3 key ways to boost efficiency in your sales pipeline

Being responsible for a sales team can seem like a thankless job. No matter how many deals you close, there’s always more to do and bigger numbers to hit. And that doesn’t even take into account the strategic elements and the onboarding and support you do for new clients.

The more tips and tools you have at your disposal to make your job easier, the more you can sail past your target and get the right kind of leads to convert. Improving your win rate can bring you enormous benefits.

Your sales pipeline is your fast-track to great results. The more efficient you can make that pipeline, the more quickly and effortlessly you can convert leads. Especially the right kind of leads.

Here are our top 3 tips for an efficient sales pipeline.

TIP #1. Understand the potential of each lead

Wouldn’t it be amazing if every single lead converted into a sale?

Actually, it probably wouldn’t be. Firstly, you simply wouldn’t have time to give every lead the attention they need to get their accounts set properly. Until they’re onboarded, you can’t make any money off them.

Second, many of your leads aren’t the right fit for your company, and you’d probably spend all your time trying to help them make things work.

An efficient sales team finds ways to determine which leads are likely to convert into the right type of customer. They spend the bulk of their time nurturing those leads. This team uses other automated processes like inbound marketing to assist in converting other types of leads. They mix and match their strategies to get the maximum number of conversions.

Tip #2. Track sales pipeline velocity

By figuring out how much time prospects spend at each stage of the pipeline, and comparing this to your data on where they fall out of the pipeline, you can see trends and plug holes in your process that cause delays.

For example, you should reach out to contacts in your database once every six months so they remember you exist. If you’re not doing this, then according to sales expert Jeff Bullas, you’re missing out on a lot of sales profit. Neglecting to do this, or to push new leads into the pipeline, will stall velocity at one end.

On the other end, if your onboarding is delayed by a paper based credit check process that involves back and forth with agencies and the client, then you’ve got a velocity problem at the other end. Even if a client has converted, you can’t start earning from them until they’ve been onboarded.

That’s where 1Centre can help, by streamlining and automating this credit check process. You’ll be able to open trade accounts faster, cheaper, and with greater visibility, and increase velocity along your sales funnel to make those accounts start working for your sooner.

Tip #3. Create automated methods of prospect acquisition

Sales and marketing can work together to create more effective acquisition methods that bring in a continuous and qualified river of leads ready for nurturing.

You can try techniques like building a blog that publishes content relevant to your industry, creating lead magnets (such as videos, downloadable guides, white papers, and online tools) and improving your social media. You can also try having a stall at a regular monthly industry event, and forming partnerships with other industry organisations.

Improving your sales pipeline will guarantee an increase in profit, and will also enable you to grow the business, offer a better experience for customers, and create an environment where your sales team thrive.