Streamline Your Sales Process with These Sales Pipeline Management Best Practices

Last year, the average conversion rate across the U.S.’s fourteen major industries was just 2.6%. Seasoned sales professionals my not look too harshly on that, but to most people, the number seems microscopically small. More than that - it tells us that over 97% of new leads are lost at some point between outreach and conversion.

So if your sales teams are struggling to fill a healthy sales pipeline and reach those all-important sales targets, the problem might not be lead generation - it could be sales pipeline management.

In short, the question is this: how can sales reps and sales managers improve their sales pipelines to ensure they guide more qualified leads to conversion? The answer is short, too (though far from simple): research sales pipeline management best practices and implement or improve them where necessary. Effective pipeline management is crucial for organizing, tracking, and understanding the stages of deals to ensure sales targets and quotas are met.

Although sales pipeline makeovers can be daunting, there are plenty of inspiring reasons to invest in your sales pipeline management process: you could streamline your sales process, shorten your sales cycle length, increase your average deal size, improve your conversion rate, and ultimately reach higher revenue targets. A formal sales process is a key factor in achieving these benefits, as it provides the structured procedures necessary for effective pipeline management and improved sales outcomes.

If that sounds like something you’d like to know how to do - and, let’s face it, what sales sales leaders don’t? - read on. Today, we’re exploring the sales pipeline management best practices you need to know for sales success this year!

What is a sales pipeline?

As all sales reps will know, closing deals isn’t just a case of making a call and shaking hands. The sales process includes many subtle and intricate steps which, expertly taken, gradually build toward a conversion. This whole sales process can take months, even years.

So if a sales team, especially one dealing with dozens of leads at once, wants to effectively carry out sales activities, it needs a visual chart which tracks how far potential customers are along their journey. This is what we call a ‘sales pipeline’.

Note: there’s a crucial difference between a ‘sales pipeline’ and a ‘sales funnel’, even though the two often get mixed up. The two are pretty similar. The major difference, however, is that a sales funnel, unlike a sales pipeline, outlines the stages of the sales process from the prospect’s perspective. In that way, it’s more like the ‘buying process’; it goes from ‘awareness’ to ‘interest’ to ‘evaluation’ and so on…

It’s important to note that each business may have a unique sales pipeline, tailored to its specific sales process and buyer's journey. Customizing your sales pipeline ensures it accurately reflects your workflow and helps with more precise forecasting and efficient management.

What are the sales pipeline stages?

Back to sales pipelines. The typical stages that make up a sales pipeline are as follows:

1. Prospecting
2. Lead qualification
3. Meeting
4. Proposal
5. Negotiation
6. Closing - deal won or lost

These stages aren’t necessarily universal, but they represent a pretty typical sales pipeline. Analyzing each pipeline stage is crucial for accurately forecasting sales opportunities and managing the pipeline effectively.

Why is sales pipeline management so important?

Implementing a sales pipeline isn't in itself enough to boost sales metrics and conversion rates. Sales managers and sales reps alike need to know how to properly manage your sales pipeline if they want to see tangible results.

By understanding how best to analyze sales pipeline data and keep the system running smoothly, sales organizations dramatically increase their ability to reduce the average sales cycle, reach their sales target, and improve their overall sales process.

And this isn't just theory: studies show that businesses with top-tier sales pipeline management outperform competitors by 80% in profitability and are 10% more likely to achieve recurring annual revenue growth.

6 best practices for better sales pipeline management

In order to manage your sales pipeline more efficiently, sales and marketing teams need a strong sales pipeline management system they can rely on. By familiarizing themselves with a few best practices, sales reps can arm themselves against common sales pipeline pitfalls and achieve higher sales revenue.

Let's take a look!

1. Conduct regular pipeline reviews

The first point here is, perhaps, the most straightforward: you need to keep an eye on your sales pipeline and review its progress. Conducting a regular sales pipeline review is essential for analyzing and optimizing sales opportunities, ensuring that deals are progressing as planned and identifying areas for improvement. Only then can you ensure that opportunities are moving forward and that the pipeline remains healthy and realistic.

At the very least, conduct weekly or bi-weekly reviews to stay on top of changes and updates.

But what metrics should your sales team look out for to ensure pipeline health? Here are a few key metrics to monitor during your reviews:

• Number of new leads added
• Progression of deals through the stages
• Aging deals and their status
• Conversion rates at each stage

Creating a sales pipeline report based on these metrics helps track and assess overall pipeline health and predict closures.

2. Use clear metrics and KPIs

Most experienced sales reps will know what it’s like to have a sales manager who insists on arbitrary metrics - or worse, no metrics at all.

