Category: Pipeline Management

Stop Letting the Prospect Control YOUR Sales Cycle

Does this sound familiar? “We’ll need to talk internally, and then we’ll get back to you.” Let me guess, you hear this right after you’ve finished your software demo and are trying to schedule another call. Am I right? Keeping deals flowing through the pipeline is critical for you to hit quota and for your company to realize its revenue goals. However, preventing deals from stalling out and prospects from ...

September 11, 2023

No Sales Process = No Revenue Progress

Co-Written with Rachel Epstein Salespeople often don’t enjoy following imposed rules around selling. And we get it – it can seem more like a burden than a benefit. But companies without a formalized and documented sales process are more likely to have underperforming reps who generate less revenue. In fact, HBR reports that companies with a formal sales processes in place see a 28% increase in revenue. It’s simple… if ...

October 21, 2022

Recession-Proof Your Pipeline…..Now

We’ve had a lot of turbulence in the last three years. The pandemic, the Great Resignation, and most recently the war in Ukraine which has pushed the price of oil and gas to an all-time high. All this turmoil has increased prices of just about every consumer good and I’m now seeing an impact on business spending because of talk about a looming recession. The result for your sales team ...

June 1, 2022

Own Your Life and Your Future

I started using #ownyourownshit about 5 or 6 years ago when I was in an environment where there were a lot of excuses flying around. The reality was, those individuals, the ones with all the excuses, could have controlled a lot more than they were taking responsibility for. The majority of complaints I hear from sales reps revolve around things that they can control and either choose not to, don’t ...

July 19, 2021

My 2nd favorite word is No!

“My 2nd favorite word is No!” That’s what my former employee James was famous for saying. It’s great when your prospect does you the favor of saying no, but most times their actions and words will sound more like, maybe. That puts the pressure on you to decide when a maybe is really a no. The trick is to be confident about when to pull the plug on a prospect ...

April 20, 2021

Your Funnel is a Fantasy

It appears that there were enough deals in the pipeline and yet here you are again, a few days left in the quarter and you’re only at 52% of your Q3 goal. The quarter started out as it usually does; a “full” pipeline, reps confident they will hit quota this month, and you reporting the good news to the board. But with only a few days left neither you nor ...

September 17, 2020

3 Clues that Your Sales Process is Broken

I worked for a CFO once who would regularly say, “That sounds like a broken process.” I got tired of hearing that, not because he was wrong, but because he was right. I often get calls from Founders or Sales Leaders asking if I will come in and evaluate their sales reps. because they aren’t sure they’ve got the right players on the team. I gently say to them that ...

February 18, 2020

“Stalled” is NOT a Stage

I was doing a pipeline audit for a client a few years ago when I ran across a sales stage called “Stalled”. What is this, I asked? “Oh- That’s where we put all the deals that we think will close someday but are currently stalled out. We don’t want to lose track of them.” WTF???? So as crazy as this sounds, they aren’t the only company I’ve run across with ...

January 10, 2020