B2B Sales Pipeline 
Management: Best Practices

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1. = Forecastio

| B2B Sales Pipeline |

Management Best Practices

PA |

2. | Definition

Sales Pipeline is a visual
representation of a sales
process broken down into
specific stages

3. Sales Pipeline Management
(leadership perspective)

G Pipeline Design E Pipeline Enablement E Pipeline Automation

(stages and process) (training, tools, resources)

(Ga Pipeline Analysis e Pipeline Ge Pipeline cleanup

(metrics) Review

4. | Inbound Sales Pipeline

Lead Generation

Closing

MARKETING
QUALIFIED
LEAD

SALES
QUALIFIED
LEAD

CLOSED
WON/CLOSED
LOST

OPPOR-
TUNITY

Accountable: Marketing

Accountable: Sales

5. | Outbound Sales Pipeline

Lead Generation Closing

CLOSED
WON/CLOSED
LOST g

Accountable: Sales Development Accountable: Sales

6. SQL vs. Opportunity, Demo
vs. Opportunity: Navigating

Common Traps

Se

Inbound

e
©

Outbound

Not all SQLs should become
opportunities

Not all first meetings should
become opportunities

An opportunity (potential deal) is a
sales-qualified lead (SQL) with a high
probability of becoming a paying
customer

Poor qualification at this stage
leads to:

© Half-dead pipelines

Low win rates

© Overwhelmed sales reps

Low sales rep efficiency

Low future sales predictability

This is the most common problem that hinders
sales efficiency

7. | Qualification Frameworks

BANT MEDDIC ANUM CHAMP
© Budget © Metrics © Authority © Challenges
© Authority © Economic buyer © Need © Authority
© Need © Decision criteria © Urgency © Money
© Timeline © Decision process * Money © Prioritization

© Identify pain

© Champion

The main focus is product The main focus is a
The main focus is budget value decision-making power Puts customer needs first

8. | Two types of meetings

The rule of thumb: Discovery

If you sell a simple product to small business,

you can’com bine discovery with demo Needed to better understand customer pain

If Ali I luti 1 points, needs, and requirements for a solution to
you are selling a complex solution to large Date prenne rain
accounts, conduct separate discovery

meeting and product demo meeting

Product Demo

Showcasing how a product can solve customer
pain points

9. | Basic Pipeline Stages

There are several key stages in a sales pipeline
when it comes to working on opportunities:

© Key goal of each stage is to move © Don't confuse activities with stages © The less stages you have the easier
the deal to the next stage it is to manage your pipeline
NEGOTIA- CLOSED
MEETING PROPOSAL
TIONS WON >
—
We gather customer We prepare and present a We address objections,
requirements while proposal that includes compete, launch pilots,
customers gain a deeper goals, budgets, terms, and do everything
understanding of our constraints, etc possible to secure a deal
product capabilities and and sign a contract

features

10. | Extended Sales Pipeline

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11. | Pipeline Enablement

The more trained and equipped your sales reps are, the more effectively they close.

Presentation Deck

Company and Services Overview
Script

Product Demo Script
Case Studies
Objection Handling Guide

Qualification Questionnaire

.

PROPOSAL NEGOTIATIONS

Proposal Template © Legal and Contract Templates
Proposal Presentation Template © Discount Policies
Project/Implementation Plan © Competition Battle Cards
Template

RO! Template

12. | Pipeline automation

ESO

CRM

(Salesforce, HubSpot,
Pipedrive)

ElO

Conversational
Intelligence
(Einstein Conversation
Insights, Gong.io, Chorus
Al, Salesloft)

ES

Meeting Scheduling

(HubSpot Meetings,
Calendly)

Pipeline Analysis and

Insights

(Forecastio, Scratchpad,
Weflow, Clari)

ae

Video Conferencing

(Google Calendar, Zoom,
Microsoft Teams)

O»

Sales Forecasting and
Trend Analysis

(Forecastio, Weflow,
Growthblocks, Clari)

63

Meeting Notes and
Transcriptions

(Fireflies.ai, Gong.io)

Cos

Proposal and Contract
Management Tools

(PandaDoc, Proposify,
DocuSign, Prospero)

13. | Pipeline Metrics

Win Rate, %

(# of Won Deals/# of Closed Deals) X
100%

Pipeline Growth Rate, %
(Current Pipeline Value - Previous
Pipeline Value) / Previous Pipeline
Value) X 100%

Sales Velocity, $ per day

(# of Deals X Average Deal Size X Win
Rate) / Sales Cycle Length (days)

Average Deal Size, $

Totals Amount of Sales, $ / # of Won
Deals

Pipeline Coverage Rate, %

(Pipeline Total Amount, $/ Sales Quota,
$) X 100%

Conversion Rate by Pipeline Stage

The percentage of deals that move
from a certain stