The stages in a sales pipeline are usually interpreted quite differently across the sales team. Using the example below, "Verbal Yes" could mean it's as good as closed or we're getting there or they just need to run it past Finance. A sales pipeline really only works the way it was meant to work when the users apply the same meaning and rules to each stage.
But rules are hard to follow, easy to forget and dilute. So you need some fundamental principles to follow and here is principle - gamechanger - number 1: it's the location of the buyer that determines the progress of a sales opportunity. And the location of the buyer should be based not on what the buyer says, but what they are doing. In particular, if the buyer doesn't have the seller's name in their calendar, you have to ask if the opportunity is really just one-sided, with the salesperson working on their own.
When we switch out mindset to the location of the buyer, it changes how we place opportunities in the pipeline. As a result it makes us plan, think and execute opportunity creation and capture much more precisely, right from the start. It's called lean selling; put in the quality work early, and you will have fewer problems later on when it's too late to do anything about them.
The stages in a sales pipeline are usually interpreted quite differently across the sales team. Using the example below, "Verbal Yes" could mean it's as good as closed or we're getting there or they just need to run it past Finance. A sales pipeline really only works the way it was meant to work when the users apply the same meaning and rules to each stage.
But rules are hard to follow, easy to forget and dilute. So you need some fundamental principles to follow and here is principle - gamechanger - number 1: it's the location of the buyer that determines the progress of a sales opportunity. And the location of the buyer should be based not on what the buyer says, but what they are doing. In particular, if the buyer doesn't have the seller's name in their calendar, you have to ask if the opportunity is really just one-sided, with the salesperson working on their own.
When we switch out mindset to the location of the buyer, it changes how we place opportunities in the pipeline. As a result it makes us plan, think and execute opportunity creation and capture much more precisely, right from the start. It's called lean selling; put in the quality work early, and you will have fewer problems later on when it's too late to do anything about them.
The stages in a sales pipeline are usually interpreted quite differently across the sales team. Using the example below, "Verbal Yes" could mean it's as good as closed or we're getting there or they just need to run it past Finance. A sales pipeline really only works the way it was meant to work when the users apply the same meaning and rules to each stage.
But rules are hard to follow, easy to forget and dilute. So you need some fundamental principles to follow and here is principle - gamechanger - number 1: it's the location of the buyer that determines the progress of a sales opportunity. And the location of the buyer should be based not on what the buyer says, but what they are doing. In particular, if the buyer doesn't have the seller's name in their calendar, you have to ask if the opportunity is really just one-sided, with the salesperson working on their own.
When we switch out mindset to the location of the buyer, it changes how we place opportunities in the pipeline. As a result it makes us plan, think and execute opportunity creation and capture much more precisely, right from the start. It's called lean selling; put in the quality work early, and you will have fewer problems later on when it's too late to do anything about them.