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Flush the Ambiguity out of your Sales Pipeline

Written by: Mike LeMaster

Article Overview: Truth or Fiction! Do you feel this is the guessing game you are playing when assessing the potential and probability of your sales pipeline? Uncertainty over new business opportunities is a big issue. Often times it is a result of having a subjective, non-scientific approach to predicting potential and probability of revenue opportunities.

Flush the Ambiguity out of your Sales Pipeline

Truth or Fiction! Do you feel this is the guessing game you are playing when assessing the potential and probability of your sales pipeline? Uncertainty over new business opportunities is a big issue. Often times it is a result of having a subjective, non-scientific approach to predicting potential and probability of revenue opportunities.

Why risk your company's future on outdated means to assess, track and measure the real world potential and probability of new business opportunities? The challenge for business leaders is to learn how to harness the data available and turn it into something actionable upon which solid strategies can be built.

Sales drive any organization, and business leaders need to rely on their sales team for vital information. One of the most valuable sources of information is a comprehensive sales pipeline management system. Without it, your business strategy and direction can be a "shot in the dark" at best.

Pipeline management refers to the process of managing the sales cycle. This may include:

· Reviewing sales potential - What revenue can this opportunity realistically generate?
· Reviewing sales probability - How realistic is the likelihood of closing inside a defined period of time?
· Managing lead flow and opportunity development - Is your sales organization focused on all phases of the sales pipeline?
· Forecasting sales and revenue - Can you manage your business, based on current forecasting, with a high degree of confidence?
· Evaluating issues affecting sales - Do you know why the opportunity is stalled or at risk?
· Time utilization - Is your sales organization spending time to maximize profitable revenue?

To determine whether you need to institute a method for better management of your sales pipeline, consider whether you'd like to see the following outcomes inside of your business. Then, assess what each of these outcomes would mean in terms of time and money:

· Less time spent with unqualified prospects and more time with qualified prospects.
· Objective sales opportunity criteria resulting in accurate forecasts.
· Shorter sales cycles.
· Higher closing ratios.
· Less time spent servicing existing clients at the expense of finding new clients.
· An objective method for sales management to determine who needs help the most, by identifying problems and opportunities.
· Sales managers able to determine if poor sales performance is due to ineffectiveness or lack of effort, or a combination of the two.

The successful management of the pipeline is more easily achievable if your sales leaders have a realistic picture of the sales opportunities. And, managing the pipeline for greater revenue can be made simpler with a combination of an attitude of accountability and the right technology system.

Operating your business without a system to quantifiably identify, measure and track opportunities is a recipe for disaster. Build a system of integrity into your organization by treating the revenue inside of future opportunities as your present cash flow. You would never manage your current financial picture with the same cavalier treatment as the potential revenue trapped inside your sales pipeline!

Related Articles
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  The Sales Pipeline
  Improve Sales Performance with More Effective Pipeline Management
  Why You Should be Scared When Your Salespeople are Closing Lots of Business
  Assessing and Building Your Leadership Pipeline

Article Tags: better management, business leaders, business strategy, guessing game, new business opportunities, opportunity development, pipeline management, probability, profitable revenue, revenue opportunities, sales organization, sales pipeline, shot in the dark, sources of information, spending time, time and money, time utilization, truth or fiction, unqualified prospects, vital information



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