A CRM shows each deal in your sales pipeline and the next action for it. To manage the pipeline well, set up the CRM structure first, then track tasks, keep customer records complete and run campaigns from the same data.
Learn this skill in the course Sales Management (BM-SM).
Signs that your pipeline is out of control
- Your forecast comes from spreadsheets that each salesperson keeps.
- Deals stay in the same stage for months, and nobody asks why.
- Follow-up calls are missed when a salesperson is on leave.
- Customer support requests and sales deals are in different systems.
Manage your pipeline in the CRM: four steps
1. Structure the CRM
Map your customer process before you set up the system. Define the pipeline stages, for example enquiry, qualified, proposal, negotiation, won and lost. Agree what each stage means, so that each salesperson uses it the same way.
2. Create and track tasks
Give each deal one next action, with an owner and a due date. Put customer support requests in the same CRM. Then the team sees the whole customer, and the CRM can remind people automatically.
3. Manage customer records
Store and organise contact data so that each person finds it easily. Record each call, meeting and email against the customer. Complete records give you a deeper view of each customer and protect the account when staff change.
4. Run campaigns from the CRM
Use the CRM data to select the customers for each sales campaign. Combine the CRM reports with your analytics tools. Then you can see which campaign moved which deals.
Reports to check each week
- The value of the pipeline in each stage
- Deals with no next action, or with an overdue action
- Deals that stayed in one stage for longer than normal
- Won and lost deals, with the reasons
What to do this week
- Write a one-line definition for each stage of your pipeline.
- Find each open deal that has no next action. Give it an owner and a date.
- Review the pipeline report with your team for 15 minutes each week.
