Pipeline CRM is a term used to describe a system for tracking everyone in your sales pipeline. This term can be translated as sales funnel, sales channel, sales pipeline, and CRM itself is an abbreviation for Customer Relationship Management. Even though potential clients in your pipeline may not yet be clients, they need to be tracked in the same way.
CRM systems are typically digital, functioning through software stored on a laptop or computer, or through a website dedicated to the task. In the case of a sales team, CRM data is often stored in a centralized location and accessible to all team members, even if they are in a remote location.
How does CRM work?
The key to unlocking sales is to build a strong relationship with your client. This builds trust and allows the client to start understanding the benefits of the products and services you offer.
Similarly, you will learn each client’s needs and requirements, and you will be able to tailor your offers and responses to match them.
A CRM system will allow you and your business to store information about each client in a database. These are more than sales information, such as previous orders, etc. – it’s information about the client themselves.
This can include their likes and dislikes, the best way and time to contact them, what they are looking for in the future, any special requirements they have, and so on. It can also keep track of when they contacted you and when you contacted them.
This will allow you to always know who you are talking to and possibly know the right things to say, as well as be able to avoid those things you know your lead does not want, need, or like.
In the case of a sales team, this knowledge can be shared among team members, providing the lead with a personalized experience every time you speak with them. It eliminates the need to have information repeated countless times and builds a better relationship with the lead because they know they are being listened to and cared for.
How does Pipeline CRM work?
In your sales pipeline, there may be many different potential clients, all at different stages of the process. Using a CRM system with a pipeline offers two main benefits.
Firstly, you can track the progress of leads through the pipeline and always pick up exactly where you left off. This helps in situations involving a sales team and with a pipeline that has a large number of leads.
Secondly, it helps with everything a standard CRM setup can offer – you will quickly build a better relationship with each client and understand what they want and need.
How Pipeline CRM works
Maintaining the flow of the pipeline
The key to running a successful sales pipeline is to be aware of where each potential client is in the process and to move them to the next stage. A CRM system will help you do this in several ways.
Reports can be generated to show all clients in certain stages of the pipeline, as well as provide details about any previous inquiries or even sales. You can use your own judgment to determine who to contact next, or alternatively, the CRM can recommend next steps for each lead.
This can go as far as to offer reminders when you need to call a specific person, send an email, or check on information a lead requested. You will find it much easier to convert a lead into a paying customer if you can stay up-to-date with everything related to them.
What you need to avoid is losing track of these leads in your sales pipeline, as this will not only reduce their trust in you as a provider of a service they are interested in, but they may already be in someone else’s pipeline. There is no reason to let them slip out of your pipeline when you have already put in so much work.
Keeping all data up-to-date and tracking each lead through your pipeline makes it much easier for teams to manage a pipeline. Other team members can easily pick up where you left off, and having all this information at hand will help you refresh your memory if you can’t remember exactly where you left off with a lead last time.
Building a sales pipeline for the future
One of the most challenging things to do is to find new leads for your business. Once you have a good lead, you need to do everything you can to keep them.
With luck, you will move them through the sales pipeline and turn them into a paying customer. At this stage, you might be happy to take a break and congratulate yourself on a job well done.
What you shouldn’t do is delete the client from your CRM pipeline system. They have a clear interest in what you do, so what will happen when they want more in the future? Follow up with them, see how their first purchase went. Offer upgrades, extensions, add-ons… but make sure to address any issues they have first.
Why is this important? Because you are building and strengthening the relationship by contacting them after a sale and addressing any problems they encountered.
If they had a problem, they might not even call you to let you know – they will go elsewhere next time. By contacting them and fixing their problem, they will see you as a business they can trust, a business that goes the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction.
Now you have a client who will definitely buy from you again, trusts you, has a strong relationship with you, and knows that any issues will be resolved. There is no reason why they shouldn’t buy from you again, and therefore, it should be an easy close when the opportunity arises.
