What Is A Sales Pipeline And Why Is It Important?

A Sales Pipeline is a useful concept used by Sales Managers, individual sales staff and the owners of small businesses to quantify the demand for their products and services. Regardless of what you're selling, by effectively managing your sales pipeline, you can smooth out customer demand and create a more stable sales cycle with more reliable results.

A sales pipeline works by placing cohorts of leads or prospects at the different stages of the sales process/sales cycle, and then measuring their progress through the pipeline, from unqualified lead to satisfied repeat customer.

Unfortunately for you and me, the pipeline has a tendency to leak. Leads and prospects fall out of the pipeline on the way, failing to become the happy customers we know they could be.

At a gross level, sales pipeline management is nothing more than estimating incoming cash flow. We look at our leads and prospects, make some estimates of the likelihood that they'll eventually buy our products and services, and feed that information along with their expected spend into our projections to find out how much revenue we're expecting to make.

But the real power of sales pipeline management becomes clear when we establish proper metrics and put processes in place to respond to changes in those metrics. To illustrate, consider the following story.

A retail sales client of ours once called us to ask if we could help him improve his company's sales. He explained that sales revenue was not high enough, and that his staff needed training in closing sales, so that they could close more sales and therefore improve sales revenue.

When we spent some time with his staff, it became clear that there was nothing wrong with their ability to close sales. Instead, we found that staff were finding it difficult to start or carry on a conversation with a customer. Most potential customers were walking into the stores, then walking out again without really having an opportunity to talk about the products they wanted to buy.

By analysing the sales pipeline and the particular points within the sales process where more customers were "leaking" from the pipeline, we were able to determine that the biggest problem staff had was not in closing sales, but in opening a dialogue with customers.

Once we established that, we ran some training courses and created training aids designed to assist staff in opening a sale and keeping a conversation going.

Year on year sales at each store increased by up to 20%.

There are several benefits to managing your sales pipeline effectively:

By focusing on the entire pipeline instead of taking a short-term focus on closing sales, or getting a single high-value contract over the line, demand for your services will be smoother and your cash flow more reliable.

Making incremental improvements of as little as 1-2% in your conversion rates can increase your sales by much more.

An in-depth analysis of when and why your leads and prospects leak from the pipeline will pinpoint specific areas for improvement and help you get far more value for your training dollar.

If you keep track of which prospects leak from your sales pipeline and which prospects don't, you can construct a profile of prospects who are more likely to buy and prospects who are less likely to buy. This knowledge will help you to focus your marketing material and allow you to more accurately qualify your leads, leading to a more streamlined, more efficient and less costly sales process.

Once you have established an accurate sales pipeline, you can use it to plan for new product launches. If you were to plug all the information about your new product into an existing sales pipeline, you would quickly get a pretty good idea of how many leads you're going to have to generate to reach your new product's sales target. This will in turn assist you in deciding how to launch the product, and give you an idea of how much it's going to cost. If you're going to need 500,000 leads to reach your sales target, you're probably going to have to look at a mass market advertising campaign.

In the information age, it always pays to be informed.

© Change Factory 2008.

Mike travelled extensively during his youth, moving interstate and overseas several times before he finished school. This upbringing has given him a unique perspective on change, and a healthy disrespect for the value of maintaining the status quo.

Since 2004 he has worked with Change Factory as a change management and behavioural expert, using his background in psychology and marketing. At work, he is most passionate about giving people the tools to enact change and giving them a goal towards which they can all aspire. Outside of work, you'll probably find him at the nearest nursery buying yet more plants for his garden.

Change Factory is a change management company specialising in improving business outcomes through changing behaviour, Visit our website to learn more, or visit our new Sales website to learn about our vision for Sales.

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Outside of the Bible, What Is the Most Important Piece of Christian Literature Printed Today?

