Confused About Creating A Sales Pipeline? Here Is A Beginner’s Guide

There is no such thing as enough profit. Every business is in the race to achieve more sales, which means someone who is willing to create the best sales funnel out there.

A sales funnel for a beginner might look intimidating, and if this is your first project, you have reached the right place.

Keep reading as we take you through the different stages of creating a fool-proof sales pipeline! 

What Is A Sales Pipeline

A sales pipeline is a structured framework used by every business. A method of management and tracking the overall sales process.

This could be a sales process for a quarter or a new product launch.

It typically consists of stages that respect different steps of closing a deal. We will be discussing those shortly.

Sales representatives use this to prioritize and nurture prospects, assess the likelihood of conversation, and give a forecast of the revenue. 

It helps maintain a clear overview of previous sales and the upcoming sales opportunity. Plus, different marketing strategies can help please customers to improve sales.

Streamlining the sales process is the ultimate goal of the pipeline.

Stages Of A Sales Pipeline

Without any further ado, let’s get into the sales pipeline stages!

Stage 1: Discovery Of Your Audience

You are ultimately selling to a certain demography. Remember, the entire population cannot be your target audience. Not only isn’t it lucrative, but it is quite impossible. Therefore, just like any other research, you need to sample your population.

Here is how you can identify your audience:

• Online research, for example, previous sales case studies, google algorithm studies, and social media trends.
• Conducting surveys online. For example, online polls, stories, comments, and communities.
• Search Engine Optimization tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush to understand what’s on trend for your demographic.

Stage 2: Revenue Prediction From The Pipeline

The next stage is the revenue prediction from the pipeline. Many might say you are doing this early on. However, this will also be a way to motivate yourself.

• Research is key when you are forecasting revenue.
• Keep the last quarter and budget year’s revenue in mind.
• Keep the certain revenue separate from the expected one. For example, some sales are quite assured at the beginning of the month, while others work towards closing.
• Research competitors with a success story and how they manage their revenue prediction.

Stage 3: Brainstorming Different Sales Pipelines

Now that you have your target audience and revenue goal, it is time to proceed with the different sales pipeline strategies. Some of the most successful ones are:

• Reaching up to previous leads.
• Cold calls and emails.
• Personalized emails.
• Physical brochures for 

Stage 4: Scheduling Demo For Each Pipeline

Once you have picked a certain pipeline, it is time to access the big question –

Whether it is the appropriate one to help you reach your goal, this is how you are going to do so:

• Call for a demo with sales experts. These should include your survey team, research team, marketing team (if you need to market your products better), and outreach team.
• Hear out their sales pitches.
• Decide which one will work best for your product depending on the attraction factor of your demography.
• Brainstorm trends and ideas that you can implement in the pipeline you choose.

Stage 5: Allocation Of Resources

Allocating your resources is a very important step for the sales pipeline. Remember, no sales team has an unlimited budget, and staying within will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses.

• Here is how you can systematically allocate your resources:
• Find out your budget for the project.
• Research the sales method or plural that you picked. Map the average budget your competitors are using for each and their success rate.
• Key areas where you will be spending most of your budget.
• Allocating also means resources to help employees reach their full potential. Therefore, if they need a sales crash course, that should also be included in it.
• Keep a breathing space since you might require more funds in a certain area later.

Stage 6: Calculating The Length of the Pipeline

The length of your pipeline refers to the total period of allocation. No sales project can go on forever. After a certain time period, we all expect results.

Judging by the sales pipeline method, you will decide on a timeline.

For example, something like Discount codes and promo codes have a quicker response time than cold calls and emails.

If you are using more than one strategy, a separate timeline for each is necessary. This is to ensure that you aren’t expecting the same result from different pipelines.

Stage 7: Identify & Remove Obstacles

A SWOT analysis might seem tiresome now, but in time, it will become your best friend. Removing existing obstacles from your previous sales pipeline will provide you with a better chance of success.

• Access your weaknesses more than your strengths. This will help you understand where you are lagging.
• Find the common sales pipeline obstruction you might face if this is your first time.
• Speak with experts in the field.
• Tale help from tools to judge your plan.

Stage 8: Find Sales Pipeline Management Systems

The organization is a key to your sales pipeline success. Automation for your sales pipeline in today’s very auto-generated world becomes necessary. Keeping track of your sales pipeline timeline manually is almost impossible, especially when most sales techniques are tried and tested online.

With a huge target audience base, picking the right sales management system is important.

• Talk to experts and see what management tools they are using.
• Do not pick your first choice. Research is important.
• Check the pricing and allocate a separate budget for these tools.

Stage 9: Find Means To Evaluate Your Sales Pipeline Result

Simply following your plan will not help you close the deal. This is why evaluating your results on the way is important. 

For example,

• Is the CTC (Call to Action) formula working?
• What is the percentage of leads so far from your email campaign?
• Is there a method that is not bringing results? Hence, you should put a pause on it.
• What are the trends which have gone through a change since you began?

Stage 10: Proposal & Approval

Lastly, craft your sales pipeline in a document. The document will be your guide throughout the time period.

The final task is to present it with your team to the company stakeholders. Remember to add statistics and quantitative research, as it helps compel investors.

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