Ask ten sales managers what a “10 step sales process” looks like and you’ll get ten slightly different answers. But strip away the wording differences and you’re basically always looking at the same arc: find the right buyer, learn about them, reach out, build some trust, figure out what they actually need, show them the fix, deal with their doubts, get the yes, check in afterward, and keep them around long enough that they send you more customers.
That’s what this guide walks through — all ten steps, with real examples along the way. We’ll also stack it up against the shorter 4, 5, 7, and 9 step versions floating around out there, sort out the actual difference between a “sales process” and a “sales cycle” (people mix these up constantly), work through a dealership-specific version for car sales teams, and hand you a template that’s ready to paste into a CRM or turn into a training deck.
What Is a 10 Step Sales Process?
A 10 step sales process is a documented sequence of activities a sales team follows to move an opportunity from first contact to a signed deal and beyond. It gives structure to something that otherwise depends entirely on individual talent. When every rep works the same way, a sales manager can see where deals stall, forecast revenue with some confidence, and coach against a standard instead of a hunch.
It helps to separate three terms people often mix up.
The sales process is the framework. It describes what the salesperson does at each stage.
The sales cycle is the journey a specific deal takes and how long it takes. Two deals can follow the same process and have wildly different cycle lengths.
The sales funnel is the volume view. It shows how many leads enter at the top and how many convert at the bottom.
Not every business needs ten steps. A coffee shop does not. But a B2B software company with a six-month buying process, several decision-makers, and a procurement review absolutely benefits from breaking the work into smaller, measurable pieces. The more complex the purchase, the more value there is in a defined process.
The 10 Steps of the Sales Process
Here is the full sequence, with what each step is actually trying to achieve.
1. Prospecting
Prospecting is just building a list of people and companies who could actually buy what you’re selling. That list comes from a bunch of places — inbound form fills, referrals from happy customers, LinkedIn and social selling, industry events, partner intros, cold outreach, or even names sitting dormant in your own CRM that nobody’s touched in months.
The mistake almost every team makes here is mixing up activity with quality. 500 names that don’t match your ideal customer? Worse than 40 that do — because that list burns hours chasing people who were never going to buy. Nail down your target market before you start building the list: company size, industry, region, budget range, and whatever trigger events tend to signal someone’s actually ready to buy.
2. Research the Prospect
Before you speak to anyone, learn something worth knowing. What does the company sell? Who are their customers? Have they just raised funding, opened a location, changed leadership, or announced a new product? What are they likely using today, and who would own the decision to change it?
Fifteen minutes of research changes the first conversation completely. Instead of “tell me about your business,” you can open with “I saw you opened a second warehouse in March, so I imagine inventory visibility has become a bigger topic.” That is the difference between a pitch and a conversation.
3. Make Initial Contact
Step 3 of the 10 step sales process is initial contact: the first real outreach, by email, phone, LinkedIn message, referral introduction, or a response to an inbound enquiry.
The goal of this step is narrow. You are not trying to sell anything yet. You are trying to earn a short conversation. That means your message should be about them, not about you.
A workable structure looks like this:
“Hi Sarah, I noticed your team is hiring three new field technicians this quarter. We work with service companies at exactly that stage, usually around scheduling and dispatch bottlenecks. Worth a 15-minute call next week to see if it’s relevant?”
Short, specific, and it asks for one small thing. Whatever channel you use, log the attempt and set a follow-up date. Most first messages get no reply, and the deals go to whoever follows up without being annoying about it.
4. Build Rapport and Establish Trust
Rapport is not small talk about the weather. It is the buyer deciding that you understand their world well enough to be worth listening to.
You build it by referencing similar customers, asking questions that show you have done the reading, admitting where your product is not a fit, and listening more than you talk. Buyers are guarded in early conversations for a reason. Most of them have been pitched badly, often. The rep who slows down and asks better questions stands out immediately. Understanding what actually drives human buying decisions is half of this step, and it is worth reading up on buyer psychology and decision factors if you want to get better at it deliberately rather than by accident.
5. Discover Needs and Qualify the Buyer
This is the most important step in any 10 step sales process, and the one most often rushed. Discovery has two jobs: understand the problem properly, and decide whether this is a real opportunity.
Cover these areas:
- The problem they are trying to solve, in their words
- What they use today and what is failing about it
- The business impact: cost, time, risk, lost revenue, staff frustration
- Budget range and where the money would come from
- Timeline and what is driving it
- Who else is involved in the decision
- What happens if they do nothing
That last question is underrated. If the honest answer is “nothing much,” you do not have a deal. You have a conversation.
