Want Long-Term Success? Build Your Pipeline!
Doyle Slayton | Mar 15, 2008 | Comments 5
“Most sales are not made on the first call. Often it takes six or seven attempts to even get your foot in the door. The key to sales success is in the follow-up!” -Doyle Slayton
The best sales professionals master the art of managing their leads through a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Many sales reps will tell you that they are organized and that they have “their own” system, but look at their work-space and you’ll find that they have paper lists and sticky notes spread all across their desk! You are laughing because you know exactly who I’m talking about.
Even worse, there are those who have a database, filled with leads, and they think to themselves, “Hmm, today I’m calling all my no-contacts, or my shoppers, or maybe my past appointments.” Day after day, they spend hours calling and sorting through lead statuses hoping to find the needle in the haystack.
How many times do you see a new teammate come in and find quick early wins in the first three to six months, and then suddenly fall off the map in discouragement? All too often, and it is misdiagnosed as “the honeymoon period is over,” or “the excitement of the new job has worn off.”
The manager keeps asking, “How many calls have you made today?” …and sales person responds with “I’ve been blitzing all day and have made 40, 60, 80, 100 calls!” Although blitzing off lists feels productive, it’s an illusion. I equate it to jumping in your car and looking for new opportunities by driving around the same city block over and over again. Do you see what I mean by short-term success?
Now, I’m not saying that you should never blitz your lead base. There are three instances where you should engage in blitzing strategies.
a. When you are playing “short-term” catch-up on those rare occasions where you’ve fallen behind on your scheduled actions:
Most sales people struggle with Time Management. It becomes especially difficult when you get on a roll and you are closing a lot of deals back-to-back-to-back. This is one of the most important periods in a sales pipeline management “cycle.”
Good pipelines often build up like a rollercoaster ascending to a peak and then bam the deals start rolling in fast and furious and you are doing everything in your power just to keep up! It is exhilarating until you realize the ride has run its course and you have to start rebuilding again.
Great pipelines are always full. The best way to keep your pipeline overflowing is to ensure you keep up with your daily scheduled actions. Always make time for short-term catch-up… even when you are on a roll… a little blitz block can get you back on track.
b. When your daily scheduled actions list is so small, that you are trying to build a future pipeline:
Too often you hear reps say that they are not getting enough leads, or they complain about having a bad territory. In most cases, the reality is a weak pipeline. Some sales reps are lucky to have a corporate strategy that generates warm leads. In this scenario, each rep has new leads assigned to them on a daily or weekly basis… but, most sales reps have to generate their own leads.
In either case, the key to successful pipeline building comes in the process of adding new leads to your CRM every single day. Although each sales job is different, a solid goal example would be to build your database up between 150 and 300 new prospects per year. This size lead base would allow you to have a minimum of 20 daily scheduled actions in your CRM.
If you don’t have that many scheduled follow-up calls in your pipeline, you know it’s time to start blitzing. Always blitz with one goal in mind… “I’m looking for new leads to add to my pipeline.” Rookies who are building their pipeline from scratch should be shooting for seven to ten new leads to add to their CRM everyday. Veterans who have an established database should strive to add at least three to five new leads to their database each day. Within a few months of following this disciplined approach, you’ll have a pipeline that is overflowing with opportunity!
c. When your sales team is blitzing as a team activity or competition for the day:
Sometimes management will see a lull in activity and turn to blitzing as a means of getting a team moving again. Managers will try to create some excitement and spin it as a fun business building activity… while most of the reps are thinking, “Oh my… here we go again… I hate these.”
Superstars who live by the two previously mentioned techniques will rarely get excited about team blitzing because high activity levels are already a part of their daily routine. Maintaining perspective is very important in this instance. Be a leader and do what is best for the team. Lead by example, be a team player, and be a catalyst for success!
Always remember, your pipeline determines your success. The next time you self-evaluate, ask yourself three questions. How strong is my pipeline? How many leads do I have in my database? How many daily scheduled actions do I have in my CRM?
Dear Doyle,
You focus on some very important issues here. I got my first computerized CRM system back in 1992, and in every job I have had thereafter I have insisted that I need a CRM system. My own Outlook system, maybe compared with a good post it system is simply not good enough. At one time or another, I will lose an important customer, because I did not have the overview.
These days a computerized CRM system is not enough. To use the system effectively and entrust it, I have to be sure that the customer data is correct and valid.
There should be only one entry of each customer, not several spelled in different ways.
The telephone number, e-mails and addresses should also be correct. Lastly I want to know all the history of the customer.
If all of the above is in order, it will be an efficient tool to build your pipeline.
You know what’s funny about this article? …is that I was one of those people with all the sticky notes and papers lists. My introduction to CRM came in 2001. It changed my entire sales career for the better! You have to be very disciplined and systematic in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature… that’s when you really begin to reach new levels of success!
Hello Doyle,
Depending on which stage your company is, you need to adopt the CRM. For example as a start-up company you may want to refrain from the expenses of CRM. If your company is in a growth phase then an CRM surely makes sense. When I started my company I depended on custom-made Excel (with Macros) for the sales team. All you need is a tool which will help you to stay organised, if it is sticly notes and papers.
The core problem with most client companies we work with is that far too few actual salespeople are using, or ‘living in’ their CRM. This is called adoption and billions of dollars in sales are being left on the floor every year because adoption is not coached, mentored *by sales management) or designed as a WIIFM platform for Seller to make more money.
recent quote from a January 09 Aberdeen Group Research paper called Sales Intelligence’ stated that ‘Best in Class’ companies today showed between 3 to 5 hours per day ‘in’ thier CRM b Sales users.
With the power of web conferencing, telephone, time crunches, etc. the Seller of today has to be a power User of a quality, designed-for-them CRM to win.
Another Amen, brother. Keep up the right thinking!