In today's digitally connected world, marketing and sales teams are now more data-driven than ever before. This shows that now not only do we have access to a myriad of information to work with, but we are also more accountable for it.

A recent study from CSO Insights revealed that executives and managers are under more burden than ever to comprehend the pulse of their business - and at the core of most businesses is the sales pipeline.

Read ahead to learn what is a sales pipeline and how you can grow it for lucrative returns. 

What is a Sales Pipeline? 

Sales pipeline a visual illustration of where prospective customers stand in the sales process. It shows how many deals salespeople are projected to close in a given year, month, or a week, and how close a sales representative is to reaching their sales quota.

Why is Sales Pipeline Analysis Important? 

It's essential because if you can detect improvements within your sales pipeline through analysis, it can help you move more potential customers from one stage of the sales funnel to the next and eventually pushes them closer to closing the sale. 

And what's the prime incentive for improving your sales pipeline?

Answer: It's revenue growth! 

Benefits of a Healthy Sales Pipeline 

For B2B sales particularly, having a healthy sales pipeline can allow you to: 

-          predict future business outcomes

-          improve the sales process,

-          allocate and manage resources to close or service upcoming sales

-          evaluate different sales strategies for the business,

-          learn how far you're from your sales target

-          review progress for the current financial year

A sales pipeline plays a vital role in closing more sales and demonstrating your business's health and future direction. Keep in mind that growing the sales funnel requires certain skills and expertise; therefore, it's always a great idea to take help from experts that can facilitate you to meet your sales targets. 

3 Tips to Improve and Grow Your Sales Pipeline 

Tip #1: Always follow-up 

The best sales professionals will ensure they keep following up with leads to successfully land the sale. But most salespeople give up after two calls – so ensure that you always follow up! We realize that it isn't easy, and it is presently ranked as the third major challenge for sales teams, but it has to be done.

This is yet another reason why outsourcing SDR can benefit sales funnel. 

Tip #2: Drop dead leads and focus on the best leads 

Ensure that you focus your efforts on the best, high-value, and most sales-ready leads, and avoid getting sidetracked by anything that would not push the needle for your business.

Similarly, it's equally critical to know what to let go of a dead lead. It might be hard after all the relationship-building efforts but believe us, it's just another burden on your shoulders you don't need.

Tip #3: Monitor sales funnel metrics

Your sales funnel a living, breathing entity that evolves continuously. Thus, you must always monitor its key sales metrics, such as: 

-          The average size of the sales deals in your pipeline

-          Total number of sales deals in your pipeline

-          The average percentage of sales deals that you've won, i.e., close ratio

-          The average lifetime of a sale deal before it is closed, i.e., sales velocity

Now that you know the importance of a sales pipeline in the success of your business, keep in mind that you have to regularly update it as it's constantly changing. If you are not attentive, your sales funnel can easily begin to get chaotic and disorganized – which will make it inefficient and could possibly make you lose sales. 

You can always count on us if you are planning to outsource this enormous task. Our experts will always have your back and wouldn't let you down.

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