step and see how a well-defined sales cycle may help you manage your pipeline more successfully.

Prospecting for fresh leads in sales- The first stage of the sales cycle is what's referred to as prospecting. 

The goal during these early lead stages is to identify new leads or seed accounts so that your sales team can begin building relationships and forming contacts with potential buyers.

To establish a database of prospects, you can employ a variety of prospecting and lead creation techniques. Whether you're networking or cold calling, the goal is to generate high-quality leads.

While time-consuming, in-person networking at events is a terrific approach to find new prospects. According to one survey, the most efficient marketing medium is events. 

It's easier for salespeople to determine whether or not a prospect is a good fit by speaking with them in person. In what has become a digital world, it's also a great way to make in-person contacts. 

Outreach activities such as cold phoning or cold emailing should also be at the top of the list, as these are tried and effective sales methods.

Reps can see a list of companies whose employees have visited their website using the service. The information is divided into the following categories:

The size of a company is determined by the number of employees.

Websites for the city and country industries

Use this information to attract more qualified leads and improve your sales cycle.

Sales reps can use LinkedIn to find prospects based on factors such as job title and firm size.

Reps can also use Smart Contact Data to learn more about their prospects. It pulls web data about your prospects from sites like Google+ and LinkedIn, which you can use to tailor your discussions.

During the prospecting stage of your sales cycle, you can also employ a variety of tools. Our intelligent conversational Chatbot, which is included in the Leadbooster add-on, takes it a step further and initiates discussions with leads as soon as they arrive on your website.

To make prospecting easier, sales teams might use lead creation technologies. For example, Leadfeeder creates leads from website visits.

Identifying and qualifying new leads- New opportunities are created when you qualify prospects, which means obtaining enough information about them to determine what type of potential they may have for your sales cycle.

It asks simple questions to potential leads and responds intuitively based on their responses. 

If a lead requests additional information about a product, Chatbot can provide a link to a promotional video or provide more thorough product material right away.

Additionally, Chatbot automatically interacts with Pipedrive's scheduling engine to schedule meetings on behalf of your salesperson, making sales cycle management easier for you and your team. 

Without lifting a finger, your reps can leave the workplace at night and wake up the next morning to a new appointment with a hot lead.

Hunter is another programme that retrieves email addresses by automatically searching to see whether the domain name you're looking for has any email addresses linked with it. 

If it is successful, the results will be narrowed down depending on the company's employment roles.

Prospecting for new leads- The goal during these early stages is to identify new leads or seed accounts so that your sales team can begin building relationships and forming contacts with potential buyers.

The next step in the sales funnel is to qualify the leads you've generated.

Qualified leads must meet your target market's requirements, have a need for your goods, and be willing and able to purchase.

Let's look at why qualifying every lead is a must for a successful cycle:

It saves time: Recognizing a lead's level of interest saves time. You'll know where to spend your energy if you can label leads as "hot" or "cold." 

A cold lead will require more nurturing and, as a result, will take longer to close, whereas hot leads are more easily converted into deals.

It prevents your sales crew from becoming overburdened: It's easier to follow up on fresh leads once they've been qualified.

It provides you with useful information: It provides you with more information on how to approach a lead in a way that increases the likelihood of conversion. 

Rather than wasting time on leads who aren't serious about buying your product, concentrate your efforts on those who are.

As leads go through the qualification process, they become prospects. The level of interest they show in your product or service is the fundamental distinction between a lead and a sales prospect. 

Leads travel down the funnel and become prospects if they show a genuine interest in buying your product and/or engage with your sales reps on a regular basis to learn more about your products.

Initial consultation/meeting- Your initial meeting with a prospect will likely be the most important part of your sales cycle. 

The goal is to motivate the prospect to learn more about what you have to offer, get them excited for what's next, and set yourself apart from other companies in their eyes.

Automating your appointment scheduling process is the key to saving a tonne of time on this stage, as it will:

Reduce the amount of time spent on administrative tasks such as scheduling appointments.

Assist you in avoiding multiple bookings on your calendar.

Reduce the stress of trying to locate a time that works for both you and your prospect.

Improve the lead's meeting booking experience with you.

To automate this part of the process, you'll need a meeting scheduling application. The greatest apps are simple to use and integrate smoothly with your current tech stack.

For example, Pipedrive's scheduling tool, Scheduler, allows sales professionals to schedule a meeting with a prospect by just giving them a link. 

