每个B2B管道的9个基本阶段

Welcome to the 2021 sales process where every single customer or sales initiated action is examined, scrutinized and obsessed over by sales people, sales managers, sales operation people and senior management. Like everything else in the world today, sales stages are much more granular,客观的并且应该比以往任何时候都更准确。

您的CRM是销售团队生活的氧气（Hubspot拥有良好的现代CRM它是免费的），但是您的CRM最重要的方面之一是您的审查。deal pipeline。The purpose of the pipeline is to correctly project your monthly or quarterly results based on how deals move through a standard process.

As recently as 2015, a sales pipeline was a rudimentary look at your ability to meet or exceed your quota on an aggregate basis. It was typically a pain to manage, lacked essential detailed information and was essentially a time tax on a salesperson that added little value to their production.

Most legacy B2B pipelines had the following stages:

• Lead generated — (also known as lead assigned) defined a lead that met basic criteria of a contact who had interest into the product or service.
• 会议预定的会议 - 通常转介到预定的介绍会议，销售人员将使潜在客户有资格并确定他们是否值得追求。入门会议的理想结果是产品演示。
• Demo completed — an opportunity for the salesperson to show the capabilities of the product.
• 报价请求 - 通常表明潜在客户要求定价信息可能进行购买。
• 提出的提案 - 提案或价格报价已配置，生产和发送给前景。
• Negotiation — the process of coming to an agreement on the price for the offer.
• Closed-lost or closed-won — indicated the outcome of the deal.

快进到2020年，良好的B2B销售管道不仅仅是一个简单的流程图和跟踪交易状态的交易大纲。现代的B2B销售管道是用于建模和改进的数据宝库，提供对性能至关重要的见解。

B2B Sales Pipeline

The sales pipeline can help senior management teams understand the health of the overall business, identify potential issues on a segment by segment basis and can serve as an early warning system for potential weakness in a region or product. For the modern sales manager or director, a good B2B sales pipeline can provide insightful data to improve team performance, support effective coaching, identify weak points in individual rep behavior and ensure best practices throughout the entire segment.

对于现代销售人员而言，B2B销售管道是您成就的记分卡，可以识别关键的转化率信息，确定特定的技能改进机会，并基于行业标准，并在课堂上进行基准基准。

A modern B2B pipeline should be updated automatically with technology that sets the appropriate stage via defined criteria (销售量Hubis a great tool for this). Let’s review the standard stages of a modern B2B sales pipeline.

1. Identify lead and lead type.

So you have a steady stream of contacts on your radar — but how do you know if they’re ready for the sale? Here are the different types of contacts you are most likely to encounter during the sales process.

• 怀疑— a company in your database that fits your ideal customer profile and has the potential to buy your product or service.
• Prospect— a contact at a suspect company who has a need and may be searching for a solution sometime in the next 12-24 months.
• Lead- 已经采取行动或对营销或销售活动做出措施的潜在客户表现出对产品的一定兴趣。有多种类型的潜在客户：
• INBOUND leads— leads that convert on your website.
• MQL or SQL leads— Marketing Qualified Leads or Sales Qualified Leads; typically have certain characteristics that would define additional sales follow up.
• Warm call or prospective leads- 很合适，但没有在您的网站或其他入站渠道上采取行动。
• Target account leads- 在特定目标帐户中引导。
• 朋友和家人的领导— leads you encounter from within your network.
• Event leads- 领导您在贸易展览会或行业活动中见面。
• Referral leads- 来自现有客户的引导。
• Closed-lost or ghosted leads— previous customers or opportunities that have gone cold.

不同类型的潜在客户通常具有不同的特征，并且根据其定义特征以不同的速度关闭。成功识别与您合作的铅是关键的第一步。

2.连接呼叫。

一旦确定铅和铅类型，就该设置连接调用了（您可以使用HubSpot的免费会议计划程序to do this). This typically entails a 10-15 minute introductory call where the salesperson asks some basic questions to get a better understanding of what problem the client is looking to solve. The goal of this call is to gather pertinent information that will help you navigate the remainder of the sales process. Your goal here is not to jump straight to solution-mode. Instead, you want to come from a place of curiosity to understand your lead’s situation and to begin building trust.

3.发现电话。

Next time you talk to your prospect, hop on a discovery call. A discovery call is a 25 to 50-minute question and answer period where the salesperson where you can dive deeper with your prospect.

在此通话中，您应该旨在讨论潜在客户的目标，挑战，权威层面，市场格局和紧迫感。这些信息将帮助您确切了解他们在业务中面临的面临，并确定是否有机会共同努力。

4. Opportunity stage.

This is usually the first time a dollar value can be ascribed to a deal stage based on the information discussed in the discovery call. Where the previous stages are important for tracking, the opportunity stage is where you begin forming the deal.

Through the opportunity stage, you should learn the following information: who the prospect is currently buying from (if they have a vendor), three solid reasons they would buy from you, three reasons they may choose not to buy from you, and who the economic decision maker is for this sale.

有了这些数据，您可以确定获得封闭式交易的可能性。

5.进行演示。

前景最希望看到行动b的产品efore purchasing, so scheduling a demo may improve the odds of closing a deal and is an appropriate deal stage. After conducting your demo, you can have a variety of outcomes including:

• Demo complete — refers to a situation where the demo was given and the prospect decides not to continue the sales process.
• Second demo — the prospect has expressed interest after seeing the product and would like to review more features. In many enterprise opportunities, multiple product demonstrations are required.

6. Influencer buy-in.

During this stage, the prospect recognizes the value and expects their company to purchase the product in the future, but may not be the economic decision maker who signs off on the purchase.

In this case, buy-in from the decision maker is needed to proceed. Ask your contact who they are, what their stake is, where they have pain points, and prepare to proactively address those matters.

7.决策者买入。

在获得影响者，经济决策者和执行赞助商的同意之后，该交易可以转移到谈判阶段，以最终确定价格和必要的协议。

8. Negotiation.

While a deal is under negotiation, the prospective company’s legal team typically steps in to assist with contractual obligations. This is when the final price and terms are agreed upon and signed off from all parties involved.

在谈判过程中不要让您的接触黑暗。定期检查以找出哪个方向朝哪个方向前进，因此任何转向“否”的转向都不会朝那个负面方向走得太远，而没有机会使它转过身来。

9. Closed-lost or closed-won.

If the deal is set to go through, the prospect can then fulfill payment indicating a closed-won deal. They can then begin the onboarding process to begin using the product. With business won you need to deliver on your promises — excellent products, great customer service, and ongoing support. Whatever was in your proposal, do that and more, and your one new customer will multiply as they refer business your way.

在失散的交易中，潜在客户可以拒绝最终报价，并选择竞争对手或决定不购买产品。但是，如果一项交易已完成，请不要永远写失去的机会。

情况和需求发生变化，因此请考虑如何在不妨碍前进的情况下保持领先地位。征求有关您为什么不关闭业务的反馈，然后使用它来指导您的后续行动。也许在几个月内，您会添加一个新产品或功能，以满足其购买标准之一。你也应该use your CRMto stay in contact with relevant, periodic, useful content via social media or email to maintain the relationship.

Both sales reps and prospects benefit from a well-defined process. And when we skip the jargon, keep it fun, and think of our B2B customers as people with emotional drivers and needs, that process becomes all the more successful.