Unlocking Powerful New Tools to Get Ahead in the World of Sales
Having a predictable pipeline of customers is the lifeblood of any sales manager’s success. It’s the currency that informs planning, forecasting, and goal-setting. But have you ever stopped to think about just how much power lies in having an organized system for managing your customer leads? Pipeline over everything: unlocking powerful new tools to get ahead in the world of sales means optimizing your approach from start to finish with precision and dexterity.
Pipeline over everything. It’s been my mantra for years. And what’s more important… It’s been my sales team’s mantra for just as long. This is the crux of everything, and this blog will go deep into tactical ways to build your own pipeline.
A well-functioning sales pipeline is essential for any company that wants to close more deals and drive revenue. But what considerations go into a pipeline? How are you focusing your efforts on the correct priorities?
Not to mention, an effective sales pipeline will provide you with valuable insights into where your leads are coming from, how likely they are to convert, and what needs to be done in order to close that deal.
Top 3 Tips to Build More Sales Pipeline
- Know Your Numbers
- Problem-Based Language
- Cold-Outreach Framework that Builds Pipeline
Let’s get into it.
1. Know Your Sales Numbers
It’s very important to know your numbers.
Why?
Because if you miss a little each day, you miss a lot later on.
Your small misses add up, which is why many reps don’t hit their numbers.
Also, for the sales managers/leaders out there: knowing your numbers allows you to diagnose where problems are so you can focus your efforts on the right places vs. the wrong ones.
Here are four metrics that you should be aware of:
- What is your Call Connect Rate for a cold call?
- Convo Conversion Rate for a cold call?
- What is your open rate for a sales email?
- What is your reply rate for sales emails or LinkedIn InMail outreach?
Just in case you aren’t familiar with these metrics–here are some quick definitions to make sure that we’re on the same page.
- Connect Rate = How many people picked up your call (out of 100).
Ex: If ten people picked up the phone out of 100 calls, your connect rate = 10% (10/100). This tells you if you have an issue getting people on the phone.
2. Convo Conversion Rate = Of the people that connected with you, how many converted to a meeting?
Ex: of the ten people that picked up, two converted to a meeting (2/10) = 20%
This metric tells you if you have an issue converting conversations to meetings and helps you focus on developing this area of your sales process.
3. Open Rate = How many people opened your email? This will help you understand if your subject line and preview text are hitting home.
4. Reply Rate = Of the people that opened your email, how many people replied to you? This will help you understand if your content/message resonates with the audience.
Alright – now that you know the core metrics, you need to build a system to process and track these things.
Want an easier way to calculate your goals? We’ve got you covered.
Here’s a calculator that’s got it all programmed in for you. Just make a copy for yourself.
If you don’t know your numbers before you start your outreach–you’re winging it.
And we all know we can’t leave our pipeline to chance.
BONUS TIP: For sales managers: get your reps to report their numbers to you in your 1:1s; this will keep everyone accountable and on the same page for performance.
Next up, we are going to go deep into one of the most underrated parts of building a pipeline: Problem-Based Language.
2. Problem-Based Language
This one is BIG.
In fact, if you stopped reading right after this section and just focused on this one thing, you’d book more meetings, opportunities, and wins.
As salespeople, we spend a lot of time talking about the positives.
“Our product increases your ROI by 3x.”
“We help you hire the best talent.”
“We get you more leads.”
Note that these types of messages are BENEFITS, not problems.
The issue with this is that prospects cannot relate to benefits. Do you know what they relate to…?
You guessed it.
PROBLEMS
Here’s how you can get your problem messaging down fairly quickly.
- Write out the benefits of your product.
- Then write the OPPOSITE.
- This is the problem that the benefit solves.
Then, insert your problem into your outreach–this works across cold calls, cold emails, cold social… cold anything.
Example: Save taxes.
Benefit: We help you save taxes and build wealth.
Opposite/problem: Stop overpaying on taxes, stop shrinking your net worth, and stop worrying about finances during the recession.
This is one of the most important exercises you can do with your product and its benefits.
Write out the actual problems you solve and leverage that language in your outreach.
This is the messaging you should be using.
You’ll thank us later for it.
Alright, so let’s say you’ve done all this and know your messaging.
How do you use said messaging to land more meetings?
Not to worry–we’ve got you covered with one of the best outreach frameworks out there… KPIC!
3. The Cold Outreach Framework That Builds Pipeline
This framework has won millions of dollars in sales pipeline for companies. It’s called KPIC.
K = Know
P = Problem
I = Impact
C = Call-to-Action
Here’s how it works and how you can use it.
Know: Here’s where you mention what you know about the prospect or their company or persona.
Problem: Here’s where you highlight the problem(s) that the prospect/company/persona faces.
Impact: This is where you highlight the impact of the problem.
Call-to-action: Close with asking for interest to learn more about X.
The best part of this framework is once you’ve got the flow down, you’ll be much faster at writing emails and running your outreach.
Remember–the objective of this framework is to START a conversation, not book a meeting.
You need to have a convo first before you can take anything further.
The best part of this framework is that you can use it in cold email, cold social (InMails), and cold calling. Remember that you want to start a conversation and then get the meeting,
Gauge for interest first. That helps you earn the right to get the meeting.
So there you have it: three areas that can help you build a sales pipeline immediately.
If you want to learn even more on how to build a pipeline – check out the Pipeline Over Everything Masterclass.
Creating an effective sales pipeline is essential for any company that wants to close more deals and drive revenue—but it’s not always easy to do. By following the steps outlined, you’ll be well on your way toward creating a sales pipeline that will help close more deals and boost revenue for years to come!
If you’re looking for more sales, it’s time to start building a bigger pipeline. By incorporating these three neuroscience-based tips, you can create real results that last. And when you’re ready to take your sales game up a notch, test out RocketReach and see how we can help build your pipeline quickly–without all the hassle.
About the Guest Author: KD loves scaling sales teams. He’s built teams from 0-150+ sales reps, and revenues from 0-100M+ ARR (and counting). He believes in processes and systems, paired with skill development, as the code to success.
