Pipeline management 1 – When is it an opportunity?

One of my least favorite activities as both a young sales representative and a young sales manager was reviewing pipelines. Why? Because as a young sales person I was never taught what opportunity really meant, and as a young sales manager I was not skilled at teaching others.

The problem in both cases was the same. The sales rep, even when it was me, was not willing to see that some prospects were not opportunity. There is a lot of bravado on a sales floor. Without a heightened sense of confidence and a healthy competitive streak, most sales people become overwhelmed by the constant clamor of the not interested non prospect. Unfortunately with this confidence comes folly. Sales people tend to confuse interest with opportunity and this stems from a belief that anyone who will listen is a potential customer.

Seasoned sales people will recognize that a prospect must be qualified, but usually this is only related to the pain they are feeling and the potential benefits of making a change. The problem with this is that even people that need to make a change will not always act on this need. The issue with bravado in the sales process is many people that will never buy make it to the pipeline.
Many of my colleagues in the sales consultant and sales training community grimace when I share that a pipeline should look more like a pipe than a funnel. I firmly believe that if you properly disqualify the people that are not ready to make a decision, you will find that you sell to over 80% of the people you consider opportunity.

Others will say that I am splitting hairs and that whether someone is considered an opportunity or not we still go through the same process. This is where I say, NO!!!! Once someone enters the pipeline, not only are they visible to those above and around you, but it is habit if not utter desire to cling to that contact and never remove them. Closing out an opportunity as lost is such a rare occasion that potentials move from month to month and waste the time of many.

So what do you do to ensure that there is really opportunity? The answers are simple:

1. Get buy in from whoever you are talking to that you can communicate with anyone involved in the buying process
2. Get confirmation that there is budget
3. Uncover all of the problems, desires, wishes, needs, and other tidbits that will be part of making a decision. Get this from everyone involved.
4. Confirm that if you manage to answer to everything in #3, you will get a sale.
5. Build a timeline and get confirmation that this timeline is logical.

These steps will seem uncomfortable the first few times you add them to your discovery. There will be times when you want to act on a feeling or instinct. The pipeline built from the gut is a waste of time, and one that will keep you from doing your best. The pipeline built on opportunities that will become sales, is the one that makes you a hero.

Pipeline management 2 – The lure of sales technology »« Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-05-31