Building a Successful Sales Pipeline

Any sales manager trying to improve efficiency and close deals must understand and manage the sales pipeline. A solid sales pipeline gives you a comprehensive picture of the whole sales process, including the actions salespeople take along the way, client contacts, significant sales stages, and the quantity and value of deals closed within your company.

The bottom line of your business will increase when you successfully develop a sales pipeline for your sales team. You may better understand the strengths and limitations of your sales function by organizing and managing possible leads—and subsequently potential money—by examining your activities, how long the sales process takes, and what your conversion rates are. . But how can you build a successful sales pipeline from scratch?

   1. Select where you’ll develop your sales pipeline.
A spreadsheet or specific sales CRM can be used to build a sales pipeline. A spreadsheet may be sufficient if you work freelance or as a solopreneur and handle fewer than ten deals at once. A spreadsheet obviously lacks the more powerful functions that a CRM can provide. For instance, the pipeline view in Close CRM provides you with a rapid snapshot of all the offers you have available as well as the value associated with each stage of your pipeline. Best of all, you can adjust the pipeline phases to meet your needs!
The best option for companies with more than one salesperson managing more than ten deals at once is to use a CRM.

2. Outline the steps in your buyer’s journey.
The activities your reps perform, including prospecting, qualifying, scheduling meetings, and closing, form the foundation of a sales funnel. It’s important to consider your consumers’ viewpoints, nevertheless, when creating your sales funnel. In order to determine how customers enter your firm, spend some time sorting through the data.
There is little doubt that no two client journeys are the same, especially in the digital era. However, try to identify the typical entry and exit points. How do customers learn about your company or product, and when do they make a purchase? As soon as you get to the end, analyze the journey’s midpoint by examining its information-seeking patterns. At what point are they willing to speak with a sales rep? How do they decide between you and the competition? By understanding your customer journey, you’ll be better able to build a pipeline that adapts itself to their needs.

 

3. Determine the number of distinct pipelines you require.
There could be more than one direct route to a sale, as you find out when you analyze your buyer journey. If so, don’t get alarmed; it may just mean you need more than one pipeline. Sometimes this has to do with the product you’re selling: if you sell multiple products, each product may have a different customer journey. Or, it can have to do with your clients themselves. For instance, if you sell a SaaS product to both small and enterprise-sized enterprises, the sales process and customer journey for each will be quite different. You’ll need to create unique sales pipelines in these circumstances. That way, your pipeline is always efficient for the opportunities inside it and adapted to the correct customer journey. You don’t want your sales reps improvising in the middle of the sales process: instead, build separate pipelines that give them clear guidelines on how to conduct a sale for a certain product or with a certain type of opportunity.

4. Establish your sales pipeline stages and discuss them with your team.
It’s time to design your own pipeline stages using the seven crucial sales pipeline stages we covered in chapter two as a guide. Recapitulating the steps, are Lead generation, prospecting, qualification, contact, proposal, negotiation and close, and retention. Do not forget that working as a team makes everything better! Since they are always involved in the activity, your reps undoubtedly have some valuable insights that could be used to help develop and modify these stages so that they better suit your company. To review the pipeline steps and make them more effective for your needs, set aside time as a team.

5. Determine the ideal pipeline size.
You must determine the ideal pipeline size for your company now that it is beginning to take shape. In other words, how many prospects must be in your pipeline for you to meet your quarterly or annual sales targets? By figuring this out up front, you can ensure that prospecting and lead generation are given the proper priority and will be better equipped to complete your tasks on time rather than rushing at the end of the month.

6. Identify the behaviours and activities that encourage conversions at each stage.
What are some telltale signals that an opportunity will progress to the following phase of the pipeline? What activities by the reps appear to have the biggest impact on conversion at a particular stage, or what are the typical behaviours that suggest they are interested in purchasing? Examine your customer data and look for these patterns. This will enable you to streamline your procedures and create more effective closing plans.
Let’s imagine that 50% of the opportunities that undergo a product demo move on to include discussions. Why is it 50%? What exactly about the product demo piqued their interest? Did you point out a particular characteristic to that? ? If so, you might be able to increase conversions by showing that feature in all your demos! By defining these trigger behaviours and actions, you can adapt your sales process and maximize the power of your pipeline.

7. Frequently examine and tidy up your sales pipeline.
Make a point of clearing out your sales pipeline quickly once a month. Start by identifying prospects who have been in your pipeline for a longer period of time than your typical sales cycle and be ready to delete them. Just keep in mind to follow up right away before removing them from your pipeline to allow for potential future sales. Verify your details a second time. Make sure the data in your pipeline is accurate by going through it again each week. Is there anything that needs to be moved (either forward or backwards) in terms of opportunities? Are you confident in your value projections? Exactly when do you expect to close?
Meet with your team once a week to discuss the big fish: While it may not be feasible to sit down and talk about every deal currently on the table, you can set some time to sit with all your sales reps and discuss some of the more valuable deals that are open. This kind of brainstorming session brings all the reps on board to identify risks, come up with responses to objections, and build ideas to move the deal forward.

Summary

Creating a sales pipeline reveals where your potential customers are at any point in the purchasing process. You may give a more individualized experience by meeting your consumers where they are in the purchasing process.

Even while it could take some work to get a sales pipeline up and going from scratch, it will help you create a profitable company with dependable cash flow and profitability.

In conclusion, building a successful sales pipeline is crucial for any sales manager or director looking to improve efficiency and close deals. Whether you’re a solopreneur or a company with multiple salespeople, it’s essential to select the right tool for your needs, whether it be a spreadsheet or a CRM. By understanding your customer’s journey, determining the number of distinct pipelines you require, and establishing your sales pipeline stages with your team, you’ll be well on your way to a more organized and efficient sales process. At DKLOUD, a Salesforce Partner consulting company, we understand the importance of a solid sales pipeline and are here to help. Contact us at info@dkloudconsulting.com for more information on how we can help you build the perfect sales pipeline for your business.

Written by Meshach Dimka