4 Tips to Help You Increase Pipeline Conversion and Close More Deals
When we talk about getting more out of your sales pipeline, we’re really talking about four ways you can achieve that – you can add more deals to the pipeline, increase the size of your deals, increase the conversion rate and try to get a yes quicker. Here I'd like to focus on the third of these areas – increasing your conversion rate.
Increasing your conversion rate is a science, although for many it can feel like a black art. Here are my four top tips for plugging a leaky sales pipeline:
1. Work with the right people.
When dealing with potential customers, there are many kinds of people you’ll talk to and build relationships with to help you progress the deal. These are decision makers, influencers, and sometimes, people who are just the wrong ones to talk to. Influencers are much easier to get in touch with, but they will take up too much of your time and give little return.
On the other hand, decision makers are busy and are unlikely to have a lot of time to waste. They are the ones who can give you a yes or a no on their own. If you find that you’re not getting through to the right people, you may need to work on that skill, or even pursue other prospects.
2. Go before you’re invited.
It’s a much-used phrase, but it’s true: the early bird gets the worm. If you simply wait to receive a call from a prospect, you’ll be spending a lot of time twiddling your thumbs.
The problem with quote requests and tenders is that in most cases, the prospect has already made up their mind by the time the request goes out. It’s much easier, and far more effective, to spend your time helping customers form an opinion than trying to change one. Be proactive, borderline aggressive and go after new customers yourself.
3. Drop the wrong prospect ASAP.
Increasing your conversion rate is really more about searching for opportunities rather than trying to convince someone to buy. If you want to be more effective as a sales person, create a good buyer profile and stick with it. If you’re talking to a prospect who doesn’t fit the profile, move on quickly.
4. Get to know your potential customers businesses better than your competitors do.
It could be said that this is the most important tip of all. People and companies buy because they have a need, a want or both. If you can understand what those are and do your best to meet the prospects desires on their wavelength, you’ll see a dramatic increase in your conversion rate.
We once worked with a man who could more than 50% of his prospects. What he heard most from his customers was something to the effect of, “Even though your prices were a bit higher, we felt that you really understood what we were looking for and offered a solution that showed it.” If you ever want to make more money in sales, you can’t go wrong by referring to this simple statement.
If you follow these 4 tips you'll most probably see your conversion rates improve. But there's more to improving the effectiveness of your pipeline than higher conversion. In addition to the big "levers" of more deals, bigger deals, better conversion and higher velocity you can significantly improve your results by being smarter about time management and defining your pipeline stages correctly, for example. If you'd like to know more, we've just released the free sales pipeline academy, 10+ years of sales experience condensed into 11 emails.
