5 Intelligent Ways to Accelerate Pipeline Conversion
Revenue pipelines are beautiful when they perform as planned. The speed with which deals convert has much to do with how marketing and sales are set up and trained to operate, as the individual skillset of a salesperson. In this blog post, we discuss five key elements contributing to the accelerated conversion of the pipeline.
Focus on leads from your highest-performing channels.
Sell where you have had the best results. If accelerated pipeline conversion is your goal, it would be a poor decision to focus on leads from low-performing channels.
Be resolute about who your real SQLs are.
Hope-filled funnels result in inaccurate revenue projections, wasted time and resources, and future cash flow hardships. Separating real deals from those that are not may dramatically reduce the size of the pipeline. You may have SQLs that should be kicked back to marketing for nurture campaigns, or booted entirely out of the funnel as not qualified. Strict discipline around qualifying MQLs and the sales steps required for handling SQLs will improve conversion metrics including acceleration through the pipeline.
Tightly align sales with marketing.
Like peas and carrots, marketing and sales need to work closely together. These two areas of the organization should be in constant communication, working together daily, to never operate independently of each other.
Establish and implement a technology-enabled sales process.
When a sales organization operates following a mapped – and technology-enabled - sales process, straying from required steps is not possible. This level of control around the sales operation will deliver more accurate revenue projections. Furthermore, when the sales process is built into a sales tool that integrates into your CRM, everyone with access rights can see the revenue pipeline in real-time. This level of transparency allows leaders to get in front of future cashflow issues, versus being surprised with shortfalls.
Automate highly administrative repetitive tasks.
Daily work for the sales team, or routine sales cadences, can waste time. There are a series of sales tools on the market that are designed to automate and customize routine sales activities. These tools are intended to keep leads informed as they sit at any level of a mapped sales process. Automation in this area more typically impacts deals higher in the funnel – allowing the sales team to focus on deals with a higher probability to close.