What is a sales pipeline and why should you care?
Almost every sales professional uses the phrase “sales pipeline” at least several times a week. But if you ask a room full of professionals to define “sales pipeline,” you’re likely to get a roomful of different answers.
Forecasts are about the deals, not the number!
This is one of those topics I wish I could just put to bed and ignore–yet it keeps rearing it’s ugly head. We continue to get forecasting wrong, at least for complex B2B sales.
What problem is the customer trying to solve?
Pause for a moment. Look at your qualified pipeline. Start at the bottom. Can you identify the problem the customer is trying to solve? Or the opportunity they are trying to address?
How to transform your sales pipeline today
Big ones, little ones, sharp ones and stubborn ones. I was pulling weeds from the garden when it became crystal clear to me. The various weeds were like the many types of opportunities in most sales pipelines.
Critical to B2B sales success - stakeholder assessments
One of the most common reasons why apparently promising B2B sales opportunities get derailed - often at a late stage in our sales cycle - is that we have failed to identify all the key stakeholders or to understand how to get them all to support our approach.
sales pipeline management
External Exposure
Podcasts
- Tony Morris interviews George Brontén on the podcast "Confessions of a serial seller"
- Deadly Assumptions that are Killing your B2B Sales - Outside Sales Talk with George Brontén
- SaaS-Story in the Making: Designing a Buyer-focused Sales Process - with George Brontén
- Tibor Shanto, Sales Scrum, interviews George Brontén
- Andy Paul, Sales Enablement: Stop Killing Deals, with George Brontén
- Jonathan Farrington interviews George Brontén about Stop Killing Deals [the book]
- Sales Futurists: The Future of Professional Selling - What Will the New "Normal" Be Like?
- Sales Pipeline Radio: You’re Killing Sales Deals Without Knowing It: George Will Help You Fix It
- Penta Marketing Interviews George Bronten in the Podcast Emerging Stronger™
- Integrity Solutions: Unmasking and defeating deadly assumptions that plague sales organizations
- Säljpodden: Stop Killing Deals med George Brontén (Swedish)
- Sales Reinvented: A Productivity Formula for the Sales Professional
- Refract.ai: The Power of Sales Process
- Sales Process Excellence Podcast: Your Customer’s Decision Journey
- The Sellsation Podcast: "Länge leve systematiken" (Swedish)
- Brevet Group: Sales Enablement Planning & Budget Strategies
- Stjärnsäljarpodden: Vända misslyckande till framgång (Swedish)
- Andy Paul's Podcast: How to Increase Your Sales Effectiveness
- Future Proof Selling Podcast: Sales Effectiveness with George Brontén
- Diane Hamilton’s Podcast: Designing Sales Strategies Through CRM Systems
Videos & interviews
- The Top 5 Ways You are Killing Your Sales - Brutal Truth Sales Podcast
- Phil Gerbyshak interviews George Brontén about the Stop Killing Deals book release
- Membrain's Founding Story
- Sales Tools - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- Here's what to consider when adding or switching your CRM
- Productivity, efficiency, effectiveness – what’s what and where to focus?
- How to Build a Sales Process That Drives Successful Behaviors
- Can Checklists Stop Deals from Dying and Help Consistently Achieve Quota?
Guest Posts
- G2Crowd: "How to Get the Most out of Your Sales Technology Investment"
- Saleslounge: Varför dina stjärnsäljare blir dåliga säljchefer
- Saleslounge: Vad är komplex försäljning?
- Vainu: Så blir du en mästare på komplex B2B-försäljning
- CSO Insights: Sales Process Interview, Part 2
- CSO Insights: Sales Process Interview, Part 1
- Richardson: 3 Pitfalls that Still Make Sales Teams Waste Time and Lower Sales Effectiveness
- Smart Selling Tools: How to Stop Fighting the Monster of Sales Technology Complexity
