To avoid these, we’ve come up with a few steps to manage your sales to manage your sales pipeline effectively.
![blue LED string light circle with black background for managing sales pipelines article](https://popcorncrm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/javier-esteban-JAsWBt-IOj8-unsplash-scaled.jpg)
Your Sales Pipeline Needs a Simple, Specified Cycle
Simple
If it’s not working, and your sales are falling through, then it’s likely that your pipeline or software is too complicated. A huge 72% of existing CRM users said they would give up the bells and whistles of their current software just to get a system that’s easier to use.
If that isn’t the case, then don’t be disheartened. Just keep going: incremental changes can have a huge impact.
Specified
Cycle
Make Sure You're Taking These 5 Stages Into Account:
Prospects
- How are you finding them?
- How are they finding you?
Leads
- How are you managing your leads?
- How do you need to categorise them?
Nurture
- How do you communicate with your prospects?
- Is it working? How do you know?
Target
- How easy is it for you to focus on your best prospects?
Close
- This is where you make the sale. What information do you need for your customer?
- How easy is it for you to access it?
Customers
- Are your customers likely to buy from you again?
- How do you keep their loyalty?
If you want to find out more about the 5 stages, you can discover our in-depth article about it here.
Take a Look at Our Example Sales Pipeline
Have a look at the pipeline below and consider why this works. What is it about the structure that will help this business? Do they correlate with the questions from the Simple, Specified Cycle?
![](https://popcorncrm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Sales-Pipeline-Example-1.png)
Sales Pipeline PDF
Practice makes perfect—so if you need to fine-tune your sales pipeline, or have to start from scratch, we’ve provided a PDF for you to fill in as you need.
If you’ve found this helpful, you might want to check out our free training on building a qualified sales pipeline, in 12 bitesize videos!
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