A secret to not losing your sales job – Have an accurate opportunity pipeline

by Russell Jay Williamson (February 13th 2021)

Every sales organisation even in good times will need to have justification of why their sales teams are employed. In these days of working from home and with the internet, many traditional sales people are bypassed. This means there is a question being constantly asked by companies:

“Are the sales people worth the money they are being paid?”

Because of this, every sales person should be concerned. You should look at the history of sales and how technology is impacting it, and be prepared for when this can affect you. This includes even if you are exceptionally talented with decades of experience and results.

Even though I may have been able to help a few people, there was not a lot I could do individually to assist the customers and to dramatically increase our sales. Already even decades ago, a supermarket’s communication to the end customer had bypassed the sales person. This has resulted in online grocery shopping being so successful, and has resulted in salespeople in supermarket stores replaced by automatic checkouts, or you could also call them robots.

A few decades on, a more specialised store such as for camping equipment is at a similar point mainly thanks to the internet. Any young person having a part time job working in the camping store helping at the checkout will be just as disadvantaged as I was when I was younger trying to boost sales of coffee from my aisle. These days, if someone was to go into a camping store and see a tent they like, they could easily grab their smartphone and view potentially hundreds if not thousands of reviews or even magazines articles about this tent. The same would be for the thermos flasks in the store, or even a tent peg hammer. Any keen interest in camping the teenage employee may have, as helpful that it would be, the customer could still get numerous other opinions at their fingertips. This is resulting in the popularity of camping equipment being bought online as the salesperson’s knowledge can be also bypassed.

So, what about if you are selling a very specific product? Say a component part to piece of technology. For context, let’s say the software and hardware that controls the charging and discharging of a battery in an electronic device.

There already are multiple forums online talking about how this can be designed, and what can be bought as an off the shelf solution. But as it is so specialised, “the internet buying machine” for a customer to find exactly what they want, is not yet perfectly oiled. You would expect the customer, (in this case a design engineer) may need to have a few rounds of trial and error to get the solution that they need. This is one example of where there still exists the gap in the market for sales people. There are still cases where customers need that extra knowledge to get people over the line.

However, it’s not all panic and doom and gloom if you’re in sales, we are not just filling in for what machines cannot automatically and seamlessly do. This is because there is a need to demonstrate the newest solutions in detail, and to be a voice back to the manufacturers of our product or service. Not only that, one of the easiest methods to increase sales is to upsell. This requires a true understanding of your customer and their needs. The more specialized the products and services are, the more important you can become. This is also why specialised knowledge in sales is so valuable.

But, back to the original point regarding an opportunity pipeline.

What sales managers like to call a pipeline of opportunities, is a way of having a vision into the future of upcoming sales. It essentially is the expected order dates, the quantity, and which products are likely to be purchased. Having this data available is a huge advantage to top management making decisions moving forward.

It helps gives confidence that the company will be surviving over the coming months and years. It helps gives guidance on information such as does it need to expand its facility to cope with a bigger order? But also tracks the performance of certain products in certain customers and not forgetting by which salespeople are bringing in the revenue.

If indeed you have done work to assist a customer, you have found out their problems, you have upsold to new products, you have found out timelines for when they will make their sales, then it is important that this is documented. If sales from a customer grows in your company thanks to you, then document it and get the kudos you deserve. Not only that, going to the effort of providing this detail to your organisation will help them greatly in the big picture. It is a win win for everyone.

Just don’t fall into the trap of providing optimistic news. It’s easy to get carried away and wanting to show off how much potential business you have coming your way, yet if it falls through, you have potentially found yourself a hole. When you enter details into an opportunity register, make sure you set a reminder when it needs to be reviewed, and add a note for the current state of play. If there will be a delay to the order or project, explain in a couple of words why. Make sure that you are aware and up to date on what you have put into the register. Make sure that this is a positive thing for both you and the company. If it does fall though, make sure that there will be a legitimate reason why. Make sure that both you and your company can sympathise on the loss of the sale, and that it was not due to your overoptimism.

If you do not look after the opportunity register, and take shortcuts not doing the paperwork, then there is a danger when it comes to the sales force being reviewed in your company. It may not be clear what sales would happen automatically, for example like a customer needing a loaf of bread and milk from the supermarket. Or if the newest version of the cutting-edge product was purchased by a company thanks specifically by you. The documenting and adding information to the opportunity pipeline demonstrates what great teamwork can be made by both you and the company you work. You can help point the direction of where the company should go, rather than being left behind.

All sales people need to all be prepared for the wave of technology and oncoming automation of the sales process. It is coming. Therefore, now is the time to prepare, be proactive, and document your work for when your role will could be questioned into the future.

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