Sales Pipeline

Identifies prospects and compares it with the current date, download the pipeline cost analysis.

I suspect that those of you responsible for managing a sales pipeline would happily exchange any number of death defying drops and heart wrenching spirals for a review of the sales pipeline. And those of you, who like me, find yourselves looking at fresh pipelines all the time will view them with the same mixture of amusement and horror that I do.

To purchase your copy of the Sales Pipeline click below

  Sales Pipeline TM: $18.95

Managing the sales pipeline - there must be 5(0) ways to find another!

Sales Pipeline Cycle

  1. Look at when the opportunity was first identified as a prospect and compare it with the current date. If the discrepancy is greater than one and a half turns of your sales pipeline cycle "then make a new plan Stan!" (i.e. if it normally takes 4 weeks from enquiry to order and this has been an enquiry for 6 weeks, forget it!) 
  2. Look at the movement on the account. If there has been no contact, no meetings are planned and no e-mails or phone calls are scheduled, "drop off the key - Lee" 
  3. Look at the reality. If you are selling say, Computer Maintenance, how likely is it that BP is REALLY interested in your services. If, in the cold light of dawn this is just wishful thinking "slip out the back - Jack"
  4. Look at the recent transactions on the account, are they moving ahead (clarification of features, pricing queries, concerns about certain clauses in the contract etc) or are they transactional, (need to consult with the budget holder, Board meeting next month, presentation early part of next year etc.) You need to be coy - Roy" 
  5. Take a look at the next action point. If it is an unstructured call or meeting, then there has to be quite a good reason not to “hop on the bus Gus”.

Sales pipeline confidence level

To assess a sales pipeline accurately you should have an template which sets out the stages of your typical sales pipeline cycle and assigns weightings for deals that are at the various stages.

One of the first jobs that any incoming sales manager has to undertake is a review of the outstanding pipeline. There are numerous reasons for this, not least so that he can assess just how large a mountain he has to climb.

It follows therefore that whenever I am commissioned by a new client, it is vital for me to review the sales forecast to see what we are really up against.

Monitoring the pipeline may be a chore but in my view if you’re in sales then this is an essential professional discipline and one which needs to be mastered.

  Sales Pipeline TM: $18.95