Step 13. Creating Prospect Stages For An Accurate Pipeline and Easier Review

he CRM system you use should allow you to easily create Stages for each of your Prospects. The Stages need to accurately reflect where your Prospects are in their buying journey with your company. Getting this right will give you an accurate sales pipeline and help you forecast your business, which should lead to better cash flow and planning. My Suggestions: 1. Keep it simple. Create less than seven or eight different, weighted Stages. I think five is plenty. Weighted means you assign a percentage to the Stage. For example, if you believe the value of a deal is $10,000 and it has a 50% weighting, it will add $5,000 to your pipeline. 2. Customer driven. You only assign a Stage based on what the Prospect has done. Not what you think they will do or what the salesperson hopes will happen. This is a really important point. During a pipeline review, your Sales Manager needs to ask the Salesperson what activity the Prospect has performed to get them to that Stage. As Rick Page said, Hope is not a strategy. 3 Biggest Takeaways 1. Prioritize Short-Term Deals for Cash Flow: Focus your weekly pipeline reviews specifically on deals expected to close within the current month or quarter. While long-term deals are important, they require different questions and should be handled in separate meetings. This focus allows you, as the business owner or CEO, to manage cash flow more effectively. 2. Verify Customer Commitment Over Salesperson Hope: A critical part of the review is distinguishing between what a salesperson hopes will happen and what the customer has actually committed to. Going deal-by-deal ensures that prospects have truly earned their stage in the pipeline based on concrete actions, rather than just "optimistic" data. 3. Consistency Drives Accountability: Whether you hold these reviews weekly or every two weeks, the key is consistency. When your team knows the review process is a standard part of their schedule, they learn that unrealistic data won't be accepted. This discipline leads to a more accurate pipeline and better overall business management. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Q1: Why should I focus on deals closing this month instead of the whole pipeline? A: Focusing on immediate deals (this month or quarter) allows you to accurately forecast cash flow and manage the business's current financial health. Long-term prospects are still important, but they often require a different strategic approach and can distract from the immediate goal of closing current opportunities. Q2: My salesperson has a full pipeline but low closing rates. What’s going on? A: This often happens when "hope" is being entered into the CRM rather than "commitment." The video suggests going deal-by-deal to check what the customer has actually promised. If they haven't committed to the next step, they haven't earned that stage in your pipeline yet. Q3: Is a weekly review mandatory, or can I do it less often? A: While a weekly cadence is suggested to stay on top of the pipeline, you can adjust it to every two weeks if that fits your business better. The most important factor isn't the frequency itself, but the consistency of the schedule. Q4: Is the pipeline review for the salesperson's benefit or the owner's? A: While it helps salespeople improve their accuracy, the primary benefit is for the owner or CEO. It provides the realistic data needed to manage cash flow and make informed decisions about the company's future. Q5: How do I stop my team from putting in "fluff" to make themselves look good? A: By implementing a consistent review process and asking specific questions about customer commitments, your salespeople will quickly learn that "fluff" or unrealistic data won't be accepted. Over time, this shifts the culture toward providing realistic, actionable data. 🙋🏽‍♂️ I'm a Fractional Sales VP and INC 500 Winner I organize, optimize, and train your sales team, so you don't have to. My website - https://www.louiebernstein.com ➡️ Schedule a call: https://calendly.com/louiebernstein/30minutes 📌If you want a dose of inspiration, check out my Sunday Starter. It's designed to accelerate your success. https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6914239256987131904/ CONNECT 🎯LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sales-processes/