The bottom line is that it’s imperative to provide sales teams with quantifiable ways to measure success and identify areas for improvement - in fact, an MIT Management review found that:

‘KPI’s should be the most important data and analytics that an organization has.’

Here are some key metrics to track:

• Conversion Rate: Percentage of leads that move from one stage to the next
• Sales Velocity: The speed at which deals move through the pipeline
• Win Rate: Percentage of closed deals compared to the total number of opportunities
• Average Deal Size: The average value of closed deals
• Sales Cycle Length: Time taken from initial contact to closing the deal

Maintaining accurate metrics and up-to-date pipeline data directly contributes to a more reliable sales forecast, enabling better planning and more informed decision-making.

3. Maintain pipeline hygiene

Regular data cleansing (updating critical data like contact information), removal of stale deals, and standardization of data entry are all great ways to ensure your sales pipeline has clean data. Pipeline hygiene makes accurate sales forecasting, as well as overall pipeline management, much more efficient.

And the process isn't as time-consuming as it sounds, either. Many sales teams use automated CRM tools like those found on Salesforce and HubSpot to clean up their sales pipeline in just a few simple clicks.

4. Prioritize and focus

Unless you want to waste precious resources, focussing on high-value opportunities is pivotal. To build a more effective sales pipeline, sales representatives should evaluate lead scores, deal size, and business goals to identify leads worth prioritizing.

It's important, too, to reassess your sales priorities and sales pipeline regularly. As your sales funnel and sales data changes, so should your strategy.

For example, one area that many sales processes neglect but which is well worth spending time on is retention. Studies show that the top five companies in any industry have an average customer retention rate of 94%. This shows that by prioritizing follow-ups, you may increase how many deals you make.

5. Train and develop

It's not enough to implement a standardized sales process and teach your sales team the sales pipeline stages; if you want high sales performance, you need to ensure your sales team is continually improving. This means equipping them with the very latest in sales skills and knowledge.

Key areas for training could include:

• Sales Techniques: Regularly update the team on new sales techniques and best practices
• Product Knowledge: Ensure the team is well-informed about product features and benefits
• CRM and Tools: Train the team on how to effectively use CRM systems and other sales tools

And why not make this training fun? Try running a workshop or an interactive online resource to get your team pumped.

6. Leverage technology

Whether it’s sales process optimization or sales cycle shortening, data is key to progress. Technology can help manage and shorten sales cycles for better sales outcomes by providing real-time insights and automation.

Popular platforms like Salesforce and Zoho CRM feature a ton of cool tools you can use to crunch all-important numbers in seconds and instantly identify the best ways to improve your pipeline management.

Some of those tools include:

• Automation: Automate repetitive tasks (e.g., follow-up emails, data entry) to save time and reduce errors
• Analytics: Use analytics to gain insights into pipeline performance and identify trends
• Reporting: Set up customized reports to track metrics and pipeline health

Technology also enables better collaboration between the sales team and the marketing team for lead generation and campaign alignment, ensuring both teams work together to improve pipeline metrics.

Sales enablement and content: Empowering your team for pipeline success

A truly effective sales pipeline management process goes beyond tracking deals and monitoring metrics—it’s about equipping your sales reps with the right resources at every stage of the sales pipeline. This is where sales enablement and content come into play, acting as the bridge between sales and marketing teams to drive pipeline success.

When sales and marketing teams work together to create and deliver targeted, high-quality content, sales reps are empowered to engage potential customers with confidence. Whether it’s case studies, product sheets, objection-handling guides, or personalized email templates, having the right content at their fingertips helps sales teams address buyer needs, answer questions, and move qualified leads through the sales pipeline more efficiently.

Sales enablement also means providing ongoing training and support, ensuring your sales team is always up to date on the latest messaging, product updates, and best practices. This alignment not only shortens the sales cycle length but also boosts conversion rates by making every interaction more relevant and impactful.

Ultimately, a strong sales enablement strategy leads to a more effective sales pipeline, helping your sales reps close more deals and drive consistent revenue growth. By investing in the right content and fostering collaboration between your sales and marketing teams, you’ll set your sales pipeline up for long-term success.

Help your sales team manage their sales pipeline stages today

There's no way around it: whether you want a shorter average sales cycle, a better sales process, or more pipeline velocity, cleaning up your pipeline management is critical.

And luckily, that's not necessarily as hard as it sounds. By following our six best practices and consistently conducting sales pipeline reviews, your sales team can stay on top of its sales pipeline and keep those leads rolling in.

For more expert advice on streamlining your sales pipeline, sales process, or sales funnel, don't hesitate to check out the Leadium blog. It's packed full of valuable insights you don't want to miss.

Or, reach out to Leadium to see how we can help improve your sales pipeline today.