Sample discovery questions
- What made you take this call?
- How are you handling this today?
- What specifically isn’t working about that?
- What has that cost you over the last year?
- Who else would need to sign off on a change like this?
- Is there a date this needs to be solved by, and why that date?
- If we do nothing, what does this look like in six months?
- What would a good outcome actually look like for you?
Write the answers down in the CRM in the buyer’s own language. You will use those exact words in the proposal later, and it lands far better than your marketing copy.
6. Present the Solution
A presentation is not a feature tour. It is a structured argument that connects three things: the problem they described, the way your solution addresses it, and the outcome they can expect.
Order your presentation around their priorities, not your product roadmap. If they raised downtime three times in discovery, downtime leads. Bring proof: a case study from a similar company, a short demo of the exact workflow they struggle with, reference customers, or a simple before-and-after comparison. Leave the exhaustive feature list in the appendix.
Confirm as you go. “Does that solve the issue you described with month-end reporting?” is a better slide transition than “next, let me show you our dashboard.”
7. Handle Objections
Objections are not rejection. They are usually the buyer thinking out loud about risk. The common ones are price, timing, an existing provider, internal approval, and the vague “let me think about it.”
A simple four-step response works for nearly all of them:
Listen without interrupting or defending. Clarify what is really behind it, because “too expensive” often means “I can’t justify this internally yet.” Respond with evidence rather than pressure. Confirm that the concern is resolved before moving on.
Discounting is the fastest way to answer a price objection and the most expensive. If the value was clear in step 6, price becomes a conversation about payment terms and scope, not about the number itself.
8. Close the Sale
Closing just means asking for a real commitment and actually getting an answer — yes or no. Sometimes that’s a signed agreement, sometimes it’s a purchase order or a deposit, sometimes it’s just agreeing on an implementation date or when onboarding starts.
Here’s the thing about a good close: it barely feels like a moment at all if everything before it was done right. When discovery actually dug into the real problem, the solution genuinely fit, and the objections got worked through instead of brushed aside, the close is just the next sentence in the conversation — something like, “Based on everything we’ve talked through, let’s start with the standard package on the 1st. Want me to send the agreement over today?”
One thing worth remembering: pressure might get you the signature, but it rarely gets you the renewal. A quick “no” is honestly worth more than a “maybe” that drags on and eats three months of your pipeline for nothing.
An Important Note on Where These Frameworks Come From
Different organisations teach different sequences, and no single version is an official standard. Sales training firms such as Asher Strategies publish their own 10-step models built around researching the prospect and developing an internal coach, while career resources like Indeed’s guide to the sales cycle describe the same journey in a slightly different order. Both are valid. Treat any ten-step list, including this one, as a starting structure to adapt rather than a rulebook to obey.
9. Follow Up After the Sale
Some sales-process frameworks end at the close, but for recurring or relationship-based businesses, the work continues after the contract is signed.
Post-sale follow-up covers order confirmation, delivery or onboarding, training, checking that the promised outcome is actually happening, and resolving early problems before they harden into resentment. A call two weeks after go-live costs you fifteen minutes and protects the entire contract value.
It also creates the only credible moment to ask for a referral, which is step 10.
10. Retain Customers and Generate Referrals
Retention is where profit lives. Acquiring a new customer costs several times more than keeping an existing one, and existing customers buy more over time if the relationship is maintained.
This step covers scheduled check-ins, renewal conversations started well before the renewal date, upsell and cross-sell where it genuinely helps, satisfaction reviews, and referral requests made at the right moment, which is right after a visible win rather than right after an invoice.
10 Step Sales Process at a Glance
| Step | Goal | Main action |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Prospecting | Find potential buyers | Build a qualified prospect list |
| 2. Research | Understand fit | Research the account and decision-makers |
| 3. Initial contact | Start a conversation | Reach out on a suitable channel |
| 4. Rapport | Build trust | Establish credibility and listen |
| 5. Discovery | Understand needs | Ask structured questions and qualify |
| 6. Presentation | Show value | Match solution to stated problem |
| 7. Objections | Resolve concerns | Listen, clarify, respond, confirm |
| 8. Closing | Secure commitment | Ask for the decision |
| 9. Follow-up | Confirm satisfaction | Support delivery and onboarding |
| 10. Retention | Build the relationship | Renew, expand, request referrals |
10 Step Sales Process With Examples
Here is a single deal running through all ten steps, so the sequence makes sense as one story rather than ten disconnected tips.
