With baseball season fast approaching, I’m reminded of the most legendary line from the movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.”
As salespeople, it’d be nice if readymade buyers were marching out of the cornfield, but as we all know, nurturing sales pipeline growth is not quite so simple. You can’t just build a solid B2B sales strategy and then expect the prospects to pile up. We must stay forever proactive in order to maintain consistent opportunities and conversions.
To ensure you’re covering all of your bases, let’s see what experts around the web are recommending on this front.
Reliable Tactics for Steady Sales Pipeline Growth
Last week on our blog, Microsoft’s Hayden E. Stafford published a post on The Pipeline Paradox. “How do we manage breadth and depth simultaneously when there is pressure to always have full pipeline coverage,” he asked, “yet at the same time develop deep relationships with our customers and prospects?”
This is a relatable challenge for sales managers. There’s only so much time in the day, meaning that the desire to foster high-quality engagements — which requires preparation and research on the part of sellers — can be at odds with the desire to continually feed the pipeline.
Here are some tips for striking an effective balance.
Measure Process, Not Just Outcomes
Focusing exclusively on conversions and sales can be an unhealthy practice because it detracts from an emphasis on good habits in the earlier stages of engagements. Just because a rep lost out on a deal doesn’t mean they didn’t do all the right things along the way (nor that those actions won’t pay dividends down the line).
On the ReadWrite Blog, Steve Woods of Nudge Software recently offered his take on the real key metrics behind successful B2B sales outreach. Three mainstays that he values:
- Outreach volume
- Response timeline
- Response rate
Advisable outreach metrics will vary based on your organization, personnel, and strategy, but they’re always worth tracking. I recommend taking the time to analyze seller activities in the prospecting stage in order to form conclusions, not just about which activities are conducive to completed sales, but also which ones are conducive to quality sales pipeline growth.
Set Clear and Realistic Goals
“Magical thinking will not make your numbers improve,” wrote Christopher Ryan at CustomerThink earlier this month when discussing B2B marketing and sales lessons learned in the trenches. Wait, you mean if I build it… they won’t necessarily come?
Ryan is CEO for Fusion Marketing Partners and has a lengthy track record as a sales and marketing executive. He says it is critical for business leaders to ensure they aren’t setting the bar out of reach. “It’s always a judgement call but usually better to set tough but achievable objectives,” he says.
To that end, another recent post from CustomerThink might prove helpful: Last week, Alexander Shum outlined some techniques for S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting in sales. No rabbits in hats necessary.
Cultivate a Conversational Culture
Stafford, who spent nearly a decade as a management consultant before moving into the world of sales leadership, has carried over some wisdom from his past experience. “By nature, salespeople talk a lot,” he says. “Yet consultants listen, because they’re trained to deconstruct a business problem and be active listeners who learn by listening.”
That’s a great attitude to instill in your sales reps. Too often, sales conversations are one-sided in the wrong direction. Assuming the role of a consultant puts you in a helpful mindstate, building trust while also potentially opening new windows for sales pipeline growth. (If you take the time to listen, you never know what a prospect might mention about their specific pain point, or another influencer in the buying committee, or a colleague at another company with similar frustrations.)
Rely on the Right Tools for Efficiency
Of course, listening does take time. In fact, pretty much every tactic for filling your pipeline with quality prospects does. The solution is not to rush your process or cut corners when it comes to prospecting, but rather to figure out where you can add efficiencies. Sales technology lends a crucial assist in this regard.
Last week our own Amanda Bulat laid out nine sales productivity tools to supercharge your team. From sales acceleration to customer relationship management to sales intelligence, these tools can help your team do more with less.
There’s no magical elixir for sales pipeline growth, but with the right metrics, goals, approaches, and tools, we can keep the opportunities flowing without sacrificing quality.
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Topics: Sales trends
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