The sales pipeline is important for a lot of businesses. All companies that rely on finding customers to purchase their products or services need to develop an effective sales pipeline, especially if they want to grow their company and boost their market share. Understanding exactly what a sales pipeline is and how the process relates to your business is crucial if your company is going to achieve its full potential.
Lead generation
The first part of the sales pipeline is lead generation. You need to find new customers, who are interested in your products and services – or reconnect with existing customers, if you’re going to boost sales. One of the easiest and most effective ways of doing this is via the telephone. Run a telemarketing campaign to raise brand awareness and generate good quality leads. By using the telephone you’ll be able to cover much more ground than you would through face to face meetings or direct mail, plus – the telephone gives you the opportunity to lay the foundations for a productive relationship and solid customer base.
Follow up
Once you’ve got new customers interested, you’ll need to follow up your initial conversation if you want to take the sale further. In some cases, you’ll be able to do this in your very first call. However other contacts may take more cultivation. In some cases, you’ll need to call back a few times to ensure you speak to the right people, answer your potential customers’ queries and bring your relationship to the point they’re ready to make a sale. As follow up can be a delicate part of the sales pipeline, it’s important you have your most capable members of staff handling it.
Customer support
Customer support is an important part of the sales pipeline. If customers feel well looked after in the run up to making a purchase – they’ll have greater confidence in your company and will be more likely to invest in your product, or services. Again, a lot of customer support can be carried out over the phone. Make sure your team are always on hand to answer customer queries and that they’re well informed about their subject if you want to make a good impression and come across as a leader in your field.
Converting leads
The final step in the sales pipeline is converting leads into sales. If you’ve managed the process in the right way, a sale should come as the natural next step. If customers aren’t quite ready to make a purchase, make sure you’ve answered all of their queries, check there’s no one else you can speak to and finally, ask to contact them again in the future.
A well-oiled sales pipeline will help your business to run more efficiently and more productively. To learn more about other powerful sales and marketing techniques, contact a member of our team today.
