How to feed the sales pipeline and manage it correctly
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2025 8:57 am
One of the basic concepts in prospecting is the sales pipeline. We have probably heard or read about it on more than one occasion and have been surprised that it is also called a sales funnel.
But be careful, because the two terms do not mean the same thing. So, what is a sales pipeline? We explain it below.
What is sales pipeline?
You could say this is the heart of your sales process. It’s defined as a tool that “ covers all the steps in the sales process. Each lead that moves through the stages is explained by concrete actions, which are usually rcs data lebanon visually in your CRM. The sales process differs from business to business, so your sales pipeline should be unique and reflect the journey of a typical customer.”
What is the main difference between sales pipeline and sales funnel?
While the sales funnel focuses on all the actions we take and provides a graphical representation of the conversion rates of potential customers through the stages of the process, the sales pipeline is the set of actions we take to convert a lead into our customer.
Therefore, the funnel focuses primarily on numbers, while the pipeline focuses on the actions we take to convert leads into our customers.
Stages of the B2B sales pipeline
While there is more than one way to create a B2B sales pipeline and decide which stages will go into it, the ideal is to try to customize it when doing so, even if it takes a little more time.
These stages of the sales pipeline should be related to the customer journey, so that we can compare progress and get an idea of profits.
While there is no exact model, there are generally at least four stages in the sales pipeline:
Qualify: This involves answering a few questions to find out if our prospect has a problem to solve, the budget to solve it, and if they are the decision-maker to make that purchase.
Meeting: A meeting is set up to discuss with the client the solution we can deliver and satisfy their needs through a concrete proposal.
Proposal: We send the client a concrete proposal explaining how we can solve their problem, how much it will cost and the time it will take to implement the solution.
Closing: At this stage, the client has reviewed our proposal, certain conditions have been negotiated, and the agreement is signed. The lead finally becomes a new client to whom we can sell our products.
How to nurture and manage your sales pipeline correctly in B2B sales?
When it comes to keeping our pipeline in top shape, there are ways to nurture it. For example:
Create segmented campaigns : Based on the information we have about the prospects, we can send quality information to those we select segmentally. In this way, we deliver the right message to the right person at the ideal time, optimizing the reach towards qualified prospects.
Feedback between departments : Maintaining constant communication between the marketing and sales departments will allow our organization to know if the leads obtained by the first department were effective , so that the second can convert them into clients.
Finding similar customers : By analyzing the purchasing behavior of our current B2B customers, we can –using CRM– find similar prospects. These are contacts that we have in our pipeline with similar characteristics to our customers, which makes it more likely that they may need our products.
When managing a B2B sales pipeline , it is important to remember that the most successful pipelines are customer-centric and go hand in hand with their purchasing cycle.
In addition, we must involve the entire team, especially getting the marketing and sales departments to work in a coordinated manner.
Another important point in management is the exhaustive analysis of data through strategies such as data intelligence , for which a good CRM will give us all the detailed information we need.
But be careful, because the two terms do not mean the same thing. So, what is a sales pipeline? We explain it below.
What is sales pipeline?
You could say this is the heart of your sales process. It’s defined as a tool that “ covers all the steps in the sales process. Each lead that moves through the stages is explained by concrete actions, which are usually rcs data lebanon visually in your CRM. The sales process differs from business to business, so your sales pipeline should be unique and reflect the journey of a typical customer.”
What is the main difference between sales pipeline and sales funnel?
While the sales funnel focuses on all the actions we take and provides a graphical representation of the conversion rates of potential customers through the stages of the process, the sales pipeline is the set of actions we take to convert a lead into our customer.
Therefore, the funnel focuses primarily on numbers, while the pipeline focuses on the actions we take to convert leads into our customers.
Stages of the B2B sales pipeline
While there is more than one way to create a B2B sales pipeline and decide which stages will go into it, the ideal is to try to customize it when doing so, even if it takes a little more time.
These stages of the sales pipeline should be related to the customer journey, so that we can compare progress and get an idea of profits.
While there is no exact model, there are generally at least four stages in the sales pipeline:
Qualify: This involves answering a few questions to find out if our prospect has a problem to solve, the budget to solve it, and if they are the decision-maker to make that purchase.
Meeting: A meeting is set up to discuss with the client the solution we can deliver and satisfy their needs through a concrete proposal.
Proposal: We send the client a concrete proposal explaining how we can solve their problem, how much it will cost and the time it will take to implement the solution.
Closing: At this stage, the client has reviewed our proposal, certain conditions have been negotiated, and the agreement is signed. The lead finally becomes a new client to whom we can sell our products.
How to nurture and manage your sales pipeline correctly in B2B sales?
When it comes to keeping our pipeline in top shape, there are ways to nurture it. For example:
Create segmented campaigns : Based on the information we have about the prospects, we can send quality information to those we select segmentally. In this way, we deliver the right message to the right person at the ideal time, optimizing the reach towards qualified prospects.
Feedback between departments : Maintaining constant communication between the marketing and sales departments will allow our organization to know if the leads obtained by the first department were effective , so that the second can convert them into clients.
Finding similar customers : By analyzing the purchasing behavior of our current B2B customers, we can –using CRM– find similar prospects. These are contacts that we have in our pipeline with similar characteristics to our customers, which makes it more likely that they may need our products.
When managing a B2B sales pipeline , it is important to remember that the most successful pipelines are customer-centric and go hand in hand with their purchasing cycle.
In addition, we must involve the entire team, especially getting the marketing and sales departments to work in a coordinated manner.
Another important point in management is the exhaustive analysis of data through strategies such as data intelligence , for which a good CRM will give us all the detailed information we need.