What is Sales Opportunity and Its Stages?
Sales opportunities are always around the corner. Sometimes these appear as unplanned sales meetings, unsatisfied potential customers, happy customers, or unexpected calls.
As told, these are unplanned and unexpected, so these are more likely to get ignored by the reps. That can happen as one might be in the middle of some task, meeting, or else.
A good sales rep is always in search of sales opportunities. No matter the condition, the only rule they must follow is Look and Seize.
To help you with this, in this article, we will talk about these opportunities. How these are different from leads, and what are the stages of it. We hope this article will help you in identifying and seizing these opportunities before your competitors.
What is a Sales Opportunity?
As we all know, dessert always comes at the end. So let’s go through the meal here. So ask yourself if you know what exactly sales opportunities are.
Sales opportunities are not always something that appears out of thin air to you. It can come from any direction. It can be coming from an existing customer or a qualified lead.
A qualified lead is someone with some information about your company and product and is interested in buying.
It may also be possible that a customer has chosen services or products that you did not present.
Above mentioned scenarios are more likely to be some opportunities for a sales representative.
What Separates Them From Leads?
Separating them from leads is all about having an observation. As a sales rep, I think you are aware of the Sales Funnel.
So what makes these two different from each other is their entry point in the sales funnel.
A lead is someone that is the result of your marketing effort. It can be coming from outdoor marketing banners. It can be the result of digital marketing efforts too. It might be a lead from an old, old meeting, which happened a long time ago.
A lead can possess knowledge of a company’s name and the types of products and services it offers. This knowledge can be a little blurry. It may be contacting you just because of some incomplete information it has.
A lead can convert into a customer, or it can just drop off immediately.
Now let’s talk about Sales Opportunities. The leads in sales opportunities are the ones that have gone through the funnel process which means these are qualified leads. Sales developers have worked on them regarding their interest and eligibility.
Now, it is time to have the taste of dessert.
The Stages:
In total, there are five stages. These are:
- Research
- Qualification
- Strategy
- Execution
- Review
Research:
This stage is all about knowing your leads. In the sales language, funnel your leads. This stage is where you need to learn as much as possible about the leads. Do not misunderstand this step as a lead qualification process. You are not doing that here. The purpose of this stage is to observe and collect the information only.
Lead Qualification:
Now, this is the stage where you will use all that research to qualify a lead. There can be various methods to do so. You can compare them with previous similar leads. Or you can try and compare them with your sales criteria.
If any lead fails to fulfill your requirements, put it aside and wait for another opportunity it creates.
Leads that qualify the criteria, list them as ‘Sales Qualified Leads,’ and your team can focus on them.
Strategizing:
It is time to think about closing the deal. How are you going to do that? What will be your method of approach? You will answer these questions at this stage.
You can use the pain point of the lead or go with the strong point of your service or product. It is all up to you. Formulate strategies around these points to create a strong approach.
Execution:
With everything ready to go, it is time to execute the strategy. But only executing is now enough. Make sure you are documenting the progress at every stage of execution. The documentation process will help you go down the decided path. If anything goes wrong, with proper documentation, you will know before it gets any worse.
Review:
No matter how good your strategy is, anything can go wrong at any time. The sales process is the game of numbers. An experienced salesperson knows if you polish these numbers more, the chances of success also increase significantly. Always review your executed, running, and potential plans. Going through them over and over will help you identify the places of improvement.
Sales opportunities are always around the corner. Sometimes these appear as unplanned sales meetings, unsatisfied potential customers, happy customers, or unexpected calls.
As told, these are unplanned and unexpected, so these are more likely to get ignored by the reps. That can happen as one might be in the middle of some task, meeting, or else.
A good sales rep is always in search of sales opportunities. No matter the condition, the only rule they must follow is Look and Seize.
To help you with this, in this article, we will talk about these opportunities. How these are different from leads, and what are the stages of it. We hope this article will help you in identifying and seizing these opportunities before your competitors.
What is a Sales Opportunity?
As we all know, dessert always comes at the end. So let’s go through the meal here. So ask yourself if you know what exactly sales opportunities are.
Sales opportunities are not always something that appears out of thin air to you. It can come from any direction. It can be coming from an existing customer or a qualified lead.
A qualified lead is someone with some information about your company and product and is interested in buying.
It may also be possible that a customer has chosen services or products that you did not present.
Above mentioned scenarios are more likely to be some opportunities for a sales representative.
What Separates Them From Leads?
Separating them from leads is all about having an observation. As a sales rep, I think you are aware of the Sales Funnel.
So what makes these two different from each other is their entry point in the sales funnel.
A lead is someone that is the result of your marketing effort. It can be coming from outdoor marketing banners. It can be the result of digital marketing efforts too. It might be a lead from an old, old meeting, which happened a long time ago.
A lead can possess knowledge of a company’s name and the types of products and services it offers. This knowledge can be a little blurry. It may be contacting you just because of some incomplete information it has.
A lead can convert into a customer, or it can just drop off immediately.
Now let’s talk about Sales Opportunities. The leads in sales opportunities are the ones that have gone through the funnel process which means these are qualified leads. Sales developers have worked on them regarding their interest and eligibility.
Now, it is time to have the taste of dessert.
The Stages:
In total, there are five stages. These are:
- Research
- Qualification
- Strategy
- Execution
- Review
Research:
This stage is all about knowing your leads. In the sales language, funnel your leads. This stage is where you need to learn as much as possible about the leads. Do not misunderstand this step as a lead qualification process. You are not doing that here. The purpose of this stage is to observe and collect the information only.
Lead Qualification:
Now, this is the stage where you will use all that research to qualify a lead. There can be various methods to do so. You can compare them with previous similar leads. Or you can try and compare them with your sales criteria.
If any lead fails to fulfill your requirements, put it aside and wait for another opportunity it creates.
Leads that qualify the criteria, list them as ‘Sales Qualified Leads,’ and your team can focus on them.
Strategizing:
It is time to think about closing the deal. How are you going to do that? What will be your method of approach? You will answer these questions at this stage.
You can use the pain point of the lead or go with the strong point of your service or product. It is all up to you. Formulate strategies around these points to create a strong approach.
Execution:
With everything ready to go, it is time to execute the strategy. But only executing is now enough. Make sure you are documenting the progress at every stage of execution. The documentation process will help you go down the decided path. If anything goes wrong, with proper documentation, you will know before it gets any worse.
Review:
No matter how good your strategy is, anything can go wrong at any time. The sales process is the game of numbers. An experienced salesperson knows if you polish these numbers more, the chances of success also increase significantly. Always review your executed, running, and potential plans. Going through them over and over will help you identify the places of improvement.
