Same Old Song and Dance

Sales leaders in complex B2B selling environments know that it’s not enough to know how much pipeline they’ve got. They also need to know how the pipeline got to that point. What changed in the last week, month, quarter, etc? Which deals increased or decreased? Which ones pushed? How about stage changes?

Having these pearls of knowledge at their fingertips will make managing pipeline much easier for sales leaders. Not knowing will put them in a jam. Fortunately, the changes are straightforward and limited in number, making them easier to deal with than, say, a pillow made of concrete.

There are eight things that can affect a deal’s amount and timing as it flows across deal stages between two calendar dates (ex. last Friday to this Friday). I call these the Eight Deal Stage Changes (DSCs). The Eight DSCs are similar to the Seven RPCs, but with one addition:

1. Created: The deal was created.
2. Moved to a later stage: The deal stage changed to a stage further along in the deal cycle.
3. Moved to an earlier stage: The deal stage changed to a prior stage earlier in the deal cycle.
4. Increased in amount: The deal went up in value.
5. Decreased in amount: The deal went down in value.
6. Closed Won: The deal was won.
7. Closed Lost: The deal was lost.
8. Pushed beyond the current FY: The deal remained in the same stage and at the same amount, but the close date moved outside of the current FY. Note: for those reporting in a rolling 4-quarter basis, this may have less of an impact than for those reporting strict FY results.

Tracking each of the Eight DSCs gives tremendous visibility into how the pipeline changes across stages.  And it will give a rolling summary view of when leaders can expect their team’s deals to land during the year.  The sum of the changes in each DSC is the net gain or loss to the pipeline.

A Change Would Do You Good

Here’s how to make sure you’re seeing an even flow of pipeline:

• Reporting cadence: Determine which time period makes the most sense for you to track.  For example, if you’ve got a fair amount of change in a short time period, like a fast deal cycle or deal amounts that change drastically as deals advance, maybe tracking weekly makes the most sense for you.  One benefit of tracking weekly is that you can cover the largest movements during your weekly pipeline review. Tip: Unlike the the RPCs, tracking DSCs is bit trickier for those with out-of-the-box CRM setups. The reason is that seeing changes in deal stages in CRMs requires automating date/time stamps when deals enter a given stage. Most CRMs hold out this functionality for more advanced (and expensive) enterprise versions. For those not able to make the upgrade in the short term, you’ll need to set it up in a spreadsheet. Either way, set up a Pipeline Flow dashboard that shows all eight DSCs and compare changes between time periods. To see the changes in one consolidated view, create custom fields in your CRM or set up a spreadsheet report that summarizes across the eight (Note: use the spreadsheet as a supplement to your CRM dashboard, which should always come first).
• Other views: Combine the DSC view with other views, like RPCs, and your weekly pipeline review sessions will have life again.