What does a map of a B2B sales cycle look like?
Aligning your B2B sales cycle and marketing efforts is key to maximizing the growth of your business. To do so, you must document every step and dependency of your sales cycle. With a clear picture of every action your sales team takes to close a deal, you can optimize your sales cycles and effectively use marketing to enhance your results.
The goal is to capture all the information and then format it in a structure that is easy for everyone in your organization to reference and put into action. If it only lives in a spreadsheet or on a white board, it will be forgotten. To create a tool that your teams will use again and again, make it visual and easy to scan.
Below, we’ll list several possible formats for B2B sales process maps, so experiment to find the structure that works best for your workflow and team.
B2B sales process checklist
If you’re not sure where to start, make a list. A checklist is an easy way to organize and keep track of the steps your sales team takes. List each of your sales stages chronologically from top to bottom, with the actions listed underneath each stage. Like any good checklist, once your sales reps check off each completed step in a given stage, you can move on to the next one. This simple format works best for less complicated sales processes.
B2B sales process flowchart
A traditional flowchart is a good way to visualize a process that has several steps or options that are dependent on one another. So, if each stage contains different paths that a sales team can take based on how a prospect responds, you can chart each of those actions and all the necessary sub-steps to achieve it. You can even plot out all the possible actions for each stage in separate flowcharts if necessary.
B2B sales process map
You may also find it helpful to think of your sales process as a timeline which prospects move along. Arrange your stages into vertical columns to visualize your sales process. Label the top of a column for each stage and then list all the individual actions your sales team needs to complete within that stage below. You can also include arrows linking sections of each column to highlight the moments in the buyer’s journey when the prospect advances in your sales cycle.
There is no one-size-fits-all format for a B2B sales cycle map, so use whichever of these formats best fits your organization — or create a hybrid. When you begin, don’t worry about making it look perfect. The most important thing is to capture all the information. Once you have all your stages and steps documented and optimized, you can refine how it is presented.
