8 Best Practices On How To Fill Up Your Sales Pipeline
Where are my leads going to come from?
How do I make sure I hit my sales budget next month?
Why can’t I just have more leads then everything will be OK?
Have you ever heard yourself saying these lines?
As one of my champion Managing Director clients regularly said to his people ‘Hope is NOT a method..’
Hoping your sales pipeline will fill up is not a Method.
Here are 8 keys to filling up your Sales Pipeline.
1. IT’S A SYSTEM NOT A LOTTERY
Realise that filling up your pipeline is not a lottery and it is not luck that sales pipeline fill up.
It comes down to working a system.
You need to map out and flow chart your system so you know what it is and the other people in your team know what it is. Ideally, go find out what best practice is in your company or get someone in to work with you on capturing it.
Its not a system if its not documented.
2. IT ALL STARTS IN YOUR MIND – YOUR SALES PIPELINE ATTITUDE
Like almost everything, success starts in the mind.
You need a clear picture of what a full sales pipeline looks like. How many prospects should be in the pipeline to achieve the sales targets you have?
3. THE RULE OF 3
There is an old, well proven rule – you need 3 times as many prospects in front end of the pipeline as you want sales coming out the other end.
If you need 10 sales – you need 30 prospects.
4. YOUR DAILY ROUTINE
You need to map out your daily prospecting – filling your pipeline routine. You might have certain days where you go to certain functions or events or prospecting places. You certainly need to have times marked in your diary to do prospecting otherwise you will do all the things you are comfortable doing first.
You might also have an Accountability Buddy who you commit to so you actually deliver on your prospecting promises.
Map out your daily and weekly prospecting activity targets.
5. YOUR TARGET LIST
Who are your ideal clients and do you have a list of them?
(If you want wildebeest but attract muppets, something is wrong with your prospecting)
Are you working the list on your CRM or data base?
How do you make this a routine each day and week?
If you don’t know who you are going after, how can you go after them?
6. YOUR ATTRACTION POSITIONING
If you want wildebeest but attract muppets, you need to re-design your positioning.
There is an old saying ‘the bait you use will attract the critter..’ What bait are you using?
How are you positioning yourself? What materials, information, knowledge, message are you putting into the marketplace? Most of us are blind to what we are projecting.
That is why engaging external specialists is critical or seek feedback from clients on their experience on why they did or did not buy.
7. YOUR OFS — OUTWARD FACING SYSTEMS
You need multiple sources of what we call OFS – Outward Facing Systems.
Unless you are a raving extrovert, you will be happy to be on the computer or in the office when in fact you need to be on the phone or out talking to people. Your OFS will systematise your contact with the outside world — and ideal prospects in particular.
What are your OFS’s? How good are they and what needs to be done to take them to the next level?
Too much IFS (Inward Facing System) will lead to poor cashflow — and that’s no fun for anyone.
8. YOUR SALES PLANNING CYCLE
You need to have a 90 day Sales Planning Cycle. You need your Sales Reps to be involved in that process so there is buy in. If you want people committed to a plan you need to have them involved in the creation of that plan.
Some of the best Sales Breakthroughs that I have seen during my career have been in implementing solid Sales Planning and Sales Forecasting processes. Putting order into the chaos. My experience is that at least 50% of companies are average to very poor at Sales Planning.
If you want to find out more or implement any of these systems into your business
Leigh Farnell
Business Innovation and Growth through Sales and Service Teamwork
If you are interested in learning more about Leigh and his workshops on Essemy, please visit this link.
