Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 22, 2019

I must have done thousands of pipeline reviews over my career. Somewhat casually, I toss around the terms “Pipeline Quality And Integrity” Usually, we get into a discussion about what these things mean–it’s dangerous to assume people understand. Quality in the pipeline is important.

Pipeline 48

Pipeline Represent CRM Closing 48

Partners in Excellence

AUGUST 23, 2017

It might seem obvious to everyone reading the title of this post. We were talking about prospecting and growing the qualified pipeline. ” It was almost as if I had lit a fuse on a bomb. It’s such a simple concept to improving our effectiveness and our hit rates. They are calling on anyone and everyone.”

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Prospecting Customers Pipeline Meeting 53

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 26, 2018

It was well written and provided good advice on how to be more focused and effective in these areas. This shouldn’t be an “AHA” moment, it’s just plain common sense and great business. ” But why don’t we pay attention to it? Why is it that ABM/S/E has heightened our awareness of it?

Pipeline 48

Pipeline Up-sell Gaming Prospecting 48

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 30, 2015

Our thinking and visualizations of our sales processes, deal strategies, funnels, and pipelines often cause us to do the wrong things. It’s because we have a “one way street” mentality as we think of our deal strategies. You guessed it, it was large and critical to the quarter end.

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Process Pipeline Sales Closing 94

Partners in Excellence

MAY 19, 2015

Actually, the title of this post should be: You Can’t Have Pipeline Integrity Without Deal Integrity; You Can’t Have Deal Integrity Without A Sales Process People Use! But it was too long. Sales managers seem to be obsessed with pipeline reviews. Sales managers seem to be obsessed with pipeline reviews.

Pipeline 93

Pipeline Gaming Process Closing 93

Partners in Excellence

JULY 16, 2013

Here’s an idea for some clever software entrepreneur, add ”smell” to pipeline management software. Sometimes, I really wish we could “smell” our pipelines, we would be overwhelmed by the number of dead, stagnant, rotten deals and the resultant stench. (By Rotten pipelines are, well they’re rotten.

Pipeline 96

Pipeline Prospecting Process Meeting 96

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 24, 2013

As I’ve read many of the comments, it struck me that we need to talk about whether we really want to chase after every opportunity. Too often we celebrate winning the business, only later to find it’s a bad deal. But it seems there is one other element we miss—Is this good business for us?

Pipeline 94

Pipeline Price Closing Customers 94

Partners in Excellence

JULY 14, 2016

Inevitably, as I do pipeline and deal reviews, I see sales people hanging onto too many bad deals. The deals are hopeless, the sales person may reluctantly admit it, but stubbornly wants to keep it in their active pipeline. You need to fill up your pipeline!” There are those deals way outside the sweet spot.

Pipeline 51

Pipeline Sports Gaming Closing 51

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 24, 2014

It’s not through lack of effort, but much of it is they don’t approach the hard work of sales in the proper way. We do some analysis, we look at recent win rates, analyze the situations, and look at their pipelines. They start to lose hope—but we can stop it quickly. Here’s an example.

Pipeline 87

Pipeline Gaming Meeting Closing 87

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

Pipeline coverage is something every sales manager talks about, but few really understand it, that is, most of the time I see it mis-applied, so that it is meaningless, or even dangerously misleading. Calculating pipeline coverage is easy, we can all do it in our sleep. All simple, all sales management 101.

Pipeline 51

Pipeline Gaming Engineering Prospecting 51

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 11, 2013

.” We all know we are supposed to do it, but walking away is something we rarely do. It’s really not that simple to just walk away. We’re supposed to walk away from bad deals, whether it’s because of pricing or other issues. But it’s far easier said than done.

Negotiate 90

Negotiate Price Pipeline Start-ups 90

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 14, 2013

The funnel/pipeline is a fundamental tool for sales professionals and managers. It’s the tool that helps us understand whether we are on target to meeting our goals. I’ve seen all sorts of issues and potential games (inadvertent and purposeful) that are played with pipelines. It’s really self defeating.

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Gaming Pipeline Start-ups Prospecting 100

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 3, 2014

” As obvious as it sounds, one of the fastest ways to improve organizational or individual performance is to stop trying to sell where you lose. Yet, as obvious as it sounds, too many of the behaviors I see are focused exactly on that–selling where we lose. Make sure it is well defined and that everyone understands it.

