EVALUATING THE OPERATION OF AIESEC IN HANOI – OUTGOING GLOBAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

EVALUATING THE OPERATION OF AIESEC IN HANOI – OUTGOING GLOBAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAM AIESEC is the leading association that contributes to spread cultural exchange widely to society with an open view. There is substantial space to develop in this are with large amount of demand for it. Thus, an optimized sales cycle is a crucial requirement to convert effectively this immense inflow of interested people. The aims of this study is to have a deeper understanding about current status of sales cycle in one of biggest branches of AIESEC in Vietnam and figure out some bottleneck that can be foster sales performance of cultural exchange product in general and Global Volunteer program of AIESEC in Hanoi in particular. The research has shown that a sales funnel always need to be widen to convert as much as possible the leads and it run as the sets of stage frames. One of biggest obstacle that keep ineffective funnel is negative disqualifying process throughout the customer journey. Additionally, the length of all process is also not in the good condition and supposed to be cut down in many ways. In the other side, keeping member’s working attitude with high commitment with the goal and suitable task allocation is also important to finish the really long marathon in one sales term. This is expected to leave an humble foundation for the next researchers who would like to discuss more about this topic. Key word: Sales, sales cycle, AIESEC, Global Volunteer, Hanoi

BANKING ACADEMYFACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GRADUATION THESIS EVALUATING THE OPERATION OF AIESEC IN HANOI – OUTGOING GLOBAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

Ha Noi, May 2019

First and foremost, I would like to send the deepest thank to my conscientious supervisor,

Ms Tran Thi Thu Thuy for her stimulating suggestions and considerable encouragement.Her devoted consultancy definitely assisted me during the implementation progress of myresearch despite my humble work and the lack of knowledge and professional workingexperiences

Furthermore, I hope to send my best regards to the lecturers and students of Faculty ofForeign Language – Banking Academy of Vietnam for their cooperation Morespecifically, I would like to acknowledge with much appreciation the other 6 researchers

in this semester We, together, have devotedly supported each other to get over the mostchallenging time Especially, I also sincerely appreciates the support my classmate DoMinh Phuong for her profound recommendations and encouragement in the completion of

my research

Last but not least, I own more than a thank to my beloveds family members – my father,mother and younger brother for their endless motivation throughout my life They allsupport me and this thesis would not been possible without them

This thesis is a presentation of my original research work Wherever contributions ofothers are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due reference to theliterature, and acknowledgement of collaborative research and discussions

The work was done under the guidance of Ms Tran Thi Thu Thuy , Faculty of ForeignLanguage, Banking Academy of Vietnam, Hanoi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.2 Organizational structure of Member Committee in AIESEC 11Figure 2.3 Organizational structure of Local Committee in AIESEC 11

Figure 2.7 Common sales metrics used in sales cycle evaluation 22Figure 4.1 Number of exchange of AIESEC in Vietnam 2016-2018 31Figure 4.2 Number of exchange of AIESEC in Hanoi 2016-2018 32Figure 4.3 Conversion rate of AIESEC in Vietnam 2016-2018 33Figure 4.4 Conversion rate of AIESEC in Hanoi 2016-2018 34Figure 4.5 Distribution of new leads according to channels 35Figure 4.6 Process time days and number of approval of AIESEC in Hanoi in period of

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AIESEC: Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques etCommerciales

KPI: Key Performance Indicator

MoS: Measure of Success

SEO: Search Engine Optimization

SOP: Standard Operating Procedure

Ads: Advertising

KOL: Key Opinion Leader

NGO: Non-governmental Organization

MQL: Marketing qualified leads

SQL: Sales-qualified leads

ABSTRACT

AIESEC is the leading association that contributes to spread cultural exchange widely tosociety with an open view There is substantial space to develop in this are with largeamount of demand for it Thus, an optimized sales cycle is a crucial requirement toconvert effectively this immense inflow of interested people The aims of this study is tohave a deeper understanding about current status of sales cycle in one of biggest branches

of AIESEC in Vietnam and figure out some bottleneck that can be foster salesperformance of cultural exchange product in general and Global Volunteer program ofAIESEC in Hanoi in particular The research has shown that a sales funnel always need to

be widen to convert as much as possible the leads and it run as the sets of stage frames.One of biggest obstacle that keep ineffective funnel is negative disqualifying processthroughout the customer journey Additionally, the length of all process is also not in thegood condition and supposed to be cut down in many ways In the other side, keepingmember’s working attitude with high commitment with the goal and suitable taskallocation is also important to finish the really long marathon in one sales term This isexpected to leave an humble foundation for the next researchers who would like todiscuss more about this topic

