4X Pipeline Is The New Normal
Your sales pipeline is the science behind selling: top performers (and those who lead them) know this. You need it to skillfully diagnose problems and predict future success in any marketplace. The only thing that varies by market conditions is how large that pipeline needs to be. In earlier, more certain times, sellers were commonly advised to build a pipeline twice or three times the size of the business they needed to land every quarter. It was enough to get the job done well.
But as I first pointed out in my most recent book, Right on the Money, there’s no such thing as business as usual anymore. With uncertainty in any marketplace, the standard rules of engagement must get rethought…and sales pipelines are no exception.
A 4X pipeline is a must today, not a nice-to-have luxury. A must.
Here’s why.
Healthy pipeline metrics do more than just tell you and your sales team where things are working great. They also pinpoint where things are not. And you have less time today than before in correctly diagnosing and solving those mistakes. Not only do you need more prospects in less time: you need more data in less time, too.
THERE’S TRUTH IN SCOPE
Here’s a case study to illustrate why this new 4X approach is so important. I was working with a group of Sales VPs and their bosses, troubleshooting why their sales team’s win rate on deals from verbal-OKs-to-close was a merger 60%…well below the industry average of 85-90%.
Thanks to the large scope of their pipeline, we quickly learned there were two problems. First: not all their unclosed deals were complete failures. Some were just taking so long that they got pushed into the next fiscal year. There were internal breakdowns in communications that needed to be addressed, so that those unfinished deals could be saved. The second revelation: the sales team wasted too much valuable time trying to close bad deals rather than refocusing their resources elsewhere.
The more pipeline you have, the more valuable data you have on hand to review. That can’t happen retrospectively: filling that pipeline takes up to half the time of your total sales cycle. So start now and build for tomorrow.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Put yourself in a situation similar to that case study. Armed with insights from your newly expanded 4X buyer-verified pipeline, there are important takeaway lessons that you must apply to your business.
Flatten the pinch points: If your deals are chronically taking longer than expected to close, bring in the right tools to address the delays. Consider putting in place a service level agreement for every internal partner you rely on (e.g., legal, finance and others) that defines every milestone of the deal, as well as a resolution mechanism when those milestones are not met.
Empower the team: It’s disheartening how often I’ve seen this happen. Salespeople see a delay affecting a pipeline, caused by other stakeholders in their own organization but don’t say or do anything to remedy the situation…because they mistakenly believe it’s above their pay grade. Empower everyone to escalate: when something goes sideways with your 4x pipeline, your team needs to feel comfortable bringing it to someone with authority to resolve the problem quickly.
Check your sales speedometer: Your 4X pipeline gives you reliable data that shows how fast your team is making sales and earning revenue. The answer you get is your sales velocity: the crucial sales speedometer of your organization. You need both of these working well to be able to solve sales problems skillfully and quickly.
Go inside: Your 4X pipeline also cuts-out your work for you…get busy developing multiple points of connection within every prospect’s organization. The larger the net you cast, the more likely you will be able to quickly pivot when the unforeseen happens, such as when someone leaves or retires from an organization.
Prospect everyday: Building and maintaining your 4X pipeline means you must spend time every day developing new opportunities. Build the daily habit (like a flexed muscle) of prospecting and you’ll have a robust pipeline big enough to exceed your goal. We will explore this further in a subsequent article.
Walk away: Some deals are just bad deals. Your ability to recognize this quickly is crucial to your success. When you have a healthy 4X pipeline both informing and reassuring you, you’re less prone to the sunk-cost fallacy that can otherwise keep a team stuck on pointlessly trying to get blood from a stone.
Seek more coaching and training: All sales pros need help with their performance on an ongoing basis. You’ll cover more ground in less time when you have a 4X pipeline with all that data to work with. More insights plus more learning equals better outcomes.
FOCUS ON WHAT’S IN YOUR CONTROL
The worst part about uncertainty is that it makes people mistakenly believe that nothing is within their control. In fact, how you respond to events is always up to you. The 4X pipeline you choose to build and maintain gives you instant benefits. It makes your closing forecasts more certain. Your sales velocity figures become more robust. It diminishes the impact of unpleasant surprises. It gives you renewed confidence to course correct. And it gives you actionable insights to solve even the toughest sales problems.
There’s only one question left to ask: If you’ve not already boosted the scope of your pipeline…what are you waiting for?