Do you and your sales team know exactly what to do with a contact to make sure they do not "fall through the cracks?" This third article is one in a 12-part series that explains 12 smart things you can do to build a solid sales and marketing program. Once you have read all 12 articles you will have some insights into many of the tools recommended for any company striving for continued growth.

Just to refresh your memory (or if this is your first time reading this series) here is the list:

1. Get a plan

2. Hire an expert

3. Define your process

4. Organize your data

5. Define & expand your market

6. Be different

7. Communicate to your market

8. Review your web site

9. Ask for testimonials

10. Network the right way

11. Pick up the phone and call someone

12. Write something

This week focuses on #3 - Define your sales process. The best way to do this is to create a written document that describes each step of your sales process in detail. Whenever you hire new staff or if you begin to notice a dip in sales, it's easy to review your sales process to make sure everyone is living up to their responsibilities.

Before writing anything, ask yourself these questions. They are the foundation for creating your defined sales process:

* Who are we talking to?
* What are we saying to d when?
* How are we keeping track of our activity?
* What do we want to accomplish for each step along the way?

Your defined sales process should include the following:

1. Define each sales stage that a prospective customer might go through before purchasing your product or service. The most common names for these sales stages include suspects, prospects, clients, non-prospects, etc. These designations are an important way for you to understand what actions to take with any given contact in your system. They will also make it easier for you to gather better metrics for your sales cycle. In most cases, a suspect is a lead or contact name that has not been qualified in any way. You just suspect that they might be in your target market. Perhaps you purchased data. Depending upon the source of the data, a small percentage of the contacts will be incorrect for some reason (wrong name, incorrectly identified industry, etc.).

A prospect is someone who has communicated in some way with your company and you know they meet certain criteria (service area, company size, age range, etc.) to possibly become your client.

Clients are people or companies who have actually paid you. And non-prospects are contacts who should not be contacted by anyone in your company because they are not going to become clients for various reasons (wrong industry, direct competition, prior client relationship that ended negatively, etc.)

2. Create procedures for communicating with contacts in each sales stage. For example, if a contact is a qualified prospect, what are the specific marketing materials or email communications that are sent to her? What specific steps will you take to help that person to say either 'yes,' 'no,' or 'not right now,' to your offer? Those are ALL valid answers and important to know so that you know if and when to talk with this contact again in one week or 8 months from now.

3. Define responsibilities. Make sure everyone on your team understands the entire process and what activities they are responsible for handling. If a suspect submits a request to be contacted from your company website, who is responsible for following up with that person? Do you have a policy for contacting a lead within 4 business hours or 24 hours? Do you adhere to it? Is it posted on your website? How soon must the information about that contact be entered into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and who does it? Some companies assign all entries (including notes from conversations and letters sent) to a CRM administrator while others require each account manager or sales person to be responsible for maintaining accurate data input .

4. Define the objectives. When making an introductory call to a contact, what specific information must you share with them? What information do you need to know so that you can designate them as a prospect (or non-prospect)? Is your objective for the call to make an appointment, a follow up call or schedule a meeting at their office? Know what the objectives are for each phone call, meeting, or written communication.

Obviously, these are just the basics for creating your defined sales process, but they should help you get started on writing your sales process. When you combine this exercise with the others in this 12-part article series (Increase Sales with these 12 Sales & Marketing Strategies), you will be on your way to creating a successful program for you and your sales team to use.

Suzanne Foley is the Vice President of The Surfside Group ), an Internet Marketing Agency based in Atlanta, GA. Since 1997, The Surfside Group has helped our Clients grow their businesses by creating successful programs using proven fundamentals ("Sales/Marketing 101") and intelligent, results-oriented Internet marketing strategies. We look forward to answering any questions you have about how to boost your sales & marketing results. Please contact us at for more information.