The men and women who make up the sales force are given clear instructions on what they have to do. If they carry out what they have been taught, both they and the company make a lot of money. The systems are reliable. They have been developed and refined, usually over many years.

Each phase of the operation is defined and measured. Then daily / weekly / monthly, the numbers are examined and any anomalies dealt with. The profitability reaches right up the company's management hierarchy, with each level being paid a certain percentage of the sales volume according to their degree of responsibility.

This disciplined organization contrasts strongly with the way many small businessmen handle the sales part of the job. Here, the usual method of task prioritisation might be described as 'tyranny of the urgent', sometimes called fire fighting. In this model, there is little structure, sales are not predictable, the volume of orders varies for no obvious reason.

In your business, do you know what causes sales inquiries to come in? Is there a repeatable process to achieve this?

The main parts of a structured sales process:

First there is the stage which brings the companies' products to the attention of its market. A sales-led business knows exactly what it has to do to generate inquiries and then turn them into orders.

Typically in the sort of company I was referring to above, the company spends little of its own money on this. Instead it shows the sales people how they can generate prospects and customers themselves.

Since the company is saving on lead generation and marketing costs, it is in a position to pay large commissions. This has a powerful effect, because it induces very high motivation in many of the sales people which is a main reason why such companies achieve strong sales results.

The methods used to generate prospects are, cold calling, leaflet dropping, direct mail, small ads in newspapers and referrals, from existing customers. These methods are effective and cost little or nothing.

Another important part of the sales process is the presentation. This is taught by an experienced manager and practiced by the salespeople until they perform it with skill. So is the pitch, the words, which are used in the presentation. They are carefully learned along with closing techniques and ways to deal with any objections the customer has.

Strong sales management also plays a role. Usually the people in this position have a very strong sales record and a no-nonsense attitude. They are under a lot of pressure to maintain high sales figures, because their pay is structured with big incentives for good performance and penalties if the numbers drop.

Overall what you can say about using a sales process is that it is a professional, almost industrialized, way of making money. Many of the vagaries of business have been eliminated by using a systematic approach. With a clearly identified sales process you have more control. The measurements of sales activity quickly show which cause leads to what effect and you can intervene to make appropriate adjustments. It is far more likely to work than the boss simply urging the sales staff to 'Try harder' in an unstructured sales situation.

The characteristics of sales-led businesses: