The process of creating opportunities for your enterprise is never ending and it is a process which involves constant thinking and effort. It is not easy to excel at the same job and pitch again and again. Hence reinventing is the only way you can generate enough opportunities and also keep your sales pipeline full. There are many ways that one can make sure that the sales pipeline is full and one of the sure shot ways is to keep the efforts constant and traceable. The moment you lose track and record of where you are going, it might seem that you are losing the plot.
Let us look at the ways the sales pipeline can be strengthened.
1. Make a foolproof database
The first step is to make a database which is foolproof and has all the required details in them. If you have a name and no phone number or email id then the database is equal to trash. Make sure that the database that you have has all the complete details. Most importantly, check and double check that all the important names are there in that database and nothing is amiss. Your database is your backbone and the first step to cracking a deal.
2. Slot your customer base
This is generally done on an area-wide basis or based on hierarchy. This step is especially important if your customer area is large and needs a lot of time for one person to keep visiting these places. Slotting and categorizing makes it possible for you to plan your travel and your time in a much better way. You can also make sure that you get an additional resource with you if you want and the area is large enough for two people to cover.
3. All your calls should be planned in a planner
As a sales professional you cannot take the calls lightly and they need to be planned ahead and in advance. Calls are an important part of your business and they need a lot of organization and thought. So if you see that a particular customer is always stuck in traffic between 10-12 noon, you cannot call them at that time and the calls need to be planned after the person settle down in his workplace. This needs planning and effort and as there can be many customers who can be stuck in work or traffic or meeting at various points in time.
4. Your pitch needs to sound professional and polished
After you make your calls what is most important that you make the most amount of impact as the person at the other end has a very short attention span and has only very little time to listen to you. Hence the pitch that you have devised as part of your sales call needs to be concise and very impactful. Polish and work on your pitch, practice saying it and take a lot of feedback so as to ascertain its impact and usefulness.
5. Always make sure that you get to know whether the prospect will work or not
There are 3 types of prospects; hot, cold and warm. As a sales professional after every call it is your duty to make a report as to how interested the prospect is. This will help you channelize your energy in the place which is truly required and you won’t make the mistake of calling a cold prospect again and again. The process of making a report should be followed on an everyday basis as it is extremely important.
6. Don’t forget your old customers
Retention is also a part of your job as a sales professional, hence you should never forget the old customers who have given you an opportunity to work with them. It is important to keep a relationship with them and always ask them how you can service them going forward. Sometimes they can be their best bet and you can count on them.
7. Establish a discipline and a process
Make sure that you have some sort of a process in place as far as sale is concerned. At the beginning of every work day you should have a plan as to what is going to be done today and whom are you going to approach at the beginning and end of the day. This is important as the mood and the pace needs to be established on a day to day basis.
8. Make sure that you have a CRM in place
A CRM software will improve your productivity and help you by taking up mundane tasks on a day to day basis. It is important that you buy software which takes care of your needs and make use of the software in the best possible manner. If you don’t have proper training as far as CRM tool is concerned, its time you plan one and start making use of the software.
Thus these are some of the sure shot ways to strengthen the sales pipeline.
