The Repeatable Sales Process is Dead

A lot of job titles have changed and evolved over the past ten years. One that hasn’t changed is Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), which always seems to center around creating a repeatable sales process.

And yet, during his Hot Takes Live session, Jason Reichl, CRO of Trustlayer.io, says that the repeatable sales process is actually dead. 

Creating a repeatable sales process, at the very least, certainly isn’t as reliable as it used to be, and that’s partially due to three major changes that have happened over the past decade:

1. It’s no longer just about convincing potential buyers to shift from the status quo; as many as 60% of people don’t buy because of indecision.
2. The rise of RevOps has seen teams increase more than 36% of revenue off each client, becoming imperative as the new business has dropped an average of 15%.
3. Your teams can’t “delight” with a standard process; 86% of sales end in the customer feeling like they didn’t get what they paid for.

The sales experience and user behavior have changed. That means your sales process needs to adapt.

You need to start by creating certainty for your customers. Make recommendations and act like a trusted advisor, listening for key signals regarding their needs, intents, and motivations.

Keep in mind that new business alone isn’t going to make you hit your sales goals. You need to be expanding your product and team offerings if you want to boost your revenue and create sustainable growth.

And above all else—customers are not impressed with your handoff processes. This isn’t the move anymore because it doesn’t facilitate relationship-building. 

So what do you need to do? 

While there’s no such thing as a truly repeatable sales process, this is your best move:

• Start by reducing indecision; The Jolt Effect has great advice here. 
• Hire a quota person in customer success that will act as an account manager to facilitate relationship growth.
• Cross-train and understand that data and sales silos are coming to an end; your entire team needs to be ready.

Matthew Dixon and Ted McKenna say it best: “In sales, the worst thing you can hear from a customer isn’t ‘no.’ It’s ‘I need to think about it.’” 

Having a strong sales team that can help reduce that indecision and drive immediate actions is the best option available to you, and it’s the closest thing you’ll get to a repeatable sales process in 2022 and beyond. 

Want more? Join 48 of the top SaaS leaders on February 16th, 2023, as they dish out hot takes and surprising insights on product-led growth, RevOps, marketing, and sales. Save your seat now!