Sell 93

Sell Pipeline Prospecting Process 93

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Stated another way, failure takes work, for the most part, it doesn’t just happen. We have to work at it to fail. ” Let me deconstruct it a little. We know our sales process maximizes our abilities to win, but too often, sales people fail to use it (or management fails to put one in place).

Pipeline 49

Pipeline Process Presentation Meeting 49

Partners in Excellence

AUGUST 19, 2014

It’s not that forecasts aren’t important, it’s just that we spend way too much time in the forecasting process. A high integrity pipeline that accurately reflects where all the deals are in the buying process. If your sales process doesn’t do this, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

Pipeline 98

Pipeline CRM Closing Process 98

Partners in Excellence

JULY 12, 2017

It’s an age old adage, “You get what you measure and compensate for.” ” If it were true, why do we have such a gap in sales quota performance? We’re measuring it, we’re tracking it, but the majority of sales people aren’t achieving their goals.

Quota 48

Quota Pipeline Gaming Pitch 48

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 5, 2014

Let’s face it, sometimes reality sucks! Recently, I was reviewing the pipeline for an industrial products organization. They thought the pipeline was pretty solid. After discussing the pipeline, reviewing the deals, we agreed to disqualify 52% of the qualified deals. We try really hard, but just can’t make it.

Pipeline 86

Pipeline Closing Meeting Prospecting 86

Partners in Excellence

AUGUST 21, 2014

We look at aging reports and see them staying in the same stage of the pipeline, not moving forward, getting older, moldier as time passes. Sometimes, I see entire pipeline’s clogged up with stalled deals–I feel like calling “Roto Rooter.” Don’t let bad deals into your pipeline.

Pipeline 96

Pipeline Presentation Process Up-sell 96

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 13, 2013

It seems we’re always looking for something more and getting that will solve all our sales problems. It seems we’re always looking for something more and getting that will solve all our sales problems. We have a sales process…but we aren’t using it. But then I start to ask questions and look around.

Pipeline 87

Pipeline CRM Consult Gaming 87

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

The funnel/pipeline is a key tool for sales people and managers to assess performance. It provides so many insights beyond knowing whether you will make your sales goals. One of the first things I look at on any new project is the pipeline. It tells me so much about the organization or the sales person. We need help!”

Pipeline 96

Pipeline Closing Prospecting Account management 96

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 15, 2013

It’s a sharp contrast to discussions I have with manufacturing, engineering, development, and even financial executives. ” Sometimes, it’s amplified, “Our work flow and processes need to be flexible and change with the customer,” or “Sales and marketing is more of an art.”

Pipeline 95

Pipeline Sales Manufacturing Process 95

Anthony Cole Training

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

sales pipeline (1). HOME ABOUT US SOLUTIONS INTEGRATED LEARNING CLIENT RESULTS FREE RESOURCES SHOPPING CONTACT US SALES BREW SALES FORCE ONE SELLING FOR LIFE. Does Your Team Need a Wake Up Call? Tony Cole can tailor a workshop or keynote that will help your team discover the spark of extraordinary motivation and success. Fix Your Problem Now.

Sell 189

Sell Objectives and Key Results Appointment Drivers/motivators 189

Partners in Excellence

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Recently, a reader wrote, asking a lot of questions about pipelines–what are they, why are they important, how do we leverage them, and so forth. For example, I know of very few sales training programs that teach pipeline concepts (we’ve been doing this for the past 30 years). So strap in… What is the pipeline?

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Pipeline Prospecting Closing Up-sell 114

SalesLoft

AUGUST 10, 2023

Any advice that can help you and your sales team bring in more revenue feels like it’s worth giving a shot these days. The amount of sellers hitting their number is 44% less than what it used to be. It can be rough out there. But how is a sales workflow supposed to turn the tide for your team in an economic downturn?

Pipeline 52

Pipeline Cross-sell A/B testing Contract 52

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I’m always amused by the games that go on as managers conduct pipeline and forecast reviews. Data shows sales people spend at least two hours a week on pipeline and forecast reviews. Think of it, 5% of the sales organization’s time in some of the most confusing and useless discussions I’ve seen.

Gaming 94

Gaming Pipeline Negotiate CRM 94

Partners in Excellence

MAY 10, 2016

As usual, one of the first things I looked at was their pipeline. After a quick review, I said, “You need to dramatically increase the number of opportunities in your pipeline, you aren’t chasing enough high quality deals to achieve your goals, based on your current performance.”

Pipeline 50

Pipeline Consult Closing Presentation 50