SPRING CLEAN YOUR SALES PIPELINE - focus on deals most likely to turn into sales

Clean up your pipeline to focus on deals most likely to turn into sales [Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash]

It’s spring in New Zealand and Australia – time to spring clean your sales pipeline (and home)! Clear out any deadwood to focus your energy on those deals most likely to become confirmed sales.

Clean up your sales pipeline to set up your sales revenue for the end of this year, and the beginning of the next calendar year.

See what’s really happening with your sales.
Re-focus your sales strategy to maintain progress to revenue goals.

Starting on 01 September, Spring is the most critical 90-day period of the entire calendar year for sales in ANZ.

There are less than 100 days to go until December, where many businesses wind down for Christmas and for summer holidays.
Any buying decisions that don’t happen before the slide into ‘Christmas brain’ will be left until late January or further into the new year.

Roll up your sleeves – let’s spring clean your sales pipeline.

STEP ONE – CLEAR OUT ANY DEAD DEALS

Take an honest look at the deals in your sales pipeline. Is your pipeline like a wardrobe stuffed full of clothing that might wear ‘one day’? In the meantime, your sales pipeline (or your wardrobe!) is too full – and it’s impossible to know what to prioritise, and what to discard.

It’s time to be ruthless. Get rid of every deal with no signs of life. Hanging on to deadwood does not serve your sales goals and it won’t help you make quota.

You need to see what’s really happening, to prioritise deals that are most likely to become sales, and grow your revenue.

Four questions to ask about every deal in your sales pipeline:

One – When did you last have worthwhile contact with them?

Not when they last opened your marketing email, or viewed your LinkedIn post

But – when did you last have:

a meaningful phone conversation
a meeting (in-person or via Zoom)
an inbound email (no counting those autoreply emails!)

If your last genuinely worthwhile contact is more than 5 months ago, this is a deal you need to seriously consider clearing out.

Two – Do they have a need for your solution?
You’re looking for real problems with real urgency that they want solved either now – or in the next three to six months. No problem means no requirement for your solution – which means no sale.

Three – Do they have budget?
Even with a genuine need for your solution, a lack of budget blocks any sale.
Before doing a proposal or getting into in-depth conversation, it’s important to quantify their allocated budget.

Four – Are all the stakeholders / decision-makers involved?
Without buy-in from everyone on the buying committee, there’s no sale – especially for corporate or enterprise-level deals. So, check that you’re talking with a real decision-maker, not a wannabe.
Lead the conversation by telling them what roles usually get involved in your sales meetings – and research on LinkedIn to see who the likely stakeholders are.

The best option is often to go straight to those stakeholders directly.
Send them a direct message on LinkedIn.
Give them a phone call (especially if they’ve got a mobile number).
Send them an email.
Introduce yourself without damaging the integrity of the stakeholder you’re already dealing with.

Your goal is to help their business reach the best solution, so it’s important to get all the stakeholders / decision-makers involved.

STEP TWO – PRIORITISE YOUR DEALS

You’ve cleared out those deals with zero likelihood of winning the sale. Now use your sales insights to prioritise the right deals.

Priority One – Deals that are smoking hot and ready to progress

These deals are your top priority, especially if most of the stakeholders / decision-makers are already involved.

Make sure that every one of these deals has tasks for all the appropriate contacts that you have.
A solid combination of phone calls, LinkedIn direct messages and emails will get their attention and keep opportunities progressing.

Priority Two – Deals with some signs of life, but not ready to buy within the next three months

You’re building your sales pipeline – which includes longer term opportunities that take time to develop.

Create an email sequence for those deals that may spring into life further down the track.
Weave in phone calls to the most likely deals, and give yourself follow up tasks to deals that show signs of progress.

Priority Three – Deals you believe are completely dead

Send them an email, reminding them of your solutions and leaving the door open for any future needs.

Create an email template to communicate more efficiently with these deals.
Keep them on your emailing list for marketing to communicate with.
Any tasks you decide to create are for four to six months ahead.
Only create tasks if they have some of the factors that demonstrate they could genuinely be a good-fit client.

STEP THREE – FOCUS ON THE DEALS YOU WANT TO WIN

Yes – your sales pipeline has had a good clear out. You can finally see exactly what you should focus on to win sales and hit your revenue goals.

What information can you leverage to book another meeting?

Do your research.
Find out what’s happening for their business and for their industry.
Develop insights about how your business will help them achieve their goals.

What can you send them?

If they need more helpful information – new articles, whitepapers, relevant case studies etc.
If they just need a bit of joy to break the silence – what can you physically send them to break the stalemate and get them engaging again?

How do you make it easy for them?
Even if they want to work with your business, change is hard – especially when they’re already dealing with a volatile, uncertain market.
Communicating your processes, reducing risk and sharing when they’ll see results – these all help deals to progress faster.

Yes, it takes work to spring clean your sales pipeline. But it’s worth it.

While everyone else is overwhelmed, you’ve just decluttered your sales pipeline and streamlined your sales approach. Now you can focus on the deals that really matter.