Certified Travel Associate Practice

What does the term "sales cycle" refer to?

1. Customer-focused selling

2. Features

3. Open Questions

4. Steps that a salesperson goes through to sell a particular product or service

The correct answer is: Steps that a salesperson goes through to sell a particular product or service

The term "sales cycle" refers specifically to the series of stages or steps that a salesperson follows to guide a potential customer towards making a purchase. This process typically includes several phases, such as prospecting, qualifying leads, presenting the product or service, handling objections, closing the sale, and following up. Understanding the sales cycle is essential for sales professionals as it helps them effectively manage their interactions with customers and ultimately improve their success in selling. While customer-focused selling, features, and open questions are all important concepts in sales, they do not encapsulate what the sales cycle specifically describes. Customer-focused selling emphasizes understanding and meeting the needs of the customer, features refer to the characteristics of a product or service, and open questions are a technique used to engage customers during the sales process. These elements may play a role within the sales cycle but do not represent the overall concept of the steps involved in selling.