How do I generate a sales pipeline?

Generating a sales pipeline depends on your sales flow. Pipedrive, for example, comes equipped with a basic sales pipeline, based on a simple but popular sales flow. These stages tend to suit most businesses. Thanks to Pipedrive’s customization options, organizations can change the number and titles of stages in their pipeline to fit their exact sales process .

How do I track a sales pipeline?

There are four levels of pipeline analysis to help you track your results. By keeping tabs on the number of deals in your pipeline, the average size and value of those deals, the close ratio and your sales velocity, you’ll have the information you need to track your sales effectively.

How do I build a sales pipeline from scratch?

To build a sales pipeline from scratch, you first need to determine the different stages of your sales process. Think of the buyer’s journey, from their first interaction with your business through a completed sale. Each activity needed to move your buyer closer to a sale can be its own stage.

How do I build a strong sales pipeline?

A strong sales pipeline uses metrics to refine the success of its stages. This means it increases the overall conversion rate of leads entering it while also ensuring you generate enough new leads to meet your targets. Pipedrive’s analytics tab lets sales teams make informed decisions, enabling them to refine and improve their sales process.

How do I effectively manage and grow a sales pipeline?

To successfully manage and grow a sales pipeline, users must have access to both data and excellent lead-generation tools. Pipedrive, for example, gives users the analytics and insights necessary to manage and perfect their sales pipeline. It provides actionable information for managers, which they can pass on to reps to improve their sales process. Combined with tools like Pipedrive’s LeadBooster, businesses can efficiently nurture their sales pipelines while boosting new lead numbers.

Sales pipeline analysis

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First, what is a sales pipeline?

A sales pipeline is a model composed of the different stages that prospects go through in the purchasing process.

In more human terms, your sales pipeline is every email, call and meeting, even the reps you met at last night’s cocktail party - all of the contacts that have taken place during your sales cycle. Most of the conversations are in the early stages of your pipeline - the people that you think need what you’re offering. With others, you’ve already established a good need-offering fit and are driving toward a close.

The 4 levers of sales pipeline analysis

Sales pipeline analysis is all about the old mantra “what you can measure, you can improve”. But before taking measurements, you need to make sure you’ve defined your pipeline’s sales stages. Having done that, you’re ready to move on to the 4 metrics that make up the sales pipeline:

The number of deals in your pipeline
Average size and value of the deals in your pipeline
Close ratio, average percentage of deals won
Sales velocity, average time it takes to win a deal

Improve your sales pipeline analysis

Improvements can be made in all four areas. What you need is to identify where your difficulties lie, and that’s where Pipedrive comes in.

Reduces admin work

Manual data entry is a thing of the past, or at least it should be. With the right tool, you’ll have to do less data handling, and have more time to sell.

Easy to use and set-up

Instead of being a weekly reporting platform, sales management software should be an easy one-stop-shop for all your sales tracking needs.

Unifies all tools

Having a single, streamlined view of your sales process gives clarity, and gets your team on the same page. Supporting apps and integrations is also a must.

Fully customizable

Flexible sales management systems that are easy to adjust yourself are the best way to mold the perfect software for your business. The less complicated it is to change, the easier it is to personalize.

Available on the go

Mobile access is crucial when you’re actively selling. CRM apps make sales management on the move easy and simple, and it’s even tougher for information to fall through the cracks.

Designed for salespeople

Salespeople need software designed for their trade. While using regular CRMs can work, the real magic happens when you use tools that were built to drive sales and manage leads.

Sales CRM that gives you sales insights

Pipedrive is a light-touch sales CRM built for minimum input and maximum output. With our simple, intuitive software there’s no 200-page list of functions, and no two-day training required. Just log in, fill up your pipeline and start selling with a product designed to make selling beautiful.

Keep an eye on sales pipeline velocity

Setting your sales pipeline up is only the beginning. Sales managers need to understand what’s happening across the sales process at all times.

Keep tabs on sales volume and velocity to see how much money flows through your pipeline and how quickly. Catch any blockages and grab opportunities to streamline your sales process with pipeline management.

Measure the performance of sales reps

Your reps are the engine driving your sales activities, so constant improvement through training is a must.

Delve into your reps’ performance with granular reporting that provides actionable insights into each team member. Discover the processes that stall progress, compare performance between individuals and collect feedback for one-on-one sessions.

Understand conversion rates at every pipeline stage

Maintain the health of your sales pipeline with an overview of conversion rates at each sales stage.

Pipeline analysis software helps you to track each stage’s performance and identify gaps in conversion efforts. Automate real-time sales funnel updates, spot room for improvement and keep upgrading your sales cycle.

What metrics and insights can pipeline analysis provide?

Access an aerial overview of your sales processes with Pipedrive’s sales pipeline analysis. With insight into performance, workflow efficiency and key sales metrics, you can take full control of your operations and create a bulletproof pipeline strategy.

Deal size

Analyze individual deal size and study the pipeline processes of high-value deals to inform future strategy

Forecasting

Effectively plan your sales strategy by analyzing and comparing deals according to the likely close date

Sales cycle length

Cut conversion time and resolve issues in your sales cycle processes with sales pipeline analytics

How Belkins doubled sales with clean pipeline data

B2B lead generation and appointment-scheduling agency Belkins needed to clean up their data. To do this, they wanted an affordable and capable CRM.

Pipedrive helped Belkins easily integrate hundreds of mailboxes, allowing them to cut the time to revenue targets in half.

“We are able to support our sales growth in a meticulous and structured way by operating our pipelines in Pipedrive. That’s why we are growing our sales every month and not losing money by missing out on existing opportunities.”

Read the case study

Tools and integrations to take your pipeline to the next level

With Pipedrive’s powerful features, you can create the ultimate sales pipeline for your sales team. Automation, workflows and insights make it easier than ever to add new clients, track deal progress and keep on top of day-to-day sales activities.

Seamless automation

Get rid of busywork with Pipedrive’s workflow automation. Alert team members when clients move through your pipeline, automate follow-ups at each new stage and generate report graphs.

Prospector

Find your next potential customers with Prospector, Pipedrive’s powerful database of over 400 million profiles. Have prospects based on your ideal customer form an orderly queue into your pipeline.

User-friendly workflows

Create tried-and-tested sales processes for your reps to follow. Design and customize a visual workflow to streamline sales tasks and improve the sales experience for everyone on your team.

Sales pipeline templates

Get set up quickly with Pipedrive’s free sales pipeline templates. Adapt the templates to suit your unique business needs and watch your leads move to the next stage in the buying journey.

Sales reporting

Organize your sales data with customizable reports and interactive dashboards. Dive into the key metrics behind your operations and quickly share key pipeline data with stakeholders.

Contact management

Import contacts from spreadsheets straight into Pipedrive. Our powerful CRM links contacts to deals so your reps can access key details and personalize their interactions with clients.