Infographics

5 Tips for a Healthy Pipeline

A pipeline full of opportunities certainly feels healthier, than a sparse or empty funnel that will clearly not generate revenue. However, as is the case in many scenarios, less is often more. The ultimate goal is a lean, healthy pipeline with a high % of opportunities matching your target profile, moving swiftly from stage to stage, through the funnel to close.

There is a world of difference between a healthy feed of the right opportunities and a full, but poor quality pipeline, sapping large amounts of time and resource, not to mention wasted sales management time grappling with inaccurate forecasts and misleading performance indicators.

Sales people each have their own style and approach and use different skills to achieve results. Depending on your product and proposition, opportunities in the B2B space may be complex, involve a protracted path to purchase, with multiple decision makers across many job functions. All these varying factors can make it challenging to analyse and understand your pipeline performance, the key to hitting critical growth targets for your business.
 

So, how do you build a strong predictable sales pipeline?


To manage a pipeline effectively, you need a level of control. This requires a process and definitions that make sense to all involved, including a clearly defined target audience, and set criteria for what constitutes a ‘good prospect’. If your team is working to a shared set of criteria, you can measure the process and identify areas in need of improvement - parts of the funnel that are leaking, conversion rates above or below average – and then coach individuals around the right behaviours, establishing best practice across the team. There are tools that can help - making your team more productive, minimising administration tasks and helping enforce a more disciplined approach.

Having established clear qualification criteria, you can then move prospects in and out appropriately, and ensure time and effort is targeted to the right opportunities. This assumes a feed of good quality data and robust qualification within your pipeline process. This is where a live conversation at an early stage can pay dividends. It ensures leads from digital sources are thoroughly evaluated, nurtured with relevant content and then delivered to your sales team only when they are truly sales ready, with additional insight that increases their propensity to convert. This, of course, avoids inefficiencies and pointless costs further down the funnel, as sales chase enquiries that don’t match the ideal prospect, or are not ready to buy.

Incorporating human interaction within your qualification process is a key stage in establishing a healthy pipeline. If you have limited resource, it is worth considering outsourcing this part of the process, as the potential increase in quality of output and improved ROI can make it a very cost-effective option.

At The Telemarketing Company, our Lead Response Management teams are able to evaluate inbound leads or automation qualified leads quickly and systematically, identifying those that meet criteria to deliver a rich feed of genuine sales opportunities to our clients' sales teams.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you develop a leaner, healthier pipeline call us today. And, for further insight on this topic, view our infographic:
infographic-5-tips-for-a-healthy-pipeline_650x1625.jpg

Related articles

In-house versus outsourced sales development - a true cost comparison

In-house versus outsourced sales development - a true cost comparison

Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Find out more
8 reasons why chatbots cannot replace human agents.

8 reasons why chatbots cannot replace human agents.

Thursday, June 1, 2023
Find out more
Six reasons why phone outreach is essential to sales success

Six reasons why phone outreach is essential to sales success

Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Find out more
Planning through uncertainty

Planning through uncertainty

Monday, November 7, 2022
Find out more

Our full range of telephone services

Data Services

Flexible Data Services

Data Cleansing
Data Cleansing
Clean, up-to-date data delivers better quality leads and boosts sales
Read more
Data Enrichment
Data Enrichment
Data enrichment helps you better connect with your target audience and delivers actionable insights, improved conversion
Read more
Email Opt-ins: GDPR
Email Opt-ins: GDPR
Do you have a clean, compliant, opted-in database?
Read more

Pre Sales Research

Drive your sales strategy with telephone interviewing

Pre Sales Research
Pre Sales Research
Arm your sales and marketing teams with clear customer intelligence and actionable insight.
Read more

Telemarketing

Telemarketing that’s personal, agile, smart and insightful.

Lead Generation
Lead Generation
A steady stream of qualified buyers
Read more
Call Handling
Call Handling
We can provide your customers with an expert, personalised service - making every interaction count
Read more
Appointment Setting
Appointment Setting
Successful appointment setting requires meaningful human interaction with senior decision makers
Read more
Lead Management
Lead Management
Improve lead flow and quality - turn inbound leads into sales
Read more
Event Marketing
Event Marketing
Engage high value attendees and drive registrations
Read more
Lead Qualification / Nurture
Lead Qualification / Nurture
Move leads through the funnel more strategically with our expert lead qualification and lead nurturing services
Read more

Sales

High-performance Telesales

Telesales / Inside Sales
Telesales / Inside Sales
Flexible, high performance transactional telesales and complex inside sales services.
Read more
Account Based Marketing
Account Based Marketing
Increase profitability, reverse churn and increase customer lifetime value.
Read more

Post Sales Research

Strengthen customer relationships

Welcome Calls
Welcome Calls
A welcome call is an opportunity to reach out to new customers and reduce customer churn, as part of an effective customer management strategy.
Read more
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction
Gain a more nuanced view of your customers’ experiences through phone-based surveys.
Read more
Treating Customers Fairly / Compliance
Treating Customers Fairly / Compliance
An FCA authorised and regulated business, our expert team can help you meet your TCF compliance needs.
Read more