Sales pipeline management is a way to track new business your team is currently working on. These are opportunities at work with the expectation of completion within a reasonable timeframe.
Sales Pipeline management steps
Prospect
The first step is to find the companies and people who are worthwhile. It would be best if you determined the ideal customer profile, and then the process of finding them must be an ongoing effort.
Your sales team needs to build skills that allow them to prospect successfully.
- Identify the right companies and people to contact.
- Ask the right questions to determine real opportunities.
- Sell the appointment and get the time to connect.
- Establish a relationship and be patient if necessary.
- Identify problems and help people solve them.
- Learn the ability to follow up and follow through.
- Stay motivated – more people will say no vs. yes.
- Never give up – prospecting is a numbers game.
The goal is to get them into your sales process, which includes identifying and solving problems for them. The end goal is to add value, make the initial sale and turn them into repeat customers & clients.
Qualify
You will save a lot of time by qualifying your potential customers. Qualifying is the part of the sales process where you let them talk, and you hear. It is worth the time to ask the questions to identify their need for your products and services. Find out by listening to their wants, conditions, and desires.
The conversation will help you offer real solutions and often leads them to realize the need to take a closer look at the opportunity.
You will also skillfully make the presentation, including all the features and benefits. If you can do this in a conversational style that has them contributing, engaged, and asking questions, you win.
Always come over prepared and with more data than you think you need. Be ready to deliver a fact-based presentation and give them accurate data to look at and consider.
You may or may not close the sale, but you put your customer in the best possible position to consider the potential.
Consider
Consideration is the stage where your prospect has been qualified, understands the offering, and starts to evaluate their options.
Perhaps this is where you demonstrate your product, give facts and figures about competing products and illustrate why this is the best option. Don’t shy away from price and put everything on the table. A customer who approves of the product or service will pay the price for the item or service.
You may or may not have the final decision maker in the room, so this is where you may need to ask for the next meeting to follow up and present the opportunity again.
Always, Always, Always say yes during this phase and help them solve their problems. There is never an issue when they see the actual value and can get their problems solved.
Decide
Any great salesperson knows that once there is a decision to buy, the fun begins. You may need to deliver contracts, help them get their finance department to approve the sale, or load the new products and services into a proprietary system.
The follow-up process is the most critical part of closing the deal. You must lead to the finish line, art, and science, depending on the circumstances.
Close
The close is when the contracts are signed, products deliver, the prospect becomes a paying customer, and the money is in the bank. When the sales team can move on to other things, this deal is closed.
HOWEVER, the sales team can now lead this customer back to the top of the process and help them become a repeat customer. Someone who has already bought from you is your BEST prospect. Learn to solve new problems and sell new products and services!
Execute Sales Pipeline Management
Steps to Sales Pipeline Management
- Prospect
- Qualify
- Consider
- Decide
- Close
You win when you and your sales team get good at these steps and accelerate the process. It would be best if you locked in your year-over-year growth; your potential will increase as momentum builds.
A magical thing happens when you have success. You get more referrals, build more trust with existing clients, and sell more products and services.
If you are a team leader of a sales organization, then you need to master these steps and model them for your team.
Apply the monkey see, monkey do strategy, and you go out there and be the best monkey you can be. You will be swinging from the trees and having the time of your life.
Great salespeople have fun.
Repeat
Once you have a great team following these steps, the next step is to repeat them over and over until you have scaled your business to new heights.
The point of filling a pipeline is that you will lose clients, and deals will not get closed. An entire channel anticipates the drawbacks and keeps the team moving forward and growing.
Sales Training
The best way to keep you and your team sharp is to engage in training. The best exercise is done daily in small doses and then applied. Imagine if your sales team took 10-20 minutes every day to learn and practice the selling skills needed to succeed.
The best teams in the world have coaches, and they practice. It keeps your veterans sharp and gets your newbies up to speed when they have access to world-class training.
I read, watch videos and write 20-30 minutes per day to get better at what I do. You never really arrive if you are chasing your potential.
Potential is always farther down the road than you are right now.
To your success.
Recent Posts
When you value people it is easier to add value to them. Take the time to get to know people and spend time with them. You will begin to value them in your life and the effort will fuel the...
Personal growth is significant because it moves you toward your potential. The effort to personally grow offers awareness of where you are and sets a plan in motion to get you where you want to go....