Key word: Sales, sales cycle, AIESEC, Global Volunteer, Hanoi

CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION1.1 Rationale

Cultural exchange program is a new product which being paid more and more attentionthese recent years However, leading unit provides this opportunity in Vietnam which isAIESEC as a NGO are facing many obstacles in this incessantly changing era Research

on how this association brings their product to customer and identifying the mosteffective way to utilize the resource and maximize the return of investment might bringbenefits to not only AIESEC but also the young people who can experience this kind ofpositive-impacted product

By having a membership time for years here during bachelor studies, researcher have thus

a deep knowledge about how its functions as well as a strong connection to it As for ayear having been leading the department responsible for product development in one ofthe biggest local committee in Vietnam, researcher was behind some sales strategies that

is implemented there and gained some personal experiences in the field of sales in NGO.There is a fact that the same old process has not been change too much for several yearsand the runner are doing things based on experience in the past more than solution towardthe future and it is alarming in this global integration era It affects the final outcome ofthe sales result when the number of interested people in product is increasing day by day

It require for an innovation in sales cycle which is optimized to convert to the number ofsigning up as much as possible Moreover, the researcher have joined one of the projectthat organized by AIESEC abroad so for these above experiences, the research is expected

to bring a more sufficient perspective from both stakeholders sides, customer andprovider, that would be “outside-of-the-box”

That all above reason lead to that the topic: “Evaluating the Operation of AIESEC in

Hanoi – Outgoing Global Volunteer Program” has been chosen in this study.

1.2 Background of the study

Cultural, economic and societal change creates a need for different approaches toeducation Globalization, which is increasing international interdependence, and thecreation of new knowledge, and the obsolescence of older knowledge, means that teachersand students alike must be open to change and new opportunities (Aleksandra Vujko,2017) Cross-cultural experiences have been raised as a solution for students to earn muchmore practical experiences in challenging environment with deeper understanding aboutothers culture

People more and more understand about why English is significantly essential fornowadays As the result they all start asking what the most effective way to learningEnglish is The immersion technique in cultural exchanges quickly becomes a commonand favorite one Moreover, a foreign environment including mass of challengingexperiences will enhance student’s communication and problem-solving skill “Theability to work with people from other cultures is becoming increasingly necessary in ourglobal work environment Even if someone never travel abroad, it’s important to be ready

to mix with other cultures as each year the number of immigrants is increasing”( DeborahMackin, 2006) Another innovation about self-confidence and awareness also are realizedclearly from returned exchange participants

Language border have created many misunderstanding which lead to mostly conflicts andwar in the past In today context, peace is not just about absolutely avoiding military war.Peace emphasizes the harmony between religious, cultural, racing filed in differencehumanity The world is expected to eliminate every dispute, conflict about the differencesviews of each other

1.3 Objectives of the study

Research objectives: The research is aimed to clarify some issues as follows:

Firstly, assessing the operation’s effectiveness of AIESEC in Hanoi through the followingmetrics in the period of 2016-2018

- Sales results by number of people approved

- Trend of sales conversion rate

- Proportion of marketing channels in creating new leads

- Sales cycle length

- The disqualification process

Secondly, based on the strengths and weaknesses, giving the possible solutions tomaximize the current resources to reach the best productivity

Research questions:

- What is the current status of operation of AIESEC in Hanoi?

- What is the good points and improving points in the running operation of AIESEC inHanoi?

- What solutions can be applied to enhance the effectiveness of current sales cycle?

1.4 Significance of the study

The obvious benefits of cultural exchange are gradually recognized by young generationwith the effort of marketing to spread out the brand as well as the product AIESEC hasbeen symbolized as the opportunity – provider in this field for young people in the society

to develop themselves and make the world better It is growing on the way to make theproduct accessible to everyone everywhere The number of people who interested inGlobal Volunteer increases day by day, however the sales work hasn’t been made the bestuse to serve all of opportunity demanders and maximize the amount of matched casegoing for an exchange Thus, the requirement for a united, optimized and smart processfor customer going through is really imperative

The outcome of this study is put confidence to give a significant contribution toAIESEC’s direction for upcoming year as well as provide a more accurate perspectiveabout customer on the way to achieve the goal of becoming customer-centric business

The final purpose is to provide these amazing opportunities for more and more youngpeople for better generation day by day.

