By Kathy Scottman

The most well-recognized metaphor for sales is the metaphor of the sales pipeline, or funnel. You've probably heard of this before at some point in your career, since it is a very effective way to point out the fact that during the different stages of the sales process, unqualified prospects drop off or are funneled out. Tracking your sales pipeline is the best way to make sure that you are keeping track of the performance and progress of your sales team.

What should your sales pipeline managment plan include? Goals and metrics, sales orders and conversions, lists of active and inactive customers, and other related data. This way, your sales team will be able to track thier progress and stay motivated when it comes to meeting thier goals. Not having a sales plan in place is a recipe for disaster.

The sales pipeline is one of the best items to help forecast future sales, and management of the pipeline is vital to business success. When measuring your sales pipeline you should include goals and metrics, including pipeline ratio, sales orders and conversions, canceled order count, a list of active and inactive customers, etc. Without a clear sales plan and forecast, your team and company simply won't be successful. Prospects will fall through the cracks, team members will fail to meet their goals, and you will find yourself at the end of your rope.

The advantage of using sales pipeline management software is that it streamlines the whole process and increases efficiency i.e. trends, future goals, and future goals, in addition to generating reports that focus on the weighted amounts of transactions, projected sales amounts, and the probability of a close. Many companies that sell this type of software also offer demo versions of their products and customer service and support as well. The best idea is to try a few before you buy them to make sure that you are purchasing the product that best meets the needs of your sales force. Remember that not all software is the same, some focus more on products others focus on services, although they will all have similar features in common.

Always remember to make sure that the software you choose contains the features that are most important to your sales team, the best sales people are always the ones who are the most receptive to new ideas. Sales are dynamic because so many factors are always involved and having a program to help manage the process is crucial.

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