How Can We Most Effectively Navigate Sales Cycles?

How can we best understand, assess and manage #sales cycles – specifically amongst ambiguity and uncertainty – for the benefit of customers and our company alike?

Microsoft leader Carlos Sousa joins Carson V. Heady to discuss.

Sales cycles – whether brief, months, or years – impact every facet of #selling and business: forecasts, quota, compensation, results and most importantly, #relationships.

While it is incumbent upon sales professionals to provide accurate assessments of deal status and milestones – for #leadership, for CRM, for colleagues and account teams – the customer can be extremely helpful in qualifying what stage they are in.

Trust checkers throughout sales process go a long way to keep all parties aligned.

Is your customer in an education stage or execution stage? Are you selling, or building? Ask them.

They can provide meaningful insight on where they are in this process: what is being evaluated, who are they considering and why, and do we have the right stakeholders (the power), influence and understanding of timeline and budget?

No matter what happens, with the desired outcome in mind, mutually chart out the necessary milestones to get there and hold each other accountable every step of the way. This is the foundation to a true #partnership.