1.5 Scope and delimitation

Scope of researching is sales performance of one out of four product of AIESEC which isGlobal Volunteer of Local Committee AIESEC in Hanoi

The coverage of the study is difficulties, so the delimitation of the thesis is just focus onresearching about sales performance of AIESEC in Hanoi for Global Volunteer in theperiod from 2016 to 2018 – the most fluctuated period in its economic context andtechnology evolvement then giving suggested solution for strengthening the potential

1.6 Definition of terms

Sales: Sales is a process involving the interaction between a potential buyer and a person

hired by a company to sell its products to potential customer Sales are recognizedbusiness profession, and ranges from a shoe salesperson to an investment banker whomanage company stock with billions of dollars at stake (Jobber, 2009)

Sales is the need of the sellers It is the internal aim of business Selling revolves aroundthe needs and the interests of the seller Selling seeks profits by “pushing” the productsand services on the buyers What it offers for sales is determined not by the seller but bythe buyer Selling is certainly a part of marketing That is the last function in the process

of marketing (Joshi, 2009)

Sales cycle: The sales cycle is a broad term which outlines the complete selling process of

a business, through a journey of different stages from lead generation to close It is theactivities involved in progressing prospects from their referral to full-paying-clients.There is not one fixed definition and the sales cycle will vary from company to company,based on variations of complexities Ultimately aiming to achieve structure through

common stages and familiar actions in order to conclude a sale with repeatable concepts.(Ant Musker, 2019)

Exchange product: Foreign exchange programs provide young people with an

opportunity to study/work in a different country and environment experiencing the historyand culture of another country, as well as meeting new friends to enrich their personaldevelopment International exchange programs are also effective to challenge students todevelop a global perspective (Amanda Daly, 2011)

Non-Governmental Organization: The World Bank defines NGOs as “private

organization that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interest of the poor,protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake communitydevelopment” In wider usage, the term NGO can be applied to any non-profitorganization that is independent from government NGOs are typically value-basedorganizations that depend, in the whole or in part, on charitable donations and voluntaryservice (Cousins, 1991)

AIESEC: AIESEC, International Association of Students of Economics and Commerce,

is a global platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential It

is a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organization run by students and recentgraduates of institutions of higher education Being present in over 126 countries andterritories and with above 70,000 members and 1,000,000 alumni in over 2,500universities, AIESEC is the world’s largest student-run organization since its firstestablishment in 1948 Focusing on providing a platform for youth leadershipdevelopment along with the vision of “Peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential”,AIESEC offers young people the opportunities to participate in international internship, toexperience leadership and a global learning environment Its final purpose is to create thepositive impact on society by achieving intercultural understanding and the development

of people involved (aiesec.org)

AIESEC in Vietnam: AIESEC in Vietnam was founded in October 2006 with the first

branch located in Ho Chi Minh city, and now present in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minhand Can Tho with total 8 branches and 1expansion unit AIESEC in Vietnam hasmembership of over 750 students and is ranked in the top 15 of Asia Pacific in theAIESEC network (AIESEC in Vietnam, 2019)

AIESEC in Hanoi: AIESEC in Hanoi is the second oldest local chapter of AIESEC in

Vietnam Was founded in 2007, 1 year after the first local chapter - AIESEC in Ho ChiMinh City, this is one of the 4 biggest branches out of the whole nation since thebeginning until now Along with AIESEC in NEU (National Economics University) andAIESEC in FTU Hanoi (Foreign Trade University, Hanoi campus), these 3 local chaptersare allocated for working with the universities in Hanoi and the North area of Vietnamfrom Thanh Hoa to Lao Cai (AIESEC in Hanoi, 2019)

Global Volunteer: is a cross-cultural experience for youth who want to gain personal

development and leave an impact on the world (Global Volunteer, 2019)

CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Overview of AIESEC in Hanoi

2.1.1 AIESEC

AIESEC, International Association of Students of Economics and Commerce, is a globalplatform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential It is a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organization run by students and recent graduates ofinstitutions of higher education Being present in over 126 countries and territories andwith above 70,000 members and 1,000,000 alumni in over 2,500 universities, AIESEC isthe world’s largest student-run organization since its first establishment in 1948 Focusing

on providing a platform for youth leadership development along with the vision of “Peaceand fulfillment of humankind’s potential”, AIESEC offers young people the opportunities

to participate in international internship, to experience leadership and a global learningenvironment Its final purpose is to create the positive impact on society by achievingintercultural understanding and the development of people involved

