A pipeline meeting is a company event! I have walked into too many pipeline meetings and wondered why they even have them at all, unless it is just to waste a couple of hours. So let's look at a few things that might help your pipeline….or better yet, your company.
- A pipeline meeting should be attended by all top management including head buyers, VP of Ops, plant managers, and shipping managers. They need to hear what is in the pipeline so that they can better prepare for it.
- The reason most of the non-sales department staff doesn’t attend it is because it is normally totally inaccurate. The PIPE is the same shape at the top as it is at the bottom. That means that whatever we are talking about or at least 90% of what’s in the pipeline should be closed. Only talk about the next 30 days and just the accounts that they will bet their job on. This means that instead of talking about everything in the funnel, we will only talk about WHAT MATTERS MOST. If your sales people only close about two deals a month, they should only have two to three deals to talk about each month.
- Now if your management could start counting on the monthly numbers …they could operate differently and more efficiently.
- Make sure that you don’t beat up a sales person if they only have one to talk about.
This now becomes a tool the whole company can use and count on for inventory, hiring, etc. Imagine your head of purchasing saying to a sales person, “Are you for sure going to close that in the next 30 days? If you are I have to order those parts TODAY!”
The sales team will begin to realize that poor forecasting hurts the company as a whole. This will force the sales team to be more accurate and stop blaming production for not being able to get stuff out if they were misinformed.
-Tom
