As an outside sales professional, you know how important it is to forecast your sales accurately and reliably. But how can you use the data in your pipeline to predict sales trends and make better decisions? In this article, we will explore how pipeline data can help you identify opportunities, risks, and patterns that can affect your sales performance.
Pipeline data is the information you collect and track about your sales prospects, such as their stage, value, probability, and expected close date. You can use a CRM system or a spreadsheet to manage your pipeline data and update it regularly. Pipeline data gives you a snapshot of your current and potential sales, as well as your progress towards your quota and goals.
One thing that I believe helps with sales forecasting and in addition provides an opportunity to expand offerings within the clients framework is the integration of pos within the data pipeline and through ETL data which identifies volume per account and type of products out the warehouse you can analyze other accounts with pos history for the same product to identify ancillary items and other products within a particular sales channel ( industry) . Realtime data sets are also have advantages through cloud based data pipeline systems.
In my experience, pipeline data in outside sales, makes my work faster. With pipeline data, you can forecast and be 80% correct. Having these data handy saves time, and you know time is money. In most cases, the client will be amazed on how fast both of you moved from prospecting to a more profitable business relationship, thanks to pipeline data available to you and how best you analyzed and interpreted all data into actions and finally, sales.
Pipeline data is essential for measuring and improving your sales effectiveness and efficiency. By analyzing your pipeline data, you can assess your sales performance and compare it to your targets and benchmarks, identify gaps and bottlenecks in your sales process, prioritize your sales activities, adjust your sales strategy and tactics based on the market conditions and customer feedback, as well as forecast your sales revenue and cash flow more accurately. Taking these steps can help you take action to resolve any issues, focus on the most promising prospects, and gain confidence in your forecasts.
Pipeline data can help you predict sales trends by revealing patterns and insights that can affect your future sales. For instance, you can use it to detect seasonal fluctuations and cyclical variations in your sales volume and revenue, spot emerging opportunities and threats in your target market and industry, monitor changes in customer behavior, preferences, and expectations, evaluate the impact of your marketing campaigns, promotions, and events on your sales leads and conversions, as well as test and refine your sales assumptions and hypotheses.
To collect and analyze pipeline data effectively, you should adhere to some best practices, such as establishing clear and consistent criteria for each stage of your sales pipeline, assigning realistic probabilities and values to each prospect, and updating your pipeline data regularly and accurately. Additionally, using a CRM system or a tool that can automate and streamline the data collection and analysis process is highly recommended. Segmenting your pipeline data by different variables, such as product, region, industry, or source, can provide a more granular and relevant view of your sales situation. Visual aids like charts, graphs, and dashboards can be used to display and interpret your pipeline data in an intuitive manner.
Using pipeline data to improve your sales performance requires taking action on the insights and recommendations derived from analysis. For instance, you can use it to set realistic and achievable goals and quotas, track progress and results, optimize the sales process, enhance sales skills and techniques, nurture prospects, increase customer loyalty and retention, as well as generate more referrals and repeat business.