AIESEC is a non-governmental organization which means that it is not under control ofany Finance of government or others organization and that it is totally independent inmaking decision It is also a not-for-profit organization which means that maximizing theprofit is not its priorities and there’s no shareholder, nevertheless it doesn’t mean that itsales performance is not making any money It is still trying to earn some margin formrunning the products which is then is reinvest into its operation to improve the productand member’s quality Its members are all working as volunteers in AIESEC and the onlycompensation they get back is education from organization and practical skill throughworking professionally there

2.1.2 AIESEC in Vietnam

AIESEC in Vietnam was founded in October 2006 with the first branch located in Ho ChiMinh city, and now present in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh and Can Tho with total 8branches and 1expansion unit AIESEC in Vietnam has membership of over 750 studentsand is ranked in the top 15 of Asia Pacific in the AIESEC network AIESEC inVietnam’s members are students come from the top universities of Vietnam includingForeign Trade University, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, National EconomicsUniversity, RMIT University, Vietnam National University, Hanoi University, BankingAcademy and so on)

Over 80% of AIESEC in Vietnam’s members are studying business degree, such asInternational Relation, Accounting, Business Administration, Marketing (AIESEC inVietnam Membership Report, 2018) They are selected based on a set of competencies toassess their mindset, skill, thinking and commitment By going through AIESECexperience of making exchange in global environment, all the members can develop theiressential skill, knowledge and network that require in real working environment duringand after working for organization Many alumni of AIESEC in Vietnam are now take thehigh position in big organization such as PwC, Unilever, PepsiCo and Nielsen

2.1.3 AIESEC in Hanoi

AIESEC in Hanoi is the second oldest local chapter of AIESEC in Vietnam Was founded

in 2007, 1 year after the first local chapter - AIESEC in Ho Chi Minh City, this is one ofthe 4 biggest branches out of the whole nation since the beginning until now Along withAIESEC in NEU (National Economics University) and AIESEC in FTU Hanoi (ForeignTrade University, Hanoi campus), these 3 local chapters are allocated for working withthe universities in Hanoi and the North area of Vietnam from Thanh Hoa to Lao Cai.Each local committee will be allocated an specific market which mean they can onlyrecruit the member as well as the exchange participant from certain Universities AIESEC

in Hanoi undertake some main big Universities in Hanoi such as Vietnam NationalUniversity (VNU), Hanoi University (HANU), Banking Academy (BA), Hanoi

University of Science and Technology (HUST), Thuong Mai University (TMU), and soon.

It has around 100 members active at the moment and most of them come from socialbackground such as Language (English, France, Chinese, Germany, Korean), Pedagogy,Culture or Psychology, some come from Business (Accounting, Business Administration,Finance and Banking, Marketing) Average study-year of branch member is sophomore,and was started as a AIESECer since freshmen

2.1.4 Why – How – What

WHY: AIESEC strives to achieve Peace & Fulfillment of Humankind´s Potential

In today’s context, ‘Peace’ does not necessarily mean only avoiding war Peace can

symbolize a world that does not have conflicts that arise from cultural, religious, or otheraspects of deference in humanity Peace can also symbolize being in harmony withyourself AIESEC strives to build a world where people can work towards their ownunderstanding of peace, while respecting and understanding the views of others

Through “Fulfillment of Humankind’s Potential” AIESEC strives for a world where

people can be the best version of themselves

HOW: AIESEC place its confidence in Youth as the key to unlock the better future and

believe that Leadership is the fundamental solution and it can be develop in anyone.

