Salespeople often obsess over growing a big, beautiful sales pipeline. “Fill pipeline with hot leads” or “fill pipeline with best-fit prospects” are recurrent tasks at the top of the to-do list. While well intentioned, that often means salespeople will dedicate too much time to sales prospecting instead of thinking about how to get prospects to flow through the pipeline.
A fun way to think about sales is as a quest. I know that might sound a little odd but, if you just bear with me, I promise the metaphor will make a lot of sense. In this fantastical metaphor, a salesperson would be the brave adventurer setting out on a perilous journey in search of fame and fortune. Now, obviously an adventurer needs many things to accomplish their quest, but there is one essential tool that is negligently underappreciated—a map. I mean, without a map, would Indiana Jones have been able to find the lost Ark? I’d venture to say that it’s doubtful.
Alas, bringing it back to the realm of normality, if a hero is in need of a map, isn’t a salesperson? I can sense your silent nods of agreement on the other side of the screen, so I’ll let you in on a little secret—a sales pipeline is that map for salespeople. A sales pipeline clearly outlines the different stages of the journey that a salesperson has to undertake in their quest to make a sale. It shows the salesperson where they are now, where they need to go next, and what they need to do to get there. Told you we’d get there in the end! Makes sense, right?
“Data-driven” is a popular term in the business world these days and it makes sense why: data is the helping hand that decision-makers have been needing. Data helps you troubleshoot your organization, understand your performance, and make better business decisions. It can’t come as too much of a surprise then that data is also of huge benefit for salespeople! By using the right data, salespeople will know whom to contact, when to contact them, and why to contact them. Knowing these things is part of what makes data an invaluable resource for the modern salesperson.
"When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one". The rationale behind this statement is relatively easy to grasp—if you don’t personalize your messaging, people won’t feel that what you’re communicating is relevant to them and they therefore won’t be inclined to listen.
You’ve probably heard the term ‘data’ before. You’ve also probably heard that this thing called ‘data’ can help you make better and more informed decisions, as well as improving your performance. But have you ever been told what exactly business data actually is? Or what different types of business data are? Or how to implement its use? But, before we even get to that stage, have you ever been told where to find this data?
Even if your answers to any of these questions were no, then there’s no need to worry! These are all questions that this article will help you find an answer to so that you can become confident on the topic, more data-driven in your work, and see an improvement in your performance.