The goal of every business is profit, and to get there, it needs to make sales. That applies to products and services, as the ultimate goal for both is the same – to entice customers to buy/use something. It’s not easy at all, and in general, following the customers’ journey is quite a slippery field.
A sales funnel uses a sales pipeline to visually show customers’ paths. Maybe these two terms confuse you because they seem to be the same thing. But they’re not, and you can find out more about that here. The sales pipeline is the customer’s journey from the seller’s perspective.
It helps companies define all stages and specific actions to turn a lead into a customer. We suggest helpful practices for improving your sales pipeline that has proven to be a score.
Ways to Improve Sales Pipeline Management
Focus on Valuable Leads
The leads that enter your sales funnel have different characters and habits. It’s quite difficult to put them in one template, but for the needs of your pipeline, you need to determine buyer’s personas. Based on that, you can assess which leads are the most valuable to you.
For this to be possible, good sales lead management is crucial. It serves to help the right people to make the right decisions that will benefit your business. When done right, it turns more leads into customers, eases all future actions related to you, and generally improves their experience, which is why they always come back to you.
Certain techniques, such as influencer marketing or referrals, have proven to be very successful in generating valuable leads. These aren’t always the ones who will spend the most money on your product or service.
These are leads who will interact with you the most, ask the most questions, and show genuine interest in your brand. They have the highest chance of becoming your customers, and even if that doesn’t happen, their contribution to your success is great.
Make Workflow Clear
The sales pipeline consists of several stages where each team has specific duties, so their roles often overlap. If sales pipeline management fails in this regard and no one knows who, what, and when they work, a huge problem arises that eventually results in reduced pipeline efficiency. If you omit to plan and organize everything from the beginning, the chances of failure are high.
To be able to organize work tasks, you must be clear with the pipeline structure. So, for starters, identify stages, as each will have its own workflow. Then, determine which team is in charge of which sales task and what steps each consists of.
Also, special attention must be paid to the workflow control in each stage. You can benefit from using management tools for visualization, like charts and dashboards. These make the workflow transparent, so it’s easy to spot possible issues. That helps track leads and their actions and take prompt corrective measures when something goes wrong.
Follow Up
The clean sales pipeline should be free of disruptions that distract you from valuable leads and great sales opportunities. Cleaning also helps you identify bottlenecks and blockages that interfere with your sales funnel. Removing stagnant leads allows you to focus on valuable ones and help them reach the end of your pipeline.
Before cleaning, always try a follow-up to all leads that have been in your pipeline for a long time but haven’t progressed through the stages. You may have to reach out or call them more often. Set reminders for follow-up actions and determine a period without interaction to give the lead enough time to act. If they don’t, it’s time to let them go.
Provide Informative Content
Quality content is one of the pillars of a good marketing strategy. As customers progress through your sales funnel, they need more information to guide them through the stages. That means a little more effort than the usual emails or phone calls.
At the very top of the funnel, prospects need some general information. On your part, it can be various blogs, infographics, FAQs, or posts that should grab their attention. As they progress further through your funnel, leads should get additional information that’ll turn them into paying customers.
Towards the end of customers’ journey, when they have already taken favorable action, you have to put extra effort into turning a paying customer into a recurring one. Content should be optimized for buyers, not search engines. For example, you can provide consultations or live demos that explain your product and service in more detail.
More tips on creating the best bottom-of-the-funnel content are below:
https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/buyer-centric-strategy/
Handling the sales pipeline can be challenging. When done properly, it’s a powerful tool that contributes to your business success. But if you fail to manage it properly, you can lose customers irreversibly. With these tips, you can put good practices to use and benefit from them.
