How a Pipeline Report Can Drive Sales

Gene Marks says his best clients use the reports to track every step of the sales process, which helps them discern what’s working and what’s not.

Here are today’s highlights:

• Victor Hwang spotlights an entrepreneur who is demonstrating how to transform low-income communities.

• President Trump says he has a deal to reduce the import tax on Chinese goods.

• It’s not entirely clear that the tariffs are boosting domestic manufacturing.

• By sharing information, artificial intelligence is making it easier for everyone to get a good deal.

SALES

Gene Marks stresses the importance of maintaining a pipeline report: “Rarely do I meet a business owner who isn’t looking to increase sales. There’s never quite enough work, right? The backlog only stretches so far — and beyond that lies the abyss. The truth is, there’s no magic bullet for growing revenue. But there is one report you should be reviewing every single week that will dramatically help: the pipeline report.”

• “Successful owners and managers live and die by this report because it tells them their future. It identifies potential revenue shortfalls before they happen, highlights top performers, and gives them the visibility to plan their marketing, spending, hiring, and investment decisions with confidence.”

• “Start with the basics. List every active opportunity with the company name, contact, description, estimated value, date created, expected close date, and the salesperson or manager responsible for it. Don’t limit this to new prospects — include existing customers if they’re likely to buy more.”

• “Next, assign a probability to each opportunity. Keep it simple. In my company, we give unquoted opportunities a 10-percent chance of closing. Once a quote goes out, that jumps to 50 percent. If it’s been sitting for more than 30 days with no movement, we lower it to 25 percent unless there’s a good reason not to. If it’s looking promising, we move it up to 75 percent. And once it’s closed but not yet invoiced, we assign it 95 percent. We review and adjust these numbers every week.”

• “When an opportunity is lost, remove it from the active report but keep it in your database. Always record a reason — price, competitor, timing, or any other factor. Review these reasons quarterly. Patterns will emerge. You may find that a specific competitor is winning too often, or that pricing or communication needs improvement.” READ MORE