AIESEC is a platform for young people who have the passion, dynamism andentrepreneurial spirit to explore and develop their leadership potential After goingthrough an experience with AIESEC, young people are better prepared to make a positiveimpact in any sphere they would choose

WHAT: AIESEC enables young people to develop leadership through learning from

Practical experiences in Challenging environments

Cross-cultural exchange: AIESEC provides an opportunity for young people to work or

volunteer abroad in non-familiar environments This allows them to step outside theircomfort zone and expand their worldview, while contributing the community in whichthey are working in

Membership roles: Its members work in teams to create and manage these cross- cultural

exchange experiences This provides an opportunity for our members to live powerfulteam experiences and develop their own leadership potential

2.1.5 Organizing structure

AIESEC International is established under the form of a non-governmental associationand has the role to coordinate all of the National committee around the world in the unitedone

Figure 2.1 Organizational hierarchy of AIESEC

AIESEC applying the business model into their operation of structure with functions like

a company Basic structure is applied for all level including Member Committee andLocal Committee Based on situation of each Local Committee, the number and the role

of each function can be increased or decreased but the main structure must include at leastFinance, Business Development, Talent Management and two specialized department forIncoming and Outgoing exchange who are responsible for conducting exchange in andout Vietnam.

Figure 2.2 Organizational structure of Member Committee in AIESEC

Figure 2.3 Organizational structure of Local Committee in AIESEC

The structure shows in three figures help to ensure the direction, legitimacy andleadership among levels of organization Each Local Committee Vice President can help

to make the best of each by heading one specified area with lots of support and trainingfrom Member Committee level, directly under correlative Vice President Simultaneously,the synergies between functional departments are still maintained

2.1.6 AIESEC’s products

a Youth 4 Global Goals:

This is the AIESEC initiative to activate youth towards achieving the SustainableDevelopment Goals AIESEC aims to help bring awareness of the SDGs to the youth ofthe world This is an open call to become a Leader for the World Therefore, all products

of AIESEC falls under our Youth 4 Global Goals initiative aimed to achieve the goals by

2030, including:

Global volunteer: is a cross-cultural experience for youth who want to gain personal

development and leave an impact on the world

Global Talent: is an internship experience for young people aiming towards

professional career development in a global setting

Global Entrepreneur: is an internship experience within a startup where young

people can explore, learn and contribute to the entrepreneurial world

YouthSpeak Forum: is a premiere event that brings together both young and senior

leaders to form a diverse cross-sector and multi-generational space for inspiring

YouthSpeak is about converting youth opinion into real world impact Understand andconnect with what young people care about and help empower them to take action onissues that will create a positive impact in our society.Customer flow

Cross-Cultural experience: Live a Cross-Cultural experience Experience a new

culture while living abroad Meet like-minded people during the project realization andexpand your network across the world

Develop Yourself: Live in a challenging environment to develop leadership

competencies, personal skills and improve language capabilities

Diverse projects: Find the projects in different regions with variable organizations

that care about changing the world to the better Choose one of the 20,000 projects thatcontribute to the Sustainable development goals

2.1.7 AIESEC’s Operating structure

a Customer flow

Customer flow describes the process that AIESEC goes through to develop relevantexchange products for its market and deliver them with excellent customer experiences

Figure 2.4 Customer flow of AIESEC

In each stage customer go through, their profile will change from the one have the firstawareness of AIESEC until being promoters

Attract phase: A stranger who haven’t heard about AIESEC into a visitor who goes

to aiesec.org AIESEC attract them by Online advertising, SEO, Blogs, Offline events,Words of mouth and so on

AIESEC’s core global social media channels are Facebook, Twitter and Linked in Thesechannels are positioned to provide relevant and compelling information for strangers toeventually draw them to visit our website.

Convert phase: A visitor who have gone to aiesec.org or National AIESEC website

into a lead who registers or applies to join one of AIESEC program AIESEC’s globalwebsite was redesigned to make it more attractive to our targeted audiences The content

is customize by visitors’ profile and includes dynamic content to encourage the visitors tostay longer in the site There are many call to action, signing-up-is-easy, showcasing thebest story, high quality video and design

Close phase: A lead that registered or applied to join AIESEC’s program into a

customer who actually decide to join that program They get closer to the organization bybeing provided meeting in person or taking to an event or taking them through a selectionprocess to have deeply understanding of what they are going to join

Delight phase: a customer who have actually experienced AIESEC product into a

promoter who intend to advocate the brand and their experience with AIESEC When theentire exchange standard has been delivered to the exchange participant and they finishtheir exchange time with satisfaction

Showcase phase: a customer who have fulfilled experience with AIESEC product and

have strong connection to the organization They are willing to consider to rejoin anotherprogram or appear to storytelling in any promotion event of AIESEC

b Customer status

All of the program will run based on an exchange process, which was built after a term experience of running as described below

long-Figure 2.5 Customer statuses of AIESEC

In the first step, Open, every person who has registered an account on aiesec.org or

register to get consultancy on national website aiesec.vn is marked as Open They all havebeen raised awareness of Global Volunteer and may or may not apply for an project

Next, after being contacted and consulted by salesman, a lead decide to apply for an

opportunity on the portal and going through a selection process from experienced humanresource manager from foreign host entity by an online interview

Once the applicant have passed the interview round by the organization that offer the

internships, they will be accepted into the project and require to confirm by signing a contract and submitting AIESEC fee Then, they got approved and officially become an

exchange participant of the project

They will be supported by AIESEC prepare Visa, passport and other confirmation before

coming to the host countries for Realized time.

