How to build a successful sales pipeline

Want to build a healthy sales pipeline? Here are 10 ways you can achieve this and drive sales for your B2B business

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on The Center for Sales Strategy

Consider how much more advantageous your role as a sales manager could become with access to both an enhanced forecast summary and improved sales performance.

In today’s landscape, possessing either of these aspects is imperative; settling for one over the other is not a viable option. The attainment of both becomes straightforward with a robust sales pipeline in place.

Evade the Activity Micromanagement Pitfall

While clarity regarding performance tracking, leading indicators, and individual expectations contributes to successful outcomes, it does not guarantee them. Solely concentrating on these three factors while neglecting the sales pipeline can lead to unexpected pitfalls stemming from overzealous activity micromanagement.

Achieving sales performance triumph necessitates a balanced amalgamation of activity monitoring and sales pipeline oversight. Put simply, effective management of both activity and pipeline yields superior results. Accomplished B2B sales leaders emphasise the strength of their pipeline rather than solely focusing on managing activity.

The Sales Funnel

A sales pipeline is synonymous with a sales funnel. It’s optimal to have prospects distributed across the following stages and sales professionals actively engaged in these sales activities:

• Top of the funnel: This stage occurs early in the sales process, where sellers identify and establish connections with prospects.
• Middle of the funnel: Sellers delve into uncovering challenges, opportunities, and advisory roles.
• Bottom of the funnel: This is where deals are sealed.

A robust pipeline, or sales funnel, should not comprise an indiscriminate assortment of random customers and prospects. Accomplished sellers and managers strategise meticulously concerning their pipelines, with a primary focus on activities involving key accounts—significant customers—and target accounts—promising prospects. Additionally, top-performing individuals typically maintain a well-distributed portfolio of accounts at each stage of the funnel.

A prudent guideline to follow is that an absence of prospects at the top of the funnel today often translates to a dearth of closures in the future, potentially leading to unmet sales objectives.

10 Ways to Build a Healthy Sales Pipeline

Here’s a list of ten things world-class managers do to help sellers build a healthy pipeline and improve sales performance:

• Employ a lead generation process like inbound marketing and other thought leadership strategies to get prospects to raise their hands and ask for help and enter the top of the sales funnel.
• Be picky and avoid throwing all prospects in the funnel.
• Select quality prospects considering dollar potential, access to the decision maker and fit.
• Sellers should communicate empathy, expertise and problem-solving to open more doors.
• Conduct research about new business prospects and develop a valid business reason to set appointments to move them in the funnel.
• Employ seven to ten points of contact approach over two weeks to pursue new business prospects.
• Have sales enablement resources handy to address common objections and to move the sales process along—things like sales plays, FAQs, eBooks and case studies (video and written).
• Listen to customers and prospects to uncover new sales opportunities.
• Talk about today and outline specific behaviours needed to close business.
• Make sure proposals include a clearly defined problem—desired business results—and a solution to drive ROI.

Here’s a bonus tip:

Meet with top spending key accounts once per quarter to get an update on their desired business results.