Tips for Building a Sales Pipeline

If you're getting nowhere prospecting right now, here's the 3 things you need to check to get the pipeline growing again: --- 1) List building is more important in a bad economy than messaging. Stick with me. Going wider when companies aren't buying doesn't give you better odds. This is the time to revisit your ideal customer profile and get ruthless building high quality, smaller lists. Yes it'll take more time, but the results are exponentially better when you focus on a particular segment within a particular industry with a particular problem then blasting every company with X00 employees. --- 2) State the negativity in your messages. It deflates it. How? Like this: "When things get rough with layoffs and slow downs nobody is eager to stick their neck out and call for organizational transformation. But I'd imagine your exec team still expects strong performance and is looking to see who will be clever working with less. Are you opposed to exploring ways to improve the process without needing to battle internally?" Take away people's obvious objections to buying things right now by just stating them. A seller can never lower their status with a buyer by being informed. --- 3) Fortune is in the follow up when you're prospecting. The best, most abundant meetings come from the companies you were prospecting months ago that asked you to follow up. Why? Because you're almost guaranteed to have the timing be wrong when you outbound. So lead with that and start collecting amazing follow up leads. Tell prospects "I'd imagine my unexpected message in February did not catch you at the right time when this problem becomes a priority. But that doesn't mean it's not a problem all the same. At what time of year does this become more relevant? When I follow up with you then, what do I need to include in the message to get your attention at that time? And is there anyone else that's going to prioritize this problem then as well?" --- Now we're cooking. Better lists. Clearer messaging. Nailing down the timing. Don't prospect like a maniac. Be ruthless with your time. --- Ready to conquer cold calling anxiety and start meaningful conversations with your buyers? Join +5,500 sellers using the Mic Drop Method, an easy to learn framework for starting dialogue with skeptical prospects: learntosell.io

Salesforce's Enterprise AEs who make P-club do an unusual thing before their first meetings with execs. I was surprised to see them start discovery before they say a word in a VP+ conversation. Here are 5 ways I've seen it done: 1/ Survey the Exec's current team Look for them on LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Filter to folks active on LinkedIn during the past 30 days. Send a short message about how your product helps them. NOT what your product does. The outcomes they'll see (WIIFM). Ask about their pain points & advice on how to best approach the Exec. -> In Exec Discovery, this sounds like: "After talking with 5 of your sales reps in the East, it sounds like AE-created pipeline is a big focus. What are the biggest risks you see to pipe build in the next 3-6 mos? 2/ Look at the Customer Stories on their Website What problems do they solve? Who is their customer? SMB? Enterprise? What do people mention... and NOT mention? -> Sounds like: "You've got some great logos. Amazing to see Gong, Salesloft & Drift all using your platform. Given that renewals are getting leaner across the SaaS industry, what are the 2 biggest churn risks you're keeping an eye on next quarter? " 3/ RepVue / Glassdoor Reviews If you're in tech, check RepVue to see if folks are hitting quota. 71% vs. 21% of the team hitting...different conversations On Glassdoor, you can filter reviews. Hit the drop-down to select the department you sell into. You can also use Ctrl F / search for specific words in reviews. -> Sounds like: "Looks like building pipeline has been tough. Found these quotes from reps on Glassdoor (put screenshots on slides). How are you thinking about risks related to hiring & retention in the next 3 months? 4/ Look at sites where their Product is reviewed In tech, this could be G2, Capterra, Featured Customers, etc. Look for gaps related to your product (customer service, efficiency, integrations). -> Sounds like: "Looks like your customers love your functionality on G2. The only thing they disliked was not having enough time with their CSM each month. Is this one of the top 3 risks to customer retention you're focused on in the next 3 months?" 5/ Search on YouTube for any speeches, webinars, or Podcasts featuring the Exec. Make note of common themes & top takeaways. And especially any personal stories. -> In Exec Discovery, sounds like: "You made a great point about sales & marketing alignment on Kevin Dorsey's podcast. How do fewer lead conversions & slower deal velocity rank as risks you're discussing with your marketing team?" This type of prep surprises and impresses Execs. Having a POV immediately differentiates us. 1st meetings will be 5x better. Preparation > product features. #pipelineanxiety #sales