Finally, after the exchange, the Completed step will provide exchange participant

chances to get a debrief meeting to have journey reflection By that, they will recognizetheir self-development and see whether all the exchange standard have been delivered byAIESEC or not and get completed Then have chances to take part in AIESEC in Vietnamactivities, share their exchange’s experiences and give the feedback to improve theprogram

2.1.8 AIESEC’s Marketing-sales funnel

A funnel in any organization is the process by which customers move from first

awareness of the brand to eventually become promoters A funnel is used to represent thecustomer journey, because a young person/organization either descends into the nextphase of the funnel when their interest increases or they exit the funnel when they loseinterest It provides an overall overview of everything that happens inside AIESEC andhelps us to make strategic decisions on where to focus and then to invest the right timeand energy to increase the conversion of the funnel

Figure 2.6 Marketing-sales funnel of AIESEC

Marketing-sales funnel describes a procedure that a person interested in Global

volunteer will go through and being taken care of by AIESEC by providing morecompelling information about the product to decide whether that person is qualified andinterested enough to join the project and reach the bottom of the funnel or find itunsuitable for them and exit at the middle of the funnel as follows:

Attracting: is the prospecting process aimed to raise aware of people towards that

product which is help to determine and qualify potential leads from the prospects Thisprocess includes many marketing activities but mostly through advertisement andbranding activities

Nurturing: this phase is designed to raise interest of people who already know about

Global Volunteer by more relevant and customized touch point This will help to get moreinsight of the customer to identify suitable movement

Telesales: this is a first direct approach to customer to provide an offer for

consultancy and filter the leads by their readiness and potential The outcome of telesales

is an appointment with between salespeople and the leads

Consultancy meeting: a combined phase includes both presentation and handling

objection purpose This is the first face-to-face interaction with the leads which play animportant role in converting process In this meeting, the leads will be provided all aboutproduct’s selling point and requirement to find whether they are qualified or not If there

is any objection appearing in this stage, the salesman will try to guide and solve mostlyduring the meeting

Applied: After being considering and receiving all the information of the program, if

the leads are qualified and decide to move on, they will send an online application on thesystem to host entity

Accepted: Before this stage, there is an online interview occurring between the leads

and the others foreign project managers who are responsible for organizing the projectabroad If the leads are meet every criteria about English, timeline, finance and mindset,they will pass the interview and be accepted by host entity

Approved: After submitting all the required fee and signing the contract, the leads

now officially become a customer and waiting for realization time

Marketing qualified leads (MQL) who are just find it interesting and want to know

more information (Info-seeker) At that time, these people are Marketing-qualified leads,they are not ignored or kick from the funnel yet They will go through a process call Leadnurturing which is receiving email marketing, being invited to join Facebook group, or go

to an promotion event and listen to stories of returnee, so on When they have been raisedthe interest for the product, not they turn into Sales-qualified leads and ready to go to aConsultancy meeting

Sales-qualified leads (SQL) who already has a plan for an exchange and considering

Global Volunteer (ready-sales lead) These people will be invited to an consultancymeeting and explained about program to see whether they can meet all the requirementabout timeline, budget or English to decide to apply for an opportunity after that If not,they will exit the funnel to consider for next chances

2.2 The importance of sales cycle in an organization

Having a sales cycle is really important to a business for many reasons - and an overallprocess and cycle will provide major benefits for the functionality in terms ofmanagement and tracking the overall sales performance and efficiency

Essentially, the smoother and faster sales team can progress a lead to close, the lessamount of time there is to lose that potential client/customer And having a sales cyclefully-implemented and regularly analyzed allows company to clarify this and create aclean system with sustainable results as follows (Ant Musker, 2019)

