For some, this may sound obvious but it is not the case for all people out there and especially those that have little experience in sales. Being consistent in monitoring your pipeline across all records in your prospecting process and the opportunities you run is a very important task. This needs to become part of your daily and weekly routine.
You may have noticed that customers and leads are not reacting as often as you wish. It seems often the case that clients are not immediately respond to your communication. This is absolutely normal as their world includes other priorities; buying from you is not the only activity they have. The destiny of an opportunity is with you not with the client. It is mostly in your interest to win this opportunity. Therefore, constantly monitoring and managing your pipeline is vital to keep the opportunities hot and the prospects engaged.
The task begins with keeping a clean record of all your opportunities. It is also good to keep a similar record to those leads that are worth prospecting. Record all the communication and activity you have already with them so far and have a clear action plan to what and when the next touch point is, what your objective is and what needs to be done to achieve this objective.
Depending on the stage a prospect belongs – either an opportunity that is in advanced level or in an initial stage – the monitoring should be more or less frequent. For example, in advanced opportunities you should keep a close eye on a daily basis. For those earlier in the stage keep a weekly task or a biweekly one.
So many opportunity are lost because we lose consistency and commitment in looking after them. Change the way you treat them from today.
Happy selling!