The form of the Sales Pipeline tells a story – The Martini 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 Martini Glass
The form of the pipeline is wide at the top but much small(er) from in the later stages. In commercial terms this means two things:
1. The company is converting first contact into opportunities
The good news is that the company is able to create sales qualified leads and turn them into opportunities. How do you qualify opportunities?
a. Clear Pain Points: The challenge of the sales professional is to assess of these pain points are important and/or urgent enough.
b. Budget: The prospect has already allocated a budget or is willing to make one.
c. Decision Making Unit (DMU): The sales professional has to find out the DMU and his/her way to the decision maker, directly or indirectly.
d. Process and Timelines: Bigger companies have a formal process how they buy stuff. Be sure to know the next steps with the needed timelines.
e. Mutual Beneficial Relationship: Trust is pre-condition for a relationship. Relationships can only last when the solution fits both the company objectives but – in many cases – also the personal ambition of the people involved.
2. But the opportunities are not converting into proposals
The form of the Martini Gass is showing a low opportunity conversion rate. What could be the reason?
There are several reasons for this form of the sales pipeline:
- The customer pain is not important enough.
- The customer pain is not urgent enough (and a decision is postponed).
- The Business Case for the solution is not good enough (e.g. the value is too low and/or the costs are too high).
- The sales professional has lost control over the process.
- The sales professional is talking to the wrong person(s).
Sales professionals with this profile typically:
- Are great in contacting new prospects and have the first conversations and company meetings.
- Score lower on process management and controlling the prospect.
- Might lack sufficient analytical skills and good customer understanding to assess the opportunity.
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.