The form of the Sales Pipeline tells a story – The Coupe Glass
One of the easiest analysis is to assess the form of the Sales Pipeline. Easy but very informative. The form can show the current commercial capability and performance of that sales person. Or on an aggregated level – the commercial capability and performance of that company.
The Coupe Glass
The form of the pipeline is wide at the top and much small(er) on the mid and lower end. In commercial terms this means two things:
1. The company creates attention and leads
There are various ways to create leads. To make it simple: by outbound and inbound marketing. In short, outbound marketing involves proactively reaching out to potential customers to get them interested in a product. These could include email campaigns, linked-in posts and Google and Linkedin-ads.
By contrast, inbound marketing centers on creating and distributing content that draws people into your website and to stimulate them to interact with you.
The responses of potential customers are qualified in two ways. In the first phase, as a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL). MQLs have shown interest in a product or service based on your marketing activities, both in- and outbound. As a next phase, a MQL that has been verified by the sales team and entered into the sales pipeline is called a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL). SQLs have expressed a clear intent to buy and are ready to talk to a salesperson.
2. But the lead conversion rate is low
A SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) and an opportunity are not the same. An SQL is a potential customer showing interest, while an opportunity is a lead actively considering a purchase and is more committed. In latter case, among others a need or pain, an allocated budget and expected decision within 6-12 months are present.
The form of the Coupe Gass is showing a low lead conversion rate. What could be the reason?
Sales professionals with this profile typically:
- Are great in finding new prospects and contact them.
- Score lower on persuasiveness either lacking good domain expertise and/or good customer understanding and skills.
Companies with this profile have a high score on business development and lead generation. But have a lower score on sales effectiveness and/or probably have less competitive advantages or are not able to show this sufficiently.