Sales Techniques to Remember – Filling the Pipeline; It’s the Healthy Thing to Do

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Mon, 11/01/2010

I talk to salespeople, or business owners who need to sell, all the time. One sales technique which is difficult to maintain for many, is filling the pipeline. For novices or those not familiar with the term, the pipeline I’m referring to is the pipeline of business development. Many salespeople today don’t even put their prospects into a pipeline. They contact their prospect once, feel they are not interested, and the prospect never hears from the salesperson again. What a mistake and missed opportunity!

You see, putting the prospects in to a pipeline eventually will produce clients. It just takes time. And that’s the main ingredient. You’ve got to be patient, and persistent. You’ve also got to have the belief that the more you put into your pipeline, the more you will get out at the other end. Conversely, if you put less and less in to the pipeline, you will see less come out the other end.

While I’m talking about putting less and less into your pipeline, I’d like to have the ear of those who are over fifty years old, or who have colon cancer in their family tree. If you haven’t done it yet, GO GET YOUR COLONOSCOPY! It could possibly save your life. I had mine done today, and thankfully I’m clear for another five years. Emptying my pipeline yesterday, I lost four pounds, and since about noon today I have been starting to fill the pipeline again, with hopes of it filling completely by tomorrow morning. Now back to the blog…

Just like your personal pipeline, filling the pipeline for business development is healthy. Once in a while it is also advised to check the pipeline, take out some of the prospects who have been taking too much of your time, and start filling the pipeline over again. Your ability to add and subtract prospects from your pipeline accurately will increase with experience. Look for trends in the revenue you develop. What are the key prospect resources, and which ones are just not producing revenue.

Filling and regularly analyzing your pipeline is not only healthy, but is a recommended technique toward building success. Yes, it’s hard work to maintain, but always worthwhile in the end.

I’d like to hear stories of how you’ve dealt with your pipeline. What have been your challenges? How did you overcome the obstacles to make it bring the results you desire?

Until next time…