Sales Funnel versus Sales Pipeline
The sales funnel and sales pipeline are often confused or seen as the same thing. This is certainly not the case. Although the visualisation may look similar, they represent different data. A sales funnel is about leads, while the sales pipeline is about deals. They go hand in hand and can both be tracked in vPlan.
Through the Funnel
New leads enter the funnel at the top and then pass through various stages. There's a chance that the lead gets stuck halfway and is no longer viable. The ultimate goal is for the lead to reach the bottom of the funnel. Your sales pipeline is also built from your sales funnel. The sales pipeline follows the same model.
Manage Your Deals with vPlan
A sales pipeline is a visual and organized representation of all your deals based on predefined stages in your sales process. The pipeline also shows you the number of deals per stage and their value. It enables your sales team to focus on the right deals, identify where sales activities are still needed, and anticipate the workload for the coming months.
Our kanban view is the solution for visually representing your pipeline. You create sales stages as statuses. Determine the number of sales stages yourself. In this example, we assume a standard B2B process:
- Prospecting: An optional phase depending on the collaboration with the marketing department. In this phase, you generate leads through social media, mailings, or cold calling.
- Qualification: A phase where you assess a new sales opportunity on several levels. A commonly used method is BANT. You qualify based on Budget, Authority (DMU), Need, and Timing.
- Meeting/Demo: After successful qualification, you want to convince the customer of your product/service. Schedule a meeting and further follow up on the lead (follow-ups).
- Proposal: The lead has a lot of interest. The needs have been identified. With a formal sales proposal, you want to close the deal. Follow up on the proposal closely and don't leave it open for too long.
- Won: Yes, the customer has signed. The deal is won! In this phase, ensure a smooth handling and internal handover.
- Lost: Unfortunately, the lead doesn't become a customer. Tip: feel free to contact them for an inventory. Record why you actually lost the deal to learn from your results.
The pipeline is not static but dynamic and constantly changing. In vPlan, you can quickly process actions in your pipeline and easily adjust the status of the deal.
Capture Everything and Communicate with Your Team
For each deal, create a card in vPlan. Give the card a clear title so everyone knows which deal it refers to. Use custom fields to capture specific data about your deal, such as the contact person and deal value. Assign a resource as the deal owner so everyone knows who is responsible for the deal. You have the option to add labels to the deal to indicate certain characteristics. Additionally, attach important documents, such as a Request for Information (RFI) from the customer. If you always follow a fixed number of steps, create a checklist to ensure you never forget a step.
Easily Collaborate with Your Colleagues. You can simply send a message to your colleague by tagging them in a message. Your colleague will automatically receive a notification. You can also follow a deal, so you are automatically notified of any important changes. With our automations, it's possible to inform everyone, for example, when a deal is won.
A Weighted Pipeline
To create a realistic view in your pipeline, you can assign a weighting percentage to each status in the process. This percentage reflects the likelihood that a lead will eventually become a customer. The weighted value of a deal is calculated using the weighting percentage of the sales phase and the value of the deal. In this example, we assign the following percentages to the sales stages:
Imagine there are 8 sales opportunities in the Meeting/Demo stage with a total value of €10,000. Then the weighted value is €5,000 because it is expected that 50% of all demos will eventually convert into customers. In vPlan, you can use the list view to see the weighted value per sales stage and period. With our formulas, you can calculate even more. This way, you can also predict future results and know how many leads you need to achieve revenue goals.
You can summarize the results per column within the list view and even calculate the average. For example, filter all won deals and calculate the average. This way, you quickly get insight into your average won deal value.
The Benefits for Your Business
The pipeline is the beating heart of your business. Its importance and value cannot be overstated. If you do not successfully manage your pipeline, you risk missing out on new customers and revenue. The benefits of a tightly organized pipeline include:
- Improving the sales process.
- Predicting future business results.
- Analyzing different sales strategies.
- Gaining insight into the goals and performance of your salespeople.
- Assessing progress for the current financial year.
- Knowing exactly what needs to be achieved to meet targets.
Would you like to learn more about how you can use vPlan for your sales team?
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