Methodology Overview:
The Enterprise Integrated Sales Process (EISS) is a framework for sales that is designed for larger ACV (annual contract value) opportunities but can be applied to lower ACV opportunities. The EISS consists of five stages that follow a reverse-engineered approach from the end to the beginning. The stages are Acceptance, Justification, Determination, Recognition, and Awareness. Each stage has specific goals, requirements, and stakeholders, and sales reps must navigate each stage successfully to close deals.
Stage 1: Awareness
Awareness is the stage where at least one person from one side of the transaction is aware of and interested in the other company. For inbound leads, Awareness translates to unqualified marketing leads, while for outbound sales efforts, Awareness-stage deals are all untouched, qualified prospects. A deal moves to Recognition when one individual from each side of the deal has expressed interest in the other. At this point, the sales organization has to convince this person to be the champion.
Stage 2: Recognition
Recognition is about selling one person, and the remainder of the sales cycle after Recognition is about selling the rest of the organization. A deal exits Recognition when the AE has asked the primary point of contact two questions: “Will you be my champion? That is, will you help me navigate your organization and understand the pitfalls and processes that we’ll need to work through together?” and “If it’s not going to work out, will you be the first to tell me so that we don’t both waste our time?” When the champion agrees to those criteria, a deal moves to Determination.
Stage 3: Determination
Determination is all about diagnosing. The AE has to figure out who all of the stakeholders are and what their requirements are. This is an explicitly divergent problem, whereas Justification is a convergent problem. During this stage, AEs need to rely on their Champion inside the buying organization to navigate. The Champion will be involved in Justification too, but the bulk of the work the Champion will do be in Determination.
Stage 4: Justification
Justification is typically the longest stage of the sales cycle. An opportunity graduates from Justification into Acceptance when every foreseeable requirement for every stakeholder has been fulfilled. An opportunity moves into Justification from Determination when all of the requirements to close a deal are known. The imperative of the Justification stage is to ensure that no one in the buying organization has any reason to object to the seller. NONE. If anyone has a reason to object, the deal is likely lost.
Stage 5: Acceptance
Acceptance is the stage where every requirement from every stakeholder in the buying organization has been addressed. This includes legal and procurement. If all redlining has been finished, IT has approved security requirements, budgets have been allocated and approved, fee schedules set, use cases validated, and workflows understood, then the only remaining step is to initial paperwork. By moving an opportunity to Acceptance, the AE is signaling to her company that every obstacle has been overcome.
Organized by Stage:
Stage 1: Awareness
- At least one person from one side of the transaction is aware of and interested in the other company.
- For inbound leads, Awareness translates to unqualified marketing leads, while for outbound sales efforts, Awareness-stage deals are all untouched, qualified prospects.
- A deal moves to Recognition when one individual from each side of the deal has expressed interest in the other.
Stage 2: Recognition
- A deal exits Recognition when the AE has asked the primary point of contact two questions: “Will you be my champion?” and “If it’s not going to work out, will you be the first to tell me so that we don’t both waste our time?”
- The champion agrees to help the AE navigate their organization and understand the pitfalls and processes that they’ll need to work through together.
- The AE must convince the champion to be their advocate and support them in selling the rest of the organization.
Stage 3: Determination
- The AE must figure out who all of the stakeholders are and what their requirements are.
- During this stage, the AE needs to rely on their Champion to navigate the buying organization and uncover all of the information required to move the deal forward.
- The AE must diagnose every issue and requirement possible to ensure that the customer realizes the potential value of the solution.
Stage 4: Justification
- Justification is the longest stage of the sales cycle.
- The AE must ensure that no one in the buying organization has any reason to object to the seller.
- The AE needs to understand the requirements of the Approver, Decision Maker, Recommender, Influencer, IT, Legal, and Procurement stakeholders, and fulfill all of their requirements to move the deal forward.
- If anyone in the buying organization has a reason to object, the deal is likely lost.
Stage 5: Acceptance
- Every requirement from every stakeholder in the buying organization has been addressed.
- This includes legal and procurement, budgets have been allocated and approved, fee schedules set, use cases validated, and workflows understood.
- By moving an opportunity to Acceptance, the AE signals to their company that every obstacle has been overcome, and nothing that was foreseeable can stop the deal now.
Conclusion:
The Enterprise Integrated Sales Process (EISS) is a framework that helps sales reps navigate the complexities of larger ACV sales by breaking them down into five stages: Awareness, Recognition, Determination, Justification, and Acceptance. By reverse-engineering the deal from the end to the beginning, sales reps can diagnose every issue and requirement possible, ensure that no one in the buying organization has any reason to object to the seller, and fulfill all of the stakeholders’ requirements to move the deal forward. By using this framework, sales organizations can map all actions and descriptors through the eyes of the customer, which is crucial to orienting everything through the lens of the customer.
