I get called in a lot when organizations are struggling to hit their sales targets.
Generally, the first thing I’ll do is look at their pipeline.
Why?
The number one reason that sales stay stagnant is due to anemic pipelines.
Let’s face it, your pipeline is the lifeblood of your business and is the true indicator of how much business you’ll close.
If you neglect your pipeline, you’re truly neglecting your sales and ultimately your business. So, what results in suffering pipelines?
Here are a few causes:
1) Unclear Metrics
This is a common cause for stale pipelines. That is, sellers don’t know how many qualified leads they need in their pipeline to close a sale because they’re unclear on their numbers and data. Do a surgical review of this, get clear on your numbers so you’re not moving forward blind to important data.
2) Embracing Old Prospecting Methods
Times have changed. If your company is still relying on pure cold calling to create sales, you’re becoming increasingly irrelevant.
You need to embrace modern prospecting in order to thrive in this day and age.
3) Inconsistent Prospecting
If you’re not prospecting each day, you’re doing yourself a major disservice. Too many sellers feel that they’re “too experienced” or “too sophisticated” or “too busy” to prospect.
Yet, such an approach is doing nothing more than creating a scenario where individuals like this will need to prospect sooner or later just to survive. Never let your ego get in the way of doing the important things in your business.
If your sales aren’t growing, start with your pipeline. And, if your pipeline is in some need of resuscitation, any of the three things above will be important to look out for.
What’s another reason pipelines are unhealthy?
