“Funnel” or “Incubator?”

Guest post by: Todd Youngblood
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“The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” - By Todd Youngblood

Friendly violent debates are really a lot of fun. They're also the best way to practice selling complex ideas. Fortunately for me, there are lots of folks ready, willing and able to have no-holds-barred, free-for-all arguments about my allegedly brilliant ideas. One of my favorites involves the traditional "sales funnel" metaphor. I still hold it near and dear. For me, it's the bedrock upon which sales process improvement is built. A trusted colleague thinks I'm missing the boat and that an "incubator" metaphor is more appropriate. His contention is that sales is non-linear, and needs to be able to deal with whatever new circumstances come along.

In my view, he's right about the non-linear nature of establishing and nurturing business relationships with individuals. He's dead wrong, though, when it comes to managing opportunities. My job as a sales rep is to help my customers solve problems and exploit opportunities. No touchy-feely nurturing stuff here. This is bare-knuckle business. Crush that problem. Exploit that market situation. (Yeah, exploit, not just take advantage of!) Be disciplined, methodical and relentless about it. To do either of those things, I need to thoroughly understand and, using a defined sales process, work through four sets of information:

* The existing circumstances - Who, what, when, where why and how? What - precisely what - is the "Before" picture?

* The desired circumstances - Who, what, when, where why and how? What - precisely what - is the "After" picture?

* The transition - How do I help my customer progress from "Before" to "After?"

* The "So what?" - What does "Before" cost? What does "After" cost? What does the transition cost? What is the ROI, Break-Even Point and discounted cash flow associated with my recommendation?

I just described a process; a funnel management process. Nothing non-linear about it. Sure I need to do all that non-linear relationship and credibility building stuff, but when it comes to identifying an opportunity and selling something related to it, I'll take the good old funnel mentality every time.

What do you think?

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“The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” - By Todd Youngblood

About the Author: Todd Youngblood

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Todd Youngblood is passionate about sales productivity. His 30+ year career in Executive Management, Sales, Marketing and Consulting has focused on selling more, better, cheaper and faster. He began his career in 1976 as a Marketing Representative with the IBM Corporation and for fifteen years progressed through a wide variety of field and staff assignments. He then founded and operated an Information Technology Outsourcing firm providing Software Development and Maintenance Services. In 1994, he joined an electronic commerce firm serving the insurance and healthcare industries, as Vice President of Sales & Marketing. He established The YPS Group, Inc. in 1999 based on his years of experience in Sales Process Engineering ï¿½ that is, combining creativity and discipline in the design, implementation and use of work processes for highly effective sales teams. Todd has worked extensively with firms in the Distribution, Manufacturing, Insurance, Services, and Telecommunications industries. He is the author of two sales management books, The Dolphin And The Cow and Think About Itï¿½ He is married, has two daughters, enjoys cycling, is a second degree black belt in Choi Kwang Do and serves on the board of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra.
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