Organization - a clear pipeline which is universal to all sales staff who could

interchangeably pick up with any lead at any particular stage and be aware of the ongoingrequirements Formulating a structure offers visualization, having a picture of each stepgiving sales team an automatic indication of their approach with customers and thisallows them to find a process which works and repeat that Improving organization ateach stage of the process brings the experience of knowing how to progress the lead and asolid structure around that

Prioritization - A sales cycle allows salespeople to prioritize which leads need more time

spent on them, due to their journey and the understanding of their needs and howqualified they are This provides a fast process which allows better efficiency all rounds.Finding the key leads quickly and shifting out the waste so that the team can focus onwhat is essentially more likely to convert and provide the best return on time investment

It creates a familiarity with each stage of the sales cycles and means they can be moreconfident in knowing what is required to progress a lead to the next step of the cycle Aninstinctive feeling for each deal and the likeliness of conversion is obvious

Evaluation - The clear direction for the leads will highlight the weaker areas of the

process and sales team, where they are struggling to develop and progress Alternativelyshowcasing where the business developers are excelling in their ability to clarify andmove leads through the pipeline A defined sales cycle provides a clarity and visibility ofperformance and which identifies areas that the marketing and sales teams are weaker at.Therefore creating cohesive understanding, solutions and functionality for the business as

a whole is really undeniable

Better Long-Term Results - Aligned and defined, delivering efficiency, productivity,

organization, speed, familiarity and consistency With the use of analytical intelligencecontributing to the overall goal, this allows for repeatability longer-term Ultimatelyadding value the business by increasing the speed from referral to close, leaving less timefor leads to digress and focusing on the prospects which are going to deliver morebusiness

2.3 An traditional sales cycle

According to Jobber (2004), professional sales cycle involves a series of seven distinctsteps

a Prospecting is finding and qualifying potential customers Qualifying is the

process of determining whether a potential customer has a need or want that the companycan fulfill, and whether the potential client can afford the product

b Preparation involves preparing for the initial contact with a potential customer.

Salesperson will need to collect and study relevant information such as productdescriptions, prices, and competitor information They will also need to develop theirinitial sales presentation

c Approach is the first face-to-face interaction that sales team will have with the

potential customer In the premium approach, they give their prospect a gift at thebeginning of the interaction It may be a pen, a novelty item or company calendar, forexample Another method is the question approach, in which they ask a question to getthe prospect interested For example, ‘would you have a problem making a 15% annualreturn on an investment?’ They may also use the product approach, in which they give theprospect a sample to review The idea behind of these approaches is to get the prospectinvolves in the interaction quickly

d Presentation is actively listening to the needs and wants of the potential customer

and demonstrating how the product can meet those needs and wants

e Handling objection is an important of the process can be useful because they tell

the salesperson what to focus upon in addressing a prospect’s concerns Successfulsalespeople learn how to overcome objections through preparation and having rightinformation at hand to address them

f Closing involves identifying closing signals from the prospect that indicate it’s

decision time There are different approaches to closing In the alternative choice close,they assume the sales and offer the prospect a choice such as, ‘Will this be a cash credittransaction?’ An extra inducement close involves them offering something extra to getbuyer to agree, such as a discount or a free product In the standing room only close, they

inform the prospect that time is of the essence because some impending event, such as aprice increase, will change the terms of the offer.

g Follow-up is building a long-term relationship with their customer for purpose of

repeat sales For example, they make contact with the customer sometime after the salesand make sure the product was received and is in good condition Again, the idea is not tosell at this stage, but to create a solid relationship for future sales

2.4 Important metrics to evaluate a sales cycle

The definition of a sales metric is a data point that represents individual, team, orcompany-wide performance It is a performance measurement that is used by sales teamsand by the top management to track the effectiveness of relevant sales activities within acompany These measures help in optimizing the sales performance, sales funnel andsales cycle length (Richard April, 2018)

Figure 2.7 Common sales metrics used in sales cycle evaluation

2.4.1 Sales growth

There is no deny that by tracking the growth of sales, managers can also track the growth

of the company It goes without saying that it's important to be mindful of this Sales KPI

It can be implemented by following the performance of sales team, their target industryand area It can be said that one sales team focuses on many verticals and only one ofthem proves to bring significant returns This could be a sign to reassess the verticalsdistribution in the team Then it won't leave money on the table and company will havehigher returns Be flexible and analyze the sales metrics, then it will bring more salesrevenue to any business