The scenario: a managed IT services provider selling to a 50-employee accounting firm.
- Prospecting. The rep filters a list of professional services firms with 25 to 100 staff in the region and spots the firm through a local business award announcement.
- Research. Their job board shows they are hiring, their website mentions two office locations, and a quick check suggests they use a small break-fix IT contractor.
- Initial contact. An email referencing the second office and the risk of inconsistent IT support between sites. It asks for 15 minutes.
- Rapport. On the call, the rep mentions two similar firms and is upfront that companies under 20 staff are usually better off elsewhere. The operations manager relaxes.
- Discovery. Real problem emerges: staff lose about half a day a month to outages, and their cyber insurance renewal now asks questions they cannot answer.
- Presentation. Not a product tour. A two-part proposal: monitored infrastructure to cut downtime, plus a security baseline that satisfies the insurer’s questionnaire.
- Objections. The monthly fee is higher than their current contractor. The rep reframes it against half a day of lost billable time per month across 50 staff, and the insurance risk.
- Close. A 12-month agreement with a 30-day onboarding period, signed after the managing partner joins a short second call.
- Follow-up. Check-in at week two and week six of onboarding, plus a written summary of the security controls now in place, ready for the insurer.
- Retention. Quarterly review meetings, a documented uptime improvement after six months, and a referral to the firm’s own client, a small law practice.
Same ten steps. One continuous narrative. That is what the process looks like when it works.
Sales Process vs Sales Cycle
| Sales process | Sales cycle |
|---|---|
| The framework the team follows | The journey and duration of one deal |
| Defines activities and ownership | Measures progression and time |
| Can be standardised across the team | Varies by buyer, deal size and industry |
| Runs from prospecting to retention | Usually measured from opportunity to close |
Sales cycle stages are typically described in four, five or seven steps depending on the source, and they focus on the deal’s forward motion rather than the rep’s activity. If you hear someone say “our sales cycle is 74 days,” they are talking about elapsed time, not methodology.
How the 10 Step Sales Process Compares With Other Models
There is no universally accepted standard here. These are frameworks used by different organisations and sales educators, and the right one depends on deal complexity.
| Model | Typical use |
|---|---|
| 3-step | Simple transactional or retail sales |
| 4-step | Basic awareness-to-close model |
| 5-step | Common simplified process for SMB selling |
| 7-step | More detailed B2B process, often the classic personal selling model |
| 9-step | Expanded qualification and closing stages |
| 10-step | Full end-to-end process including post-sale and retention |
The 10 step version is worth using when deals involve multiple stakeholders, a long evaluation, or a relationship that continues after the sale. If your average deal closes in a single conversation, a shorter model will serve you better and a ten-stage pipeline will just create admin.
10 Step Car Sales Process
Automotive retail has its own version, shaped by the showroom environment, the test drive, and the finance and trade-in conversation. A dealership can adapt the ten-step framework to the showroom journey, where lead response, vehicle selection, test drives, financing, trade-ins and delivery become central activities.
- Generate or receive the lead from a walk-in, phone enquiry, online form, or third-party listing
- Identify vehicle needs: body type, use case, family size, mileage, must-have features
- Make initial contact and set the tone for a consultative visit rather than a pitch
- Build rapport, usually while walking the lot, without jumping to price
- Qualify budget and preferences, including monthly payment expectations and trade-in intentions
- Present suitable vehicles, ideally two or three, not fifteen
- Demonstrate the vehicle, walkaround plus test drive on a route that shows off the relevant features
- Discuss trade-in, financing and objections, with transparent numbers
- Close the vehicle sale and complete paperwork
- Deliver the vehicle and follow up, including a call within the first week
| Step | Customer action | Salesperson action |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | Searches for a vehicle | Responds quickly to the enquiry |
| Needs | Explains preferences | Qualifies requirements |
| Contact | Starts a conversation | Builds rapport |
| Qualification | Discusses budget | Identifies realistic fit |
| Presentation | Reviews options | Shows two or three suitable models |
| Demonstration | Test drives | Explains features in context |
| Negotiation | Raises concerns | Handles objections honestly |
| Finance / trade-in | Reviews options | Presents available choices |
| Close | Agrees to purchase | Completes paperwork |
| Delivery | Takes the vehicle | Handover plus follow-up call |
Response speed matters more in automotive than in almost any other retail category. A lead answered within five minutes converts dramatically better than one answered the next morning
Is There a Kia 10 Step Sales Process?
