Can You Answer These Questions About Your Sales Pipeline?

“Don’t expect what you can’t inspect.”

If you’re managing a highly transactional sales organization, it’s critical that you have visibility into what’s coming into your pipeline, what’s going out, and what’s changed. And you need to be able to see the trend over time. Here are some of the questions you must be able to answer to ensure your sales pipeline is not based on fiction or fantasy:

New Pipeline Since the Beginning of the Month, Quarter or Year

• What’s new in the pipeline since the beginning of the selected time period?
• What % of the pipeline is new for this period?
• What % of the new pipeline has closed within the same quarter historically?

Pipeline Fluctuations in the Current Period

What moved out? What’s stuck?

• What % of the current period pipeline moved out to future periods?
• Is there a pattern? (e.g. particular sales reps, products, industry verticals, etc.)

Where has the pipeline shrunk?

• What % of the current period pipeline shrunk?
• Is there a pattern? (e.g. particular sales reps, products, industry verticals, etc.)

Where has the pipeline grown?

• What % of the current period pipeline grew?
• Is there a pattern? (e.g. particular sales reps, products, industry verticals, etc.)

Pipeline Velocity

• What % of the current period pipeline is stuck in its current stage?
• What % of the current period pipeline has progressed to subsequent stages?

Pipeline Size and Shape

What are your conversion rates and sales cycle times?

• Lead to opportunity
• Opportunity to demo
• Demo to quote
• Quote to close

What % of your current period pipeline is above and below the thresholds of average days to close for deals that end up being won?

• By industry vertical
• By sales rep
• By competitor

What % of your current period pipeline is nearing the threshold of average days to close for deals that end up being lost?

• By industry vertical
• By sales rep
• By competitor

What is the pipeline for the remaining month, quarter or year?

• Next 30, 60, 90 days, etc.?

What is the % distribution for early stage versus late stage opportunities?

• By region
• By sales rep

Are there some possible quick wins?

• What are the dynamics of new versus repeat business?
• How many days to close for new versus repeat business?
• What is the current period pipeline for new versus repeat business?

If you’re a Salesforce.com customer, be sure to check out the LucidEra Analytics Gallery on the AppExchange for examples of these and other best-practice sales analytics. Also register for next week’s webcast with the Milestone Group on The Science of Selling - How to Maximize Sales Success with On-Demand Analytics.

posted by Darren Cunningham at 6:55 am

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