I recently attended a training with Jason Jordan (co-author of Cracking the Sales Management Code), his Pipeline Management Training. I was happy to experience training that takes us back to what really matters. While a great deal has changed in this industry over the past decade, the foundations that underpin good sales practice have not.
Start With What Sales Is
Jordan’s training starts with the real, often overlooked, basic: What sales actually is.
Too often, we define sales in terms of what it does for us. We talk about generating revenue, closing deals, bringing in new customers.
But in Jordan’s world, sales is about helping the buyer make a buying decision.
Selling means mapping the buyer’s decision-making process (the “buying journey” in his words – I don’t love the terminology, but I agree with the principle) and then aligning the selling process with it. Helping the buyer get what they need so they can move forward.
Pipeline management is simply the practice of understanding how to align with the front end of the buyer’s process and understand the ongoing process alignment you need in order to move them forward. This basic will help you develop a pipeline that is healthy, and that you can develop metrics around that make sense for your business.
Clear Entry and Exit Criteria Are Critical
Soft pipelines, unpredictable pipelines, and mangled forecasts are the result of this missing basic: Clear entry and exit criteria.
Jordan’s training helps sales leaders understand the importance of this step, and create the clarity necessary to ensure their people are only putting qualified candidates into the pipeline, and removing them consistently when they are no longer a good fit.
This results in pipelines that can be used for forecasting, without any of the usual “massaging” done by sales managers.
Know What Your Pipeline Needs To Look Like
One of Jordan’s pet peeves is the standard “3x pipeline” rule that many companies operate under. He wrote about this on our blog a few weeks ago.
In the training, he teaches how to get out of the 3x trap and into better metrics… by going back to the basics.
When you have a sales process that’s in alignment with your buyers, matched with clear entry and exit criteria, you have a pipeline that’s predictable. You know clearly what percentage of pipeline will make it to the end, and how fast.
Then you can take those metrics and create a pipeline goal that makes sense and actually produces a predictable outcome. Then you’ll know how much pipeline each salesperson needs in order to meet their goals. You can use the pipeline sizer on Jordan’s website to help you find that number.
You Need One-on-One Pipeline Meetings
Another pet peeve Jordan speaks on is the one-to-many pipeline meetings. According to him, about 91% of companies use one-to-many pipeline meetings, and they are a complete waste of time.
Instead of helping individuals achieve more effective pipelines, a group pipeline meeting just encourages people to show off. It doesn’t enable the coach to help individuals identify what they need to do, and it doesn’t build trust.
91% of companies use one-to-many pipeline meetings, and they are a complete waste of time.
Jason Jordan
In the training, he provides a sample cadence for sales management, pipeline management, prospecting, large account, and other coaching types, including which should be one-on-ones, how long they should be, and what they should cover.
This kind of structure is what most companies lack and desperately need in order to move the needle on pipeline management (and sales in general).
I’m a big fan of Jason Jordan, and have been since his book came out years ago. Having been through his pipeline management training, I’m an even bigger fan. If you’re in a sales leadership position or hope to be someday, this is a must-attend training.
What about you? What trainings have you been to recently, and were they worth it? Who are your most-trusted sales leadership experts?