In my position with the Witt Company, I communicate with church professionals every day. Recently, many of you have stated that the size of your congregations have been "holding steady" while some have said, "we are getting a little smaller" so I started doing some research. I wanted to find some valuable information to help you build your congregations. I was fortunate to discover a book written by Yvon Prehn and called her. She is based here in Southern California. Yvon was very gracious with her time and she granted her permission to share some terrific information with you that I am presenting below. In the coming weeks, I will share more of her wisdom designed to help church professionals in various ways. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

First, let me ask a question: Outside of the Bible, what is the most important piece of Christian Literature printed today? One answer may surprise you; it could be your church bulletin!

Yvon Prehn wrote in her manual Toolkit For Church Communicators (excerpts reprinted with permission) that the church bulletin is, for some people, the first piece of Christian literature they have ever seen and is usually the first thing a new visitor will read about your church.

New Visitors Come Hungry

Yvon goes on to say that everyone has a spiritual vacuum inside and they come to church looking for a way to fill it. They will read anything that you give them.

Does Your Church Bulletin Present the Right Message?

What does your church bulletin say to them? George Barna says that 91% of "unchurched" people believe churches are not sensitive to their needs. Yvon wondered where they got that idea? Could it be you tell them that in your church bulletins? Many times, bulletins are filled with terms only familiar to regular visitors. They talk about events and meetings without explaining them, just assuming everyone knows what you are talking about. Sometimes, they don't even talk about what is going on in your service that morning.

What Should You Put in Your Church Bulletins?

Producers of the bulletin should look at it through the eyes of someone unfamiliar with how a church operates. As you seek new members and try to connect with them, Yvon suggests some tips to keep your bulletin up to date but not to lose your church's personality or traditional values.

Welcome People

Few bulletins start out with a WELCOME! It should be right up front and before the order of service. Make in genuine and "reflect the tradition of your church."

Please Give an Order of Service

A visitor has no idea what to expect.

Acknowledge Both Visitors and Members in the Announcement Section

Some of the best bulletins welcome visitors and then give essential details such as bathroom locations, nursery info, even an invitation to have coffee after the service where they can meet and ask questions. In a section such as "church news," accommodate visitors by saying something like: "Below are the various events hosted by our church in the coming weeks. Everyone is invited to these functions and we hope you will attend. If you need more information, please call the contact numbers listed with each activity."

Do You Encourage New Visitors to Become More Involved?

Your bulletins should pull back first time attendees by suggesting that they attend a small group or social activity, even an event for their children.

Don't List Events That Are Closed to Newcomers

Let regular visitors and members know about "closed events" in a verbal announcement and at the start of your small groups attended by active attendees. If you must list closed events, label them as such.

Include the 5 W's: who, what, when, where, why

Who is putting on the program? What is going on? Where will it be located? What time will it start and end? What is the cost? Is child care provided?

Repeat the Information (Event) for Several Weeks

Remember, no one will see the information as often as you do. Because of school and work obligations, many regular attendees cannot attend every week. Repetition is important. Marketing experts tell us that people need to see something 6 times before they remember and respond.

Have a Place for Testimonials and Always Include a Gospel Presentation

Yvon has been recommending for years that every bulletin put in a short piece about how someone came to trust Jesus as their Savior. Here is one that ran at Christmas:

"In the midst of the gifts and goodies we are all enjoying at this time of year, remember the message of Christmas is that God came to Earth in the form of a person-Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus grew up and not only became the greatest teacher and miracle worker the world has ever seen but he died a unique death. In His death, Jesus was not a victim of evil men. Jesus willingly gave up His life and died on the cross so that He could pay the penalty for our sins. His death was His choice and His story does not end with His death. Jesus rose from the dead after three days and by doing that, showed that He was God!

When you believe that Jesus died for our sins and accept the forgiveness He offers us, and decide to follow Him, Jesus promises to forgive us and give us eternal life. If you would like to have your sins forgiven, if you would like to be at peace with your God; if you would like to live forever, tell Jesus you are a sinner and you need His salvation. Ask him to come into your life and be your Savior and Lord. After you do that, please read the Bible to learn how to live as a Christian. Talk to God daily in prayer. Go to church and get to know other followers of Jesus and grow in your faith."

