PAPER PROCESS: Inspection Questions for Sales Leaders
Status Grey – No visibility into the Paper Process.
Guiding Light Principle: Visibility
You may have some idea about next steps or individuals, but until you are able to list out, in detail, the paper process, you are still at grey.
- Tell me what information you’ve gathered so far about the Paper Process.
- Can you explain the process the prospect went through with a similar project?
- Is the process documented in SFDC? Let’s look at it.
- Will they require specific legal terms or documents?
Status Yellow – Visibility of the paper process but not in our control/ influence.
Guiding Light Principal: Alignment
The elements of the paper process need to be documented & mutually agreed upon with your prospect. Evidence exists that the customer is also committing time & resources to this process. Ex: Are they willing to begin the review of the License Agreement / Legally binding documents or set you up as an approved vendor with procurement?
There should also be a timeline showing the dates for key activities. You must negotiate this timeline so that the approval ( paperwork) process does not follow validation but rather these 2 processes should be done in parallel.
Tell me what feedback you got from your potential Champion to validate that they accepted our metric proof points?
- Can you show me the timeline for once it is established that the prospect will be going with Planet, how long it will take for the paper process to go through?
- Who needs to be involved, and when, and how do we get them and keep them involved?
- Are there any objections or red lines that have been identified?
Status Green – Dominance, visibility and control, influence of the process.
Guiding Light Principle: Confirmation
You’ve taken the time to outline what the process looks like and who is involved from the prospects side for each stage, now is the time to confirm the process again, make sure the process can and will be smooth, and begin going through the process.
- Who from the prospect’s side has approved or confirmed this process?
- How long will the process take?
- If objections or red flags were identified, what is the plan to overcome them?