Sales Pipeline Progression: Driving the Business
Mike Marks, Experienced B2B Software Marketer
Synching sales enablement with the sales cycle
www.enduro-marketeer.com
Follow Me!
A Disciplined Sales Process Can Radically Impact the Business, but Marketing Must Enable Sales to Make it Work
Do we have enough of the right opportunities?
– Right type of opportunity
– Properly qualified
Are the deals progressing through the sales process fast enough?
– Sales diligence in moving through the pipeline
– Right sales enablement tools
– Right technical skills to overcome objections
– Right technical tools
– Right partner enablement tools
Are the deals the right size?
– Effective sales process to uncover, articulate, and quantify the business pain
R: Responsible (owns the outcome); A: Approves; C: Contributes, I: Informed
Sales Marketing Technical Sales
A R
A R
R
A R C
C R
R A
A R A
R C
Deal Progression Focus on Outcomes and Critical Questions at Each Pipeline Stage
Stage sign-off: Business Value Analysis email
Stage sign-off: Strategy slide, Mutual Activity Plan
Stage sign-off: Financial model, SOW, Proposal 1st draft
Research 20% • Business: Right buyer, urgency of cloud launch confirmed
• Technical: Product intro: unique capabilities & value prop relative to competition
Verify 40%
• Business: Cloud service portfolio confirmed, reference case studies reviewed, business justification necessary to get a deal
• Technical: Deep review, demo of planned cloud service portfolio, implementation overview
Prove 60%
• Business: Financial model & cloud strategy slide approved, details of proposal approval process confirmed
• Technical: Implementation, services, education details
Win 80% • Business: Negotiate
• Technical: Final issues as they arise
What Happens at Each Stage, and the Implications for Sales Enablement Tools
20% Stage Design Goal: Should Not Require Pre-Sales
Sales presentation: Compelling, Challenger Sale choreography, leverage relevant customer examples
Product demo must be compelling and complete, so sales can run it without the need for pre-sales
To learn how to build the kit, click here
40% Stage Has 2 Aspects on Each Track Business: confirm services to be launched, decision process Product: product proof points for target services, implementation overview
Publically available information on what other customers are doing
Customer references – written & video, with quantifiable business benefit
Clear alignment of product features to business benefit
Implementation case studies based on actual customer experience
See examples here
60% Stage Focuses on Confirming & Aligning Plans Across the Various Customer Teams
Compelling financial model tailored to each customer opportunity
– Modified by the customer with their own numbers
Top line growth
Actual expenses
Implementation and Go To Market plan based on actual customer
experience
Summary
Use compelling customer references at each stage
– Sales must know how to tell the stories
– Must include a quantifiable business benefit
Map product capabilities to business benefit at each stage
– Reinforce the pay-off to the customer
– Differentiate from the competition
Enable the prospect to show the financial pay-off of your solution
– Data based on your other customers’ experiences
– Modified and tailored to the prospect’s specific case
www.enduro-marketeer.com
Follow Me!
Top Related