A lady decided to include a brief gospel presentation like this in her bulletin and reported to Yvon that one of the men in her church had to go to prison for a time. To keep him in touch with the church, she sent him the bulletin regularly. He wrote her later and thanked her and said it made him feel that he wasn't forgotten and he had even led several inmates to the Lord in prison. By including a gospel message, the eternal destinies of men were changed by her bulletins.

I was moved by Yvon Prehn's inclusion of testimonials and her good ideas to build a strong, user-friendly, church bulletin that I hope will help you build your congregations.

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Why Black Literature Is Important

When I first published my first novel, The Ebony Tree, I'll never forget how I found out later that my then, 23 year-old niece ran through the house and screamed with laughter, after she read the book. Now mind you, my niece had always been an avid reader of white romance novels since her early teens, but reading my book was like landing on Mars for her. She reportedly asked her mother, "Mama, did Aunt Maxine make this up? Did you guys actually 'play white'?"

My sister-in-law told her, "Not only did we play white, we dreamed in white. That's all we ever saw in the books or on TV were white characters. It seemed like they had all the fun."

Typically, most Blacks grew up in the 50's with pictures on the wall of white Jesus, white Santa Claus and even white angels. There was nothing in the media or in books that reflected the beauty of blackness. Needless to say, if there were any books beside the Bible in the home, they were not Black books. It sent a silent message that Black was ugly and white was beautiful. This was as negative of an experience as when reading was forbidden to slaves.

Fastforward almost half a century. I know from rearing my children, who are now all adults, that having had Black books in the home was, and remains, a good influence on their self-esteem and confidence. When a person sees himself reflected in the literature he or she reads, it indirectly helps build a better self-image. For in literature, we find our role models, our archetypes from which we can learn life lessons. More specifically, in African American literature, the stories are relevant to the Black experience in this country. These experiences range from people coming from different socio-economic classes, from varying urban to country regions, to different professions. We often get the Alger Horatio rags-to-riches story to its reversal, the riches-to-rags story. Most of these stories make social commentaries on how we all play a part in the symphony of the American Dream.

"Black Writers on The Rise," the headlines screamed. I believed them. After all, seeing the different genres of African American books in the local, predominantly Black bookstores, who wouldn't think that? Hadn't things improved for us as Black writers, since the late 1980's? However, after attending the Book Expo of America (formerly the American Book Association) held in Los Angeles, California in late April 1999, I had a rude awakening. Because of seeing all the books in the predominantly Black book stores scattered throughout LA, I had been lulled into a false sense of complacency that we, as African American writers, were being published at the same rate as mainstream books. To say the least, I was disillusioned.

Yes, The Book Expo of 1999 was a big eye-opener. The bad news is this: Our problems (as African American writers) are far from over. When I compared the books represented by the major publishers, I saw that the percentage of Black books is infinitesimally small compared to that of other races. Not one to be a soothsayer, but I feel the number of African American books can dissappear like they did after the Harlem Renaissance, after the late 40's, and after the Revolutionary 60's, if we don't take control of our own written words.

However, the good news is this. The increase that is witnessed in the number of African American books can be attributed, by and large, not only to more Black publishing companies, Black editors, but to self-published books. Given the advent of desktop publishing, the Internet, and Black book clubs, many writers are taking control of our destines and empowering ourselves by publishing our own stories.

So consider these questions. What are other ways having more Black books have helped? Is it easier to get published by mainstream as a Black writer, in a tight publishing market? Why is self-publishing so important, particularly for Black writers, if you can't get your books published by mainstream? To encourage other writers to pen their stories, here are some of the good things Black literature has brought to this country.

1. Salvation. To paraphrase Toni Cade Bambara, fiction snatches you back from the edge as a Black person in America.

2. Continuity with your ancestors. To paraphrase Toni Morrison, "If you are not writing about the Village which you come from then you are not writing about anything."

3. A reading audience who is eager to see stories that reflect their reality.

4. A way of restoring history which was not allowed to be written down in the past.

5. A way of lifting up the next generation through the printed word, in addition to our oral tradition, which is reflected in rap, Hip Hop, and Poetry.

