How to Run a Sales Pipeline Meeting...

Here are 13 Golden Rules for running effective pipeline meetings. In this article, you'll get insights into each one, so you understand the purpose and can make it work for your business and sales team...

(N.B. Pin these rules to the meeting room door, put them on the meeting calendar invite and/or review them before the meeting starts. However you do it, make sure everyone understands them before you get started.)

As a sales manager, your job is to figure out how you can make each rule work in the context of your business culture and team dynamics:

1). The purpose of the meeting is to help you (the salesperson) save time, close deals, make money and flourish in your career:

This is crucial. The purpose of an effective pipeline meeting is NOT to provide training or coaching on a specific deal. It's NOT to motivate, or criticise, the team or individuals within it. It's NOT to

The purpose of a pipeline meeting is to get clarity on the obstacles to closing a deal and identify the actions needed to either advance the sale towards a profitable close OR get an early 'no' and save wasted time, energy and resources.

2). Attendance is mandatory:

Hopefully this is self-explanatory. Pipeline meetings are the engine of a high-performing sales team, not an optional chore.

3). Update your Pipeline board prior to the meeting. Keep it updated weekly. Attach a copy with your weekly report to your manager:

The bottom line of professional selling is going to the bank. This means a regular focus on maintaining a minimum volume of active deals.

Submitting a weekly report –?containing details of pipeline, activity plans and lessons learned – is a cornerstone habit of salespeople.

4). If there is not a mutually agreed date for a meeting or next-step phone call, then the opportunity is not in your pipeline, it is in your funnel.

This rule requires a 180o mindset shift for many salespeople. Wishy-washy agreements to "call someone back" or "get in touch soon" are not helpful for either party.

Either an opportunity is important enough to a prospect that they will commit to a concrete date and time for a next-step . . .

. . . or they won't.

There is no in between when it comes to pipeline. If a prospect does not think the issue is sufficiently important to discuss at a specific date and time, it's drops out of the pipeline, into the funnel, and getting a date and time in the diary becomes a clear next-step action for the salesperson.

5). Go right to the headlines. What is between you and the order? What is your next action?

A pipeline meeting is not the place for dissection and analysis of what is happening with an opportunity. In-depth discussion of an opportunity might be a good topic for a sales meeting where everyone can get involved in suggesting and exploring ways to move forward. In a pipeline meeting, high-level details only are needed.

6). There is no hidden agenda with management. This is an exercise for you to make more money.

As a manager, your ego state is crucial for an effective pipeline meeting. You must remain in what the theory of Transactional Analysis calls a logic-based 'Adult' ego state. This is not the place to slip into your judgmental 'Critical Parent' mindset and find or exploit faults in your salespeople.

Stay calm and logical. The time to address faults in your team's sales activity or technique is during coaching and training sessions –?not the pipeline meeting.

7). All assumptions will be challenged. Don’t get upset at anyone but yourself:

• You think ABC Company is interested? How do you know?
• You believe ACME Corp will buy? Why do you think that?
• You hope XYZ Technologies will move forward? On what grounds?

Good pipeline meetings enforce discipline when it comes to good questioning techniques and information gathering. When people know they will be asked to provide information to justify their claims, they quickly improve the amount and quality of information they gather.

8). No need to talk about accounts already sold:

It's a pipeline meeting, not an account management meeting.

9). No need to discuss accounts too early in process.

One of your salespeople thinks there could be a good opportunity with a referral they've just received? That's great. Until there's been an initial conversation and discovery process, the opportunity is in their sales funnel, not their pipeline.

10). Brief us on unicorns, but we won’t count on them:

Everyone loves to get excited about unicorn deals . . .

. . . but unicorns don't exist.

Act accordingly!

11). We know you need “strokes”, don’t look for them here. Stay in your “Adult” ego state:

As with rule 6, a pipeline meeting is a logic-based discussion focussed on where opportunities are, what needs to be resolved for them to close, and what the next best actions are.

12). How many 'Nos' did you get?

Measuring the number of 'nos' your team gets is a great measure of sales velocity. Creating a culture where 'no' is an acceptable, and even celebrated, outcome ensures that the opportunities in the pipeline are high-quality and that, in turn, has a huge impact on forecasting accuracy.

13). Remember, “No is OK”, “Know” is imperative, no excuses required.

One of your team got a 'no' from a prospect? That's perfectly ok. What's most important is that they 'know' why they got the no.

• No pain, or problem, that your company can fix?
• No money the prospect is willing and able to spend?
• No commitment to taking a decision?

Whatever the reason, understanding why is at the heart of continuous improvement in sales. If you know why you got the no, you can formulate look for opportunities

If you don't know why you got the no, there's no opportunity to improve next time.

In summary...

Pipeline meetings are a crucial part of a sales managers role as a supervisor of sales activity. A good pipeline meeting helps everyone involved understand where they are and what needs to happen to get where they want to go.

Unlike training- or coaching-focussed meetings, pipeline discussions must take place from what Transactional Analysis calls an Adult ego state; both on the part of the sales manager and the sales person.

When this happens, it helps transform culture within a department from one of fear and excuses to one of mutual-collaboration, continuous improvement and ever-increasing susccess.

Tom Mallens is training director at Birmingham-based Sandler Training, Heart of England*.

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*He's also somewhat obsessed with exercise. You can get his book 'The Lean & Mean for Life Formula' on how middle-aged men can lose 10kg and within 90 days >>>?here.