People search for manufacturer-specific versions of this phrase, usually in connection with dealership training programmes. It is worth being careful here: individual dealer groups and markets run their own sales and customer-experience training, and the exact sequence varies by dealership, region and franchise agreement. Unless you are working from an official document provided by the manufacturer or your own dealer group, treat any published “brand X 10 step process” as someone’s interpretation rather than the official framework. If your dealership has its own documented road to the sale, that is the version that matters for your team.
10 Step Sales Process Template for CRM or Training
The sequence becomes genuinely useful when each step has an owner, a CRM action, and a signal that tells you the step is complete.
| Step | Owner | CRM action | Success signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospecting | SDR | Create lead record | Matches ideal customer profile |
| Research | SDR | Add account notes | Fit confirmed |
| Contact | SDR | Log activity, set follow-up | Reply received |
| Rapport | AE | Log call notes | Meeting accepted |
| Discovery | AE | Create opportunity | Need and budget confirmed |
| Presentation | AE | Update stage | Proposal requested |
| Objections | AE | Log objection type | Concern resolved |
| Close | AE | Contract task | Agreement signed |
| Follow-up | Account manager | Onboarding task | Successful go-live |
| Retention | Account manager | Schedule review | Renewal or referral |
This same table converts cleanly into a PowerPoint for sales training, a one-page PDF checklist for new reps, or a pipeline configuration in your CRM. The framework is the asset; the file format is just packaging. If you are building the process from scratch on a limited budget, there are plenty of low-cost tools worth starting with for outbound sales before you commit to enterprise software.
How to Measure Sales Process Performance
Track conversion between stages rather than just the final number. The stage where deals leak is the stage worth fixing.
- Lead volume and qualified lead rate
- Contact rate and meeting-booked rate
- Discovery-to-proposal conversion
- Proposal-to-close conversion
- Overall win rate
- Average sales cycle length
- Average deal value
- Customer acquisition cost
- Customer lifetime value
- Retention rate and referral rate
If your win rate is healthy but pipeline is thin, the problem is prospecting. If pipeline is full but win rate is poor, the problem is almost always qualification in step 5.
Common Sales Process Mistakes
- Treating every prospect the same regardless of fit
- Skipping research and opening with a generic pitch
- Presenting before discovery is finished
- Weak qualification, which fills the pipeline with deals that never close
- Talking more than listening
- Treating objections as attacks
- Discounting at the first sign of price resistance
- Ending calls without an agreed next step and date
- Following up once and giving up
- Treating the signature as the finish line
That last one is the most expensive. A 10 step sales process exists precisely because the sale is the middle of the relationship, not the end of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 10 steps of the sales process?
Prospecting, research, initial contact, rapport building, needs discovery and qualification, solution presentation, objection handling, closing, post-purchase follow-up, and customer retention and referrals.
What is step 3 of the 10 step sales process?
Step 3 is initial contact, when the salesperson reaches out through a suitable channel with a relevant, personalised message aimed at starting a conversation or securing a short meeting.
What is the difference between a sales process and a sales cycle?
The sales process is the framework of activities a team follows. The sales cycle is the journey and duration of an individual deal, usually measured from opportunity creation to close.
What are the 7 stages of the sales cycle?
Commonly listed as prospecting, contact, qualification, presentation, objection handling, closing, and follow-up. It is a condensed version of the same journey, with post-sale retention folded into follow-up.
What are the 10 steps in car sales?
Lead generation, needs identification, initial contact, rapport, budget qualification, vehicle presentation, test drive demonstration, trade-in and finance discussion, closing, and delivery with follow-up.
Can the 10 step process be used for B2B sales?
Yes, and it suits B2B better than most models, because complex deals involve multiple stakeholders and a long post-sale relationship that shorter frameworks ignore.
Conclusion
The 10 step sales process works because it forces discipline at the points where deals usually fall apart: qualification, the transition from discovery to presentation, and the weeks after the contract is signed. Adopt it as a structure, not a script. Adapt the stage names to how your buyers actually buy, define what “complete” means for each step, and measure the conversion between them.
Then keep the relationship going. The teams that treat step 10 as seriously as step 8 are the ones whose revenue compounds rather than resets every quarter, and it starts with understanding why customer loyalty matters more than sales.