The prospect can then see when the sales representative is available and choose a time that is convenient for them.

Defining requirements and presenting the solution- During this step it's important that you've done your research on what solutions they're looking for so that you'll be able to present them with what they want.

You must portray your offering as a solution to your prospect's demands at this vital stage.

Sales agents can sell their product as a solution by discussing why it will work rather than how it will function.

To know what are deal stages, follow these steps:

Begin with a challenge: Pique the prospect's interest at the start of the sales cycle by sharing a problem that your solution can solve. First, respond to their "why."

Introduce some value by saying: Write a summary of your product's worth. This isn't the place to highlight a feature. Instead, concentrate on creating a mental image of the desired outcome.

Introduce the item: Describe why it is the answer to the problem.

Demonstrate your worth by showcasing customer success stories. Use facts and data to show that your other customers have had success, and show how using your product has helped them solve their problem emotionally.

Finally, pose a question: Inquire about your prospect's business and current status in an open-ended manner.

By presenting your product in this manner, you allow your prospect to picture how their life might be different if it included your product. Listen to your prospect's worries after you've finished speaking, and be prepared to address any questions they may have.

You may even take it a step further and make direct comparisons to your competitors. Yesware provides battle cards to its sales personnel to aid them with their pitches. 

The battle cards are chock-full of statistics demonstrating how their product outperforms the alternatives offered by their competitors.

Another crucial aspect of pitching is keeping track of time. If you talk for an extended period of time, your prospect may lose interest sooner than you expect.

According to Gong's recent research, the best time for a sales pitch is nine minutes. According to Gong's Chris Orlob, if a rep wants to capture a customer's attention, they must provide a 'brain-perking' change in tempo in their pitch.

Avoid offering too many indiscriminate facts in your pitch, regardless of how you construct it. Remember to concentrate on the value of your product and how it will address your prospect's problem.

The hardest part of selling a product to a prospect, according to Equalman founder Erik Qualman, is avoiding the curse of knowing.

"You know your product or service inside and out, and using this 'kitchen sink' approach might actually hurt your sales process," he stated.

Dealing with objections and overcoming them- Once your prospect is interested, it's important that you're prepared for any concerns or issues that may arise during the sales process.

Prospective customers will always raise objections, sometimes at various points throughout the sales cycle.

Negotiating and overcoming sales obstacles, on the other hand, is achievable if you're prepared. Budgets and timing are the most typical concerns from prospects, but there are additional commonalities, such as:

If the lead is utilising a competitor's product, it's your obligation to show why yours is a better option.

Is your business brand new? Prepare some testimonials to demonstrate your success.

Change is difficult. You must persuade them that your product is worthwhile by emphasising the benefits to their business.

Are you interacting with someone who has the authority to make a purchasing decision? Make sure you're interacting with a decision-maker right away.

It's up to you to change the prospect's mind and give value if they don't think they need your product.

It'll be easier to overcome these arguments if you prepare for them ahead of time. Your entire sales staff is probably facing comparable resistance from each of their prospects.

 To keep prepared, you can utilise this to your advantage by outlining common objections in a sales meeting.

Collaborate as a group to:

Make a list of the most typical sales objections that you hear on a daily basis.

Make a strategy for dealing with them.

Examine previous missed opportunities by reviewing phone transcripts and emails.

Make a list of the most popular counter-arguments.

Determine why the objection could not be overcome and how your salespeople can approach it differently in the future.

Create scripts for your sales staff to employ in the future to overcome certain arguments using consistent methods.

Getting the transaction done- With all of this research behind you, it's now time to close the deal!

Closing is the most thrilling part of the sales process. It's time to close the deal and get your prospect to sign a contract.

Getting that contract signed, on the other hand, is a lot easier said than done. So, what's the best way to seal the deal?

It takes time to close a contract. Your prospect will almost certainly need to present your solution to their team for feedback.

 If they aren't the lone decision-maker, they'll need to get approval to make sure your solution fits within their overall business strategy.

All of this takes time, and hurrying a prospect can cause your connection to fall apart. You must, however, ensure that the prospect understands that you haven't forgotten about them and that you are serious about doing business with them. 

Keep in touch with them by offering them useful information that will pique their interest and push them closer to a conclusion.

These can take the form of engaging blog pieces and case studies, or new product features that may solve one of their problems that you discovered during your qualification research or during a call.