The Analysis Phase of the Sales Process

In my experience, the post-discovery call phase is arguably the most critical stage in the sales process. At this point, you are likely competing with numerous other companies for the prospect's business, and any misstep can easily result in the prospect viewing you as a fallback option.

While research on the analysis phase is limited, HubSpot reports that data-driven prospecting is a proven strategy for achieving sales quotas. In fact, companies that prioritize data-driven prospecting are 2.2 times more likely to reach their sales targets than those that don't. Therefore, it's important to gather as much data as possible to understand their needs and increase your chances of success.

After your discovery call with a prospect, analyzing your notes can provide valuable insights to tailor your sales pitch effectively. By reviewing the content, you can identify the prospect's key pain points and use them to craft an email that clearly communicates what you heard during the call. The goal is to outline how your product or service can address their challenges and highlight its benefits in a way that resonates with the buying committee. As a salesperson, your primary objective is to help the prospect solve their business challenges while delivering the highest possible ROI. Therefore, it's important to leverage the information gathered during the probing call to create a personalized and compelling message that addresses their specific needs and goals.

 Here's an approach to assist in this task:

Review : Take a close look at the notes from the sales probing call and identify the key themes that emerged. Look for patterns, concerns, and areas where the prospect expressed particular interest or enthusiasm.

Categorize : Group the information into categories such as needs, pain points, objections, decision-making process, and key stakeholders. This will help you identify the most important information and organize it for further analysis.

Prioritize : Determine which information is most important and relevant to the your email. Focus on the information that will be most persuasive to the prospect and address any concerns or objections they may have.

Analyze : Once you've prioritized the information, analyze it to gain insights into the prospect's needs, pain points, and motivations. Use this information to tailor the sales pitch and highlight the benefits of your product or service that are most relevant to the prospect.

Identify : Based on the analysis of the notes, identify the next steps in the sales process. Determine what additional information or follow-up is needed to close the sale and develop a plan to address any remaining concerns or objections.

It's important to keep in mind that the success of your efforts in this phase hinges on receiving a positive response to your email. Research shows that around 70% of unimpressive emails (i.e., those that don't elicit a reply) typically lead to no sale. Therefore, it's crucial to craft a compelling message that resonates with the buying committee and addresses their specific pain points to increase the chances of a positive response and ultimately close the sale.

What else needs to be done ?

In addition to analyzing your notes it's also important to analyze the prospective company you are selling to as a whole. By gathering as much information as possible, you can understand the organizational needs, pain points, concerns, and decision-making process. This may also lead you to better position your solution as a potential longer term solution for the entire enterprise.

Start by using your buyer persona for the ideal prospect based on demographics, psychographics, and behavior, this can help better understand their needs, pain points, and motivations. Analyzing the prospect's social media profiles can also provide valuable insights into their interests, priorities, and values. By tailoring the approach and messaging to better resonate with them, you can increase the chances of closing the sale. It is also important to determine the prospect's buying process and what factors influence their decision-making. This will help anticipate objections and identify potential roadblocks.

In summary, analyzing a prospect is a crucial step in the sales process. By gathering as much information as possible and tailoring the approach and messaging to better resonate with the prospect you will increase your chances of success.