It can be easy to forget that “pipeline” is more than just a buzzword. Instead, it’s an important sales tool for any sales management operation , and it can make a significant difference to your bottom line.
Sales pipeline stages can help you and your sales department better understand your sales pipeline. This visual representation shows where your deals are in the sales funnel, where deals are stalling, and what sales activities are helping reps close deals and generate the most revenue.
If you're not using a sales funnel, you may be missing overseas chinese in worldwide data valuable insights into the effectiveness of your sales process , where your deals are at any given moment, and what concrete actions you can take.
In this article, we'll explain what a sales pipeline is, break down the stages of the sales pipeline, and teach you how to build a sales pipeline. We'll also explain how sales pipeline management can help you achieve more of your sales goals, and teach you how to build your own.
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What is a sales pipeline ?
A sales pipeline is an organized, visual way to track potential buyers as they move through different stages in the buying process and buyer journey.
Pipelines are often visualized as a horizontal bar (sometimes as a funnel) divided into the different stages of a company's sales process. Leads and prospects move from one stage of the pipeline to the next as they move through the sales process (for example, when reps receive a response to an outreach, such as a cold email, or when a prospect is flagged as a qualified or unqualified lead ).
Sales pipeline stages add a level of accountability and make it easier to achieve sales goals by breaking down the sales process into small, trackable tasks.
With a funnel, salespeople can see exactly where their money, deals, and other sales efforts are at all times. This is vital, given that salespeople are often juggling many sales prospects and deals and can’t afford to let anything slip through the cracks.
It is also a powerful tool for sales managers who want to collect and analyze data on how well their sales process is working or not working, so they can optimize it accordingly. As a sales pipeline tracks a salesperson’s activities, it offers visibility into which sales activities are giving a company the most return.
“Companies don’t know what their potential is,” says Michelle Seger, a partner at SalesGlobe , based in Atlanta, USA. “If you can actually see your activities, how long they’ve been there and what your conversion rates are, you can tell where you are and what’s not working.”