How to manage a sales pipeline from Work Bae

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Building a Sales Pipeline
CHRISTINA TUBB
WORK BAE, A DIVISION OF PRISTINER LLC

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“
”
People will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how
you made them feel
MAYA ANGELOU
The ultimate “feelings” pitch

Your Goals & Experiences
What is your natural sales profile?
How does your organization sell successfully today?
What talents can you leverage within the
organization?

Sales Profiles
Academic
Conceptual Consultant Maestro
ClassicAthlete
Source: Bespoke Talent
Take the test!

Building a Predictable
Pipeline
EVERYTHING STARTS WITH SALES: THE COMPANY WILL MAKE HIRING AND
INVESTMENT DECISIONS BASED ON THEIR PIPELINE OF BUSINESS, SO IT IS IMPORTANT
TO HAVE A PREDICTABLE PIPELINE ON WHICH YOUR TEAM CAN RELY

Three basic
elements of
a sales
pipeline
forecast
Discovery
Needs
Analysis
Value
Proposition
Proposal
Submitted
Negotiation
& Review
Contract &
Terms
Implement
STAGE
LIKELIHOOD
SIZE / COMPLEXITY / TIMING1
2
3

Size How many to
hit your #?
Common Deal
Cycle
Typical Win
Rate
Notes
< 15% of
quota
Monthly 3 months High with good
marketing
Qual in/out early;
low customization
15% - 35%
of quota
Every 2 months 6-9 months Moderate Keep profitable;
mine the upside
> 35% of
quota
Every 3 months 12-18 months Low without
relationships
Mind the blind RFP
> 1 year
quota
Every year 24+ months Zero without
relationships
Maestro-like
Classifying Sales Opportunities
What is your ideal mix?
1

Exercise on
Pipeline Mix
• Create examples of each of the deal
types.
• Estimate how many hours to close
each one and how many of each you
need to hit your number.
• Adjust until you find the right mix.
1

Pipeline mix learnings
 Spend all your time chasing rabbits without automating the
process, and you eventually go hungry
 Find a process that makes rabbit deals low touch to sell & deliver
(automation, channels, defined process…)
 Hunt nothing but whales and it becomes feast or famine
 Build them but don’t rely on them
 A good sales team has a balanced diet
1

Three basic
elements of
a sales
pipeline
forecast
Discovery
Needs
Analysis
Value
Proposition
Proposal
Submitted
Negotiation
& Review
Contract &
Terms
Implement
STAGE
LIKELIHOOD
2
3
2

The Classic Sales Stages
Discovery
Needs
Analysis
Value
Proposition
Proposal
Submitted
Negotiation
& Review
Contract &
Terms
2

I don’t know anyone in this industry, and
I’ve never sold before, but I’m smart
enough to do this on my own
2

Identify All Potential Decision Makers: Go High & Wide
Discovery
Needs Analysis
Qualification
Value Proposition
Perception Analysis/
Consensus Building
Proposal & Negotiation
Contract Review
Needs of one person? Or actual needs of the group?
Concrete Showstoppers?
There are on average 7+ people involved in a big deal
today
2
What happens if they lose budget or change jobs?

I just spent hundreds of hours on a deal
that didn’t have resiliency or that didn’t
meet the criteria for success
2

What this process didn’t teach us
 To ask the hard questions early
 To not rely on a single point of entry – how to match up buyers
 When to exit a bad deal
 How to build consensus across an organization
 Use your team to complement your efforts, and be sure to ask both them
and the client for feedback.
 Your role is to structure the engagement and the relationships to ensure that
you are brining in complementary skill sets at the right time, to the right
people, and with the right context
2

Exercise on
Pipeline Stage
Write up the org chart of a company
you’re pitching to (we will use this
later)
Highlight influencers, budget owner,
potential veto votes, and champion
Identify the best matches in your
company to line up a team sale
1

Three basic
elements of
a sales
pipeline
forecast
Discovery
Needs
Analysis
Value
Proposition
Proposal
Submitted
Negotiation
& Review
Contract &
Terms
Implement
STAGE
LIKELIHOOD
2
3
3

Lead
Qualified
Opportunity
Upside
Commit
Won
Implement
Why is Likelihood Important?
3
The death zone
A company with hundreds
of deals in the death zone
can’t adequately forecast
for the future

Sample Likelihood Progression
Lead
Qualified
Opportunity
Upside
Commit
Won
Implement
3
30% conversion
30% conversion
40% conversion
80% conversion
$1m
$1.25m
$3.1m
$10.4m
$34.7m
Not incl. in
pipeline
Note: most likelihoods are higher; this is
planning for worst case

Exercise on
Pipeline Likelihood
• Win rates
• Quota
• Leads / month
• Cold emails / day
3

Key
Takeaways
Robust stage-based processes
lead to higher probability deals
Plan for the unknown to build a
resilient pipeline
Manage your pipeline mix
for profitable sales
1
2
3

Bringing it together with
MEDDIC

Like MEDDIC?
Find a training provider and
let us know how they were!

Discovery
Identify
Pain
Qualification
Economic
buyer
Qual
budget
Product fit
Deal-
breakers
Champion
Building
Identify,
qualify
Build trust
Decision
Process
Who? Roles? Stages? TDM BDM PP
Decision
Criteria
How are
you
judged
Hard vs.
soft
No
decision
poss?
Proof,
Presentation,
Metrics
What do
you need
What
proof
req’d
Right ppl
aware?
Propose
Winning
proposal
Negotiate
Hopefully
no
surprises
Contract &
Close
Discovery
Needs Analysis
Qualification
Value Proposition
PerceptionAnalysis/ConsensusBuilding
Proposal & Negotiation
Contract Review

Sales Exercises
CONTACT THE TEAM AT WORK BAE FOR EXERCISE SHEETS
CONTACT@PRISTINER.COM
HTTPS://WORKBAE.HOME.BLOG/

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How to manage a sales pipeline from Work Bae

How to manage a sales pipeline from Work Bae

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