What is the "Sales Journey" as described in the source?

The Sales Journey outlines a structured process for engaging with potential customers, from the initial contact to closing the deal and providing post-sale reassurance. It breaks down the interaction into distinct phases with recommended durations and activities for each stage. This includes making contact, stating the reason for the call, building rapport, introducing the service, discovering needs, addressing challenges, summarizing services, confirming solutions, presenting pricing, closing, and following up.

The Sales Journey specifically integrates elements of the SPIN selling method, which stands for Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-Payoff questions. The process includes distinct phases dedicated to asking these types of questions: "Build Rapport" (Situation Questions), "Discovery of needs..." (Problem Questions), "Ask what challenges they face now..." (Implication Questions), and "Get confirmation of solutions..." (Needs Questions). This indicates the framework utilizes SPIN to understand the customer's context, identify their issues, explore the consequences of those issues, and confirm the value of the proposed solution.

The initial contact phase should be brief, focusing on confirming the correct person. If the intended contact is unavailable, the recommended approach is to ask for a convenient callback time and log it in a diary or CRM. When a gatekeeper is encountered, the guidance is to explain that research indicates the contact can save time and money, and a 10-minute explanation is desired. The reason for the call, stated early on, should convey that research suggests the potential customer can save time, money, and stress by using the business solutions.

Building rapport, specifically using Situation Questions from the SPIN method, is recommended only when dealing with a warm lead (e.g., via Connect), not during a cold call. This phase is allocated 3-5 minutes. The strategy is to find common ground by asking about topics where the salesperson can relate, such as hobbies or experiences (like holidays or diving), and then engaging in conversation about those shared interests.

The discovery phase involves asking Problem and Implication Questions to uncover the potential customer's needs, desires, wants, and pain points, as well as the challenges they face and their impact on the business. Example questions provided include asking what functions they would like to add to improve operations, cut costs, and manage documents, and exploring what hinders their business and what they would like to improve. This phase is allocated around 10 minutes for discovering needs and 5 minutes for understanding implications.

Pricing is presented later in the Sales Journey, after the customer's needs and challenges have been explored and potential solutions identified. While a short service summary is provided earlier without giving prices, the price is explicitly mentioned during the "Explanation as to how we satisfy those, (benefits not so many features)" and "Present price and delivery" phases. The approach is to explain the benefits of the chosen service level and potentially levels below it before quoting the setup and monthly fees.

The source suggests several closing techniques to encourage the customer to commit. These include a direct close ("What would you like to do next?"), a time close (offering a free month for ordering the same day), a scarcity close ("I’ve only got 3 left at this price"), a fear close ("What will you do to fix things if not us?"), and a FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) close (highlighting that other similar organizations have found the service useful). The recommended approach is to ask "What would you like to do next?" and then, if the customer agrees, guide them to the appropriate online shop.

Following a successful sale, the process includes several steps. There is a "Reassure of good choice and correct solution with benefits" phase where the customer is thanked, their choice is validated, and they are reminded of the features and benefits they receive. The customer is informed about the onboarding process and the availability of a personal VA. The process also includes "Parting Pleasantries" and, importantly, "Complete paperwork and CRM entry" to ensure the sale is properly recorded and attributed.