6. A way of promoting racial understanding for other ethnic groups. I learn a lot about other parts of the Diaspora when I read books by Haitian Americans, or when I read Chinese American literature, or any other culture's literature.

Recently, a teacher told me at a book signing, that a study was done at her school. It was found that all the little Black girls said that their image of beauty was still a blond, blue-eyed child. Imagine! This was December, 1999! It reminds me of the tragic tale in Toni Morrison's book, The Bluest Eyes, where the scourged Black child, Pecola, went insane, all because she wanted blue eyes. This book's setting was circa 1940.

My point is this. If we keep writing our stories down, we, as African American writers, may not ever have parity in the world of books. But at the same time, we won't have another generation of little Black girls playing white, like my friends and I did, with scarves and towels draped over our hair, which we felt wasn't beautiful enough. Or perhaps, we won't have little girls going crazy like the fictional Pecola did.

Copyright 2006 Black Butterfly Press

Dr. Maxine Thompson is an author, literary agent, literary coach, ghostwriter and Internet Radio Show Host. You can email her at maxtho@sbcglobal.net. You can sign up for a free newsletter at http://www.maxinethompson.com

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How Important is the Study of Literature in High School?

I have a confession to make. I can only remember reading two pieces of literature during my high school years: The Scarlet Letter, and War and Peace. My fellow students and I did not read Shakespeare or Keats. We did not study Tennessee Williams or F. Scott Fitzgerald. We did not debate the ethical implications of Lord of the Flies. No, in my high school English program we learned to write - well.

As an English teacher, I'm all for the study of literature; it contributes to a well-rounded education. My concern is that the emphasis on literature instruction is seriously encroaching upon consistent writing instruction in today's schools. The outcome of this shift in emphasis is that many secondary students are not learning how to write well.

I saw this trend while studying for my master's degree in secondary education. I spent more than one hundred hours observing in classrooms and interviewing teachers from various schools and districts, both public and private. Every school in I visited was using a literature-based Language Arts curriculum. Teachers I interviewed admitted that they spent very little, if any, time on such mundane subjects as grammar, word economy or sentence structure.

This failure to emphasize the writing process in secondary schools seems counter-productive. In the public school system, teachers continually talk about "teaching to the test." They are referring to the state-mandated basic skills test students must pass order to graduate from high school.

These tests ask students to demonstrate knowledge of writing mechanics, grammar, form and punctuation. Many also request demonstration of a student's ability to write a five-paragraph essay. These tests, however, do not require demonstration of the knowledge of literature.

I began to ask students what knowledge they had to demonstrate on other tests they took, such as the SAT, ACT, AP, Compass and so forth. Only the Literature AP test asks literature questions, and a very small handful of students take it.

This begs a question. If schools are compelled to teach to the test, and if the tests do not require knowledge of classic literature, why are schools making literature the centerpiece of the language arts curriculum?

If preparing students for standardized tests were the only objective in teaching, the literature conundrum would not be terribly dire. But, a curriculum heavily weighted with literature does not prepare our students for success in a career, either.

Recently my husband was engaged in the job search process. I sometimes reviewed job posting with him. The vast majority of job listings listed excellent writing skills as a requirement for employment. It would border on facetiousness to point out that no job descriptions listed knowledge of literature as a prerequisite to getting hired.

It is true that many schools have adopted a writing program that teaches the structure of a five-paragraph essay. The upside of these writing programs is that they tackle the arch-nemesis of the writing process: organization of material. Teaching students how to create a thesis statement and three main points is indispensible training.

The down side of these programs is that they do not teach students to write multi-page essays, letters, commentaries, dialog and all the writing forms that will be required of them in college and in the work place. Nor do these programs teach the basics of grammar, spelling, writing mechanics, sentence structure, style and form - the basics that will be on every standardized test.

Writing is a complex, multi-step operation. Few people can learn the process unless they receive intentional instruction in every facet. That instruction must begin in kindergarten and continue through high school. We owe it to our children to bring the emphasis back to the art of writing. The literature can wait.

Joyce Jones invites you to sharpen your writing skills and those of your students. Discover 16 ways to motivate your child to do better in school. http://www.TutorFi.com

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