Every company, large and small, needs to understand the sales business. Sales can be intimidating, and it’s no surprise that it’s often given the lowest priority when a business is just starting out. From my perspective, however, sales is also an absolute must-have skill for every entrepreneur.

Too many folks miss the opportunity to apply the same level of professionalism and structure to sales that they do to the other functional areas of their business. It should be at least as important to your business as areas like HR, finance and accounting, product development or production. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the lack of a strong sales structure can be a huge roadblock when it comes to things like attracting investors.

To put a strong sales foundation in place, it’s vital that you understand the basic structure of the sales process. The good news is that it’s easier than you think. This may surprise you, but sales doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, for a sales structure to be effective, it really can’t be too complex.

I’ll start with the fifty-thousand foot view of the sales process, then circle in on the details. These are things that can be put in place right away, and which will be applicable to almost any business. Whether you’re a startup, a small business, or even a large company, the core concepts of sales are the same.

Let’s start with the most basic question: What is a sales process? It’s simply a scalable, repeatable sequence used by your sales team. It’s broken down into steps, allowing you to gauge performance and make corrections as you go. This allows your company to not only create a reliable and predictable model for future sales, but it also allows you to easily increase your sale capacity as needed.

For a sales process to work, it can’t be something that exists off in one corner of the business. It needs to be a cornerstone of the company, and at least as important in the eyes of the leadership as the product or service you sell. That commitment to the process needs to be in the very DNA of the company.

It’s hardly surprising that sales is intimidating to so many business owners. Not every entrepreneur has a background in sales, after all. And here I am demanding that they become master salespeople in addition to learning how to run a business. It’s nerve-wracking, isn’t it?

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be. One of the best parts about my work as a business coach is being able to demystify things like sales, and bring this overwhelming topic down to a manageable size.

Here’s a simple question: Why are so many people so intimidated by the idea sales in the first place? If I had to guess, I’d say it’s less a fear of sales itself, and more a fear of rejection.

No matter what your business, a huge part of selling is putting yourself out there. It means talking to strangers, and trying to convince them to give you money. Even if you believe whole-heartedly in your business, it still requires a leap of faith. And every time you make that leap, there’s a very good chance that you will fall flat on your face.

Being in sales means getting told “No” a lot. There’s no quick fix for this, and nothing you can do to avoid it. Rejection is a fundamental part of the sales process. Becoming used to that rejection, and learning to accept it as being part of the process towards making a sale, is just another part of any sales gig.

Another part of the job is finding prospective customers. This process starts with a large pool of people who might be interested in your product or service. These are called “leads.” As you gather information about these leads, usually by talking to them, you begin sorting out the ones who really aren’t a good for fit for your business.

This process is called “qualifying,” and it’s where most of the real work of sales is done. One of my favorite sales maxims is that “Sales is a process of controlled disqualification.” The goal in this stage is simply to see if this prospective customer, or “prospect,” represents a legitimate opportunity.

That means asking a bunch of questions about the prospect’s needs, including assessing their ability to actually afford what you are selling. It also means being asked a bunch of questions by the prospect, as they are gauging if your product or service will be worth the price. This process can be intimidating, but when it’s done correctly, it should really feel like a natural exchange of information rather than a high-pressure sales pitch.

Once you have a good understanding of the prospect’s needs, which can take multiple sales calls, you present them with a recommendation. That recommendation outlines what you will provide, and what they will pay. This is where deals are made, and where negotiations happen over the specifics.

They may need additional convincing. They may simply say “No thanks.” Or, if you’ve done your job and they like what they see and hear, they will say “Yes.” When the paperwork is signed and the check is handed over, the deal is “closed.”

That, in a nutshell, is sales.

But it’s not everything. In part two, I’ll be taking a closer look at these stages, and how they function as a part of the business itself.