Improving Your Pipeline

One of the most cherished rituals sales reps go through once they close a new deal is to post their latest win on their white board.

It’s a great feeling to take that walk, uncap the black marker and write your new clients name and the amount of the deal up for all to see.

Unfortunately, According to a recent Linkedin poll, 50% of those in sales missed their quota last month. Less walks to the white board and shorter commission checks to go along with it yet same amount of hours worked.

No doubt a big portion of that is due to poor sales techniques. Bad sales practices that have been handed down and do nothing other than sabotage potential deals one sales call at a time.

Normally we discuss phone sales techniques that will help get those in need of sales improvement on the right path and correct poor practices however today I’d like to share a technique I use to not only keep my pipeline full but also act as a built in “self-motivator” when my pipeline is low and in need of refueling before it’s too late.

Using Your WHITE BOARD to Help Ensure Your Pipeline Continues to Produce New Business

Your white board should have three components in order to be effective:

Your Potentials.

Your Monthly Goal / Quota.

Your Deals.

Your Monthly Goal / Quota

Have your target number written publicly on the board and then make sure you “subtract” from it after each deal. Watching your number shrink with each deal helps you visualize your goal getting closer and within reach.

Your Potentials

This is key and the nucleolus of today’s article. Most CRM’s have some sort of “dashboard” that shows your pipeline chart. I can’t remember the last time I purposely looked at mine. However it’s hard to ignore my white board and when I see my “potential” column filled I know I have a good month lined up. However if I notice that the potential column is well, “white” it’s my warning sign that I need to refocus my energies to filling up the pipeline again.

Just try it for a month and tell me you don’t notice a difference.

BONUS: When you post a new opportunity up on your board, include the “follow up” date next to it.

Example:

AMCE: $2500 06/15
USACO: $999 06/17
L.TUNES: $4500 06/22

Of course your follow up reminder should be scheduled in your CRM and in your calendar reminders however writing the date of our next scheduled call will:

Help make sure you have a follow up call scheduled

Help make sure your opportunities don’t fall through the cracks.

Your Deals

And finally a column to post your new deals. Trying it this way just may help ensure your most important column has all the ink it can handle.

Sincerely,
Michael Pedone

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