Sales Discovery

Pipeline management is the sales process that takes a lead from initial interest to becoming a paying customer. It’s crucial to identify which customers will value your offering the most and have the potential for maximum lifetime value. This involves mapping out the necessary activities to convert leads into customers, ensuring every step moves them closer to a decision. A key component of this process is providing a compelling reason for why the prospect should choose your solution over others.

Once you have a customer portfolio, the focus shifts to creating win-win scenarios. Understanding customer journeys and receiving feedback is vital for successful outcomes. A tailored approach is necessary—you can’t do everything with everyone, therefore classifying customers and creating appropriate plans to execute agreed objectives is critical for a strong return on investment.

Your business’s focus on pipeline versus account management will dictate the sales model required for growth. An effective CRM is essential for capturing sales process steps and activities. Early adoption of CRM and digital tools ensures long-term data capture, generating valuable insights.

If you want to attract and retain top talent, ensure you have a robust training, coaching, performance and development process. This should provide feedback, leverage strengths, engage passions and contribute to business outcomes. While everyone benefits from training and development whilst being held accountable for performance, coaching is more nuanced. It should target specific individuals at specific times.

While data offers countless metrics, the key is identifying which ones truly matter. Most metrics are lagging indicators, reflecting past performance. However, leading indicators are essential for predicting future trends. Once you’ve pinpointed the right metrics, ensure they are easily accessible to those who rely on them for daily decision-making.