Jason Jordan, Vice President & Partner Vantage Point Performance

Rethinking Sales Pipeline Management

Ancient Greek ‘Scientists’ (a.k.a. Observers)

Fun with the Ancient Greeks

Slide 3

Everything revolves around the Earth!

Socrates

Fun with the Ancient Greeks

Slide 4

Everything is made of air!

Anaximenes

Fun with the Ancient Greeks

Slide 5

There are atoms! (kind of)

Democritus

When Common Sense Is Your Guide…

Slide 6

Sales Management: The Neglected Science

Sales Management: Confined to Common Sense

Now the Sales Pipeline

What is a Pipeline?

Slide 10

How Is It Used?

Su M Tu W Th F Sa

Common Management ‘Rhythm’

How Is It Used?

Su M Tu W Th F Sa

Common Management ‘Rhythm’

How Is It Used?

Su M Tu W Th F Sa

Common Management ‘Rhythm’

How Is It Used?

Walk me through

your opportunities

Common Meeting Agenda

Common Meeting Agenda…

Walk me through

your opportunities

okay

Common Meeting Agenda

It Would Appear that …

Sales Pipeline = Important Stuff

Just One Problem…

Common Sense Is at Work

Common Sense and the Pipeline

(4 Easy Choices)

Choice #1

Slide 19

BIG PIPELINE -- or -- small

pipeline

Which is better?

Common Sense Says…

Slide 20

BIG PIPELINE small pipeline

Real-World Counterpoint

Slide 21

Shape Determines How Big It Should Be in Sum

$10 million $2 million

$10 million $2 million

Close Rate = 20%

$35 million

$20 million

Common Sense Is…

Slide 23

BIG

PIPELINE

small pipeline

Choice #2

-- or -- HELP

CLOSE

THE DEAL

HELP

QUALIFY THE DEAL

Where can a manager have the biggest impact on rep performance?

Common Sense Says…

HELP

CLOSE

THE DEAL

HELP

QUALIFY THE DEAL

A Typical Sales Pipeline

Slide 26

The Perfect Sales Pipeline

Slide 27

Bad Deals = Wasted Effort

Slide 28

The Hard Truth

Coaching has Low Impact • Fate Often Already

Decided • Driven by Fun and

Forecasting

Coaching has High Impact • Influence needs and

Criteria • Dislodges Bad Deals

Recall Our Rock Star …

Slide 30

The Superstar’s Secret Sauce

Slide 31

Su M Tu W Th F Sa

Late Stage Deals

Late Stage Deals

New Opportunities

New Opportunities

A Balanced Pipeline Management Approach

Less Junk = Less Funk

Slide 32

Less Junk = Less Funk

Slide 33

The Impact of Early-Stage Intervention

Win Rates Training Conducted

September 2010

25%

37%

54%

37%

49%

71%

Q1 2010 Q1 2011 Q1 2012

$ of Deals

# of Deals

Common Sense Is …

HELP

CLOSE

THE DEAL

HELP

QUALIFY THE DEAL

Choice #3

Slide 36

-- or -- THE REP THE DATA

What should be the primary focus of pipeline meetings?

Senior Leadership Says…

Slide 37

THE REP THE DATA

Observed: Constant ‘Inspection’ of the Pipeline

INSPECTION

•Focused on the data

• Scrubbing

• Extracting

•Short-term (or backward) focused

•Encourages sales rep compliance

•Required by manager, but low-value for rep

Slide 38

Needed: Coach Reps through the Opportunities

COACHING

• Focused on the rep

• Builds skills throughout deal pursuit

• ‘On-the-Job’ Coaching

• Drives better near-term execution

• And has long-term impact

• Very time-intensive, but high-value for rep and manager

Eye Opening Survey …

Hours per

Month Sales Manager

<3

7%

3-5

55%

>5

38%

Perceived Volume of Coaching

Hours per

Month Sales Manager

<3

7%

3-5

55%

>5

38%

Sales Rep Gap

56%

+ 49%

32%

- 23%

12%

- 26%

Eye Opening Survey …

Perceived Volume of Coaching

Senior Leadership can be (can be, sometimes, perhaps, maybe a wee little bit)

Slide 42

COACH

THE REP

INSPECT THE DATA

Choice #4

Slide 43

-- or -- WHAT THE

REP IS

DOING

HOW THE

REP

IS

PERFORMIN

G

What is more important to monitor?

Common Sense Says

Slide 44

WHAT THE

REP IS

DOING

HOW THE

REP

IS

PERFORMIN

G

A Little Research... 306 Sales Metrics

Revenue

Customer Satisfaction

Market Share

Ramp-Up Time

IT Investment

Training Type

Coaching

Account Plan Completion

Tool Usage

Segment of Customer

Call Volume

Call Type

Up/Cross-Selling

Number of Accounts Time Allocation

Quota Achievement

Share-of-Wallet

Process Usage

Training Investment

Skill Level Territory Coverage

New/Existing Customers Call Outcomes

Customer Retention

Deal Size

Prospect Type

New/Existing Product

Pipeline Size

What Can You Really Manage?

Salesperson and manager activities that we can proactively direct and

manage

Objectives that can be influenced, but require some type of ‘consent’

The outcomes of multiple objectives and cannot be

“managed”

Why this is a Breakthrough... Cause and Effect

New Customers

Sales Activities - Individual decisions that are highly manageable

Why this is a Breakthrough... Cause and Effect

New Customers

Sales Activities - Individual decisions that are highly manageable

A Predictable, Manageable Chain of Events

Sales Management’s Critical Task

Link the Objectives to

relevant Activities, then

measure/manage the

Activities relentlessly

Select and quantify the

BEST Objectives to

obtain those Results

Identify the Results

you want to achieve

We Live in an Outcome-Focused World

Common Sense Is…

Slide 52

ATTEND TO

WHAT THE

REP

IS DOING

ATTEND TO

HOW THE

REP

IS

PERFORMIN

G

In Sum…

1. Smaller Can Be Better

2. Focus on the Front

3. It’s about Improving the Rep

4. You Can Only Manage Activities

Parting Thoughts…

Vantage Point: The Science of Sales Management

Focus On

Sales Management

Thought Leadership

through Research

McGraw-Hill 2012

Strategy

Process

Skills

Tools

Metrics

Sales Methodology

Neutral

The First

Sales Management

Methodology

SPIN® Selling

Miller Heiman Target Account Selling®

Solution Selling®

Strategic Selling®

Home Grown

Challenger®

Vantage Point: The Science of Sales Management

The Company We Keep...

Go Be Extraordinary!

Thank You

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