The Business Benefits of a Pipeline Mentality
The
Business Benefits of a Pipeline Mentality
Proactively grow your business with these guidelines.
BY JOHN GRAHAM
The customer story of today is simple. Loyalty ranges from temporary to non-existent. Mining
the Internet for products and services has become second nature for customers, who rely on smartphone apps to cut through communication clutter. With an endless array of channels available, engaging customers
can be an exercise in futility.
To get beyond the barriers that distance us from customers and avoid
always asking the "Whom can I talk to today?" question, what is needed is a "pipeline" mentality. The process is one of customer creation—filling the "pipeline" with
potential business while taking care of the new business flowing in.
Instead of spending valuable time and resources constantly
looking for new business, a more prudent approach is to create a "pipeline" process that proactively grows your business.
Building the pipeline
Here are the elements of implementing a pipeline strategy:
1. View prospects as "customers-in-the-making." Although it contradicts
traditional sales strategies, viewing prospects as potential sales distorts the selling process. Although most salespeople are quick to say that
they are solution-oriented and want to help customers, their behavior betrays
their words.
It’s easy to spot the salesperson with one objective in mind—to make the
sale. Everything is aimed at achieving that one goal. Prospects quickly
sense the true mission and go on the defensive, either rejecting the
salesperson or backing away from making a decision. Thinking of prospects as "customers-in-the-making" is more effective, whether
they buy today or a year from now. The goal is to bring them into your orbit in
such a way that they will not go elsewhere.
2. Make prospect identification an ongoing commitment. It’s counter-intuitive to put making a sale ahead of creating a customer. The goal
of prospecting should be to identify those who fit your company's customer profile
and who, when properly cultivated, hold potential to become buyers.
Making prospect identification
an ongoing task is difficult for many businesses. The life force of sales is a pipeline that's filled with
prospects who have discovered the value of doing business with you, who
recognize that there’s value in partnering with you, and who have discovered
all this before becoming customers. Most prospect identification efforts produce minimal results, because they lack
constant attention. They’re viewed as temporary activity rather than as the
lifeblood of the organization—the source of new business for the years ahead.
3. Segment prospects to focus on individual needs. Even after decades of
discussion, few companies recognize the value of segmenting their databases and
toss everyone in a couple of buckets, failing to drill down for personal
preferences, lifestyle nuances, sales and demographic data. Although this is the age of the individual customer, the implications are
largely ignored by most businesses. Boiler plate proposals are deadly and
emails are often nothing more than thinly-disguised ads. These techniques create negative impressions.
4. Implement prospect cultivation tactics. Customers set their own buying schedules and they're not about to
abandon their priorities to fit a salesperson’s needs. They don’t want to be
‘bothered’ with multiple emails or repeated telephone calls. They're not moved by attempts to arrange a meeting or by someone saying, ''I'm
reaching out to you to gather information." But when the prospect is ready
to buy, those who come to mind have the opportunity to make the sale. Staying
in front of prospects regularly with helpful information builds the platform of
success.
5. Be the resource for prospects. The most effective way to convince a
customer to buy from you is to make yourself invaluable. What you sell may help
a customer become more successful, but what you know solves customer problems.
There are those who are reluctant to share their knowledge, fearing that
prospects will take what they want and never bother to become buyers. While
there's always the chance this can happen, it's a risk worth taking in order to
demonstrate your competence and expertise.
The best way for prospects to become aligned with a company is for them to
discover the depths of your expertise and the extent of your knowledge. This is
the value that makes a significant difference.
6. Help customers be more successful. Simply selling the right product or service isn't nearly enough
today to build a lasting customer bond. Going beyond the expected is today's challenge. For example, a supplier of bakery mixes and
fillings noticed customers were asking for help developing
marketing strategies and tactics for retailing their products. High-quality and innovative products were not enough—customers were looking for guidance on how to increase sales. Meeting this
need was the first step toward selling more mixes and fillings.
A results-based approach
Because results are what count, it doesn't make sense to waste time chasing possible sales,
following up on less-than-serious prospects and preparing dead-end proposals. What's required is a strategy that
fills the customer pipeline with prospects that can be nurtured to form a steady flow of new business from those who know and understand company's
capabilities. This is the "pipeline" mentality.
John Graham, of GrahamComm, is a marketing and sales strategist/consultant and
business writer. He publishes a free monthly eNewsletter titled "No Nonsense
Marketing & Sales." Contact him at johnrg31@me.com, 617-774-9759 or www.johnrgraham.com.
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