Most companies are flying blind when it comes to revenue 📊 "Some months we're closing deals left and right, other months it's crickets. I never know what's coming next month." Every month I meet with business owners who tell me exactly this. Revenue unpredictability kills everything. You can't plan hiring, you can't forecast growth, and you definitely can't sleep well at night wondering where next month's revenue is coming from. Well here's the thing...it doesn't have to be this way. ➡️ THE SOLUTION: PIPELINE DRIVEN FORECASTING Stop guessing at your revenue and start building forecasts based on actual pipeline data. Think about that difference. Instead of hoping deals close, you're working with real data from real prospects. STEP 1️⃣ → STRUCTURE YOUR CRM Track each deal by stage, amount, and expected close date in your CRM system. See every deal needs to move through defined stages that actually reflect how your sales process works. You can't just throw deals in there and hope for the best. STEP 2️⃣ → EXPORT PIPELINE DATA Export your CRM data to Excel for revenue forecasting and analysis. You know what's amazing about this? You get complete control over how you manipulate and model your data. Plus Excel gives you that flexibility that most CRM reporting just can't match. STEP 3️⃣ → FORECAST REVENUE Use weighted pipeline data to predict future revenue with confidence. Apply probability percentages to each stage and calculate realistic monthly projections. That's pretty powerful when you think about it. ➡️ RECOMMENDED CRM TOOLS 🔵 Salesforce → Enterprise grade pipeline management for larger companies 🔴 HubSpot → All in one sales & marketing platform ⚫ Pipedrive → Simple, visual pipeline management for smaller teams Now you may be thinking which one should I choose? Well that depends on your company size and complexity, but any of these will work better than spreadsheets alone. ➡️ BEST PRACTICES FOR PIPELINE MANAGEMENT 📅 Keep data updated weekly 📊 Track conversion rates by stage 📋 Define clear stage criteria 📝 Review forecasts monthly ⚙️ Set up CRM automations 🗓️ Set realistic close dates The key is to export pipeline data monthly to maintain accurate revenue forecasts. This monthly ritual will completely change how you plan and operate your business. === I've seen this transform companies from reactive revenue planning to predictable growth patterns. Instead of crossing your fingers each month, you'll know exactly what's coming and can make strategic decisions accordingly. What's your experience been with pipeline management? Are you still flying blind or do you have a system that works?

"Be the CEO of your territory" was some of the best advice I ever recieved as an AE. It was given by Udi Mokady - CEO and Founder of CyberArk - back in 2007 when I joined. But what did he mean? He meant that as sales people, we need to act like a CEO when we consider how we will achieve our goals. CEO's look at the BIG picture. Here's how to do that... 🔢 You have to understand "sales math" and the key metrics that affect it. First Average Sales price (ASP) This allows you to understand the number of deals you will need to close to hit your quota. $1m quota and ASP of $100k? You need to close 10 deals to hit your quota. Next Average Sales Cycle. The Sales cycle provides you with an indication as to how long an average deal takes. Six month sales cycle means you need to be adding deals to your pipeline in January for them to close in July. It means that you should already be thinking about NEXT YEARS quota in July of this year. Lastly, you need to understand your Win rate %. Win Rate % indicates how many of your opportunities turn into actual deals. If your win rate % is 20% then you'll need to open 5 opportunities for every deal closed. These three metrics allow you to understand if you have enough deals in your pipeline at the right time to hit your quota. Obsess about opening deals. You will close deals, but without enough pipeline, even the best sellers miss quota. 👩💻 You need to understand your resources. What do you need to do to ensure you have enough opportunities in your pipeline? What resources do you need? If you have an SDR, how can they help you meet your goals? What can you do to help them? Are you working with your channel team to understand which partners are local to your territory? Have you contacted those partners and are you working to get to know the key contacts to ensure they are also assisting with your goals? What can you do to help them find more opportunities? Lastly, have you checked other resources that could assist you in opening opportunities? Marketing? Senior execs? YOU are responsible for maximizing the resources available to you and ensuring that they WANT to work with you. 💡 You need to become a domain expert. Learn everything you can about your product, it's competitors and the technologies that sit adjacent to it. Become obsessive with understanding your customers and prospects pain and how your solution solves it. Listen to your technical resources pitch and after the meeting, ask questions about anything that didn't make sense. You WILL become better every day, and your WILL command the respect of those that work with you and for you. Following these few points will mean you are fully aware of what you need to do to hit your quota, and how you will achieve that goal. Closely monitoring that process and working closely with the resources available to you will mean that you truly are the "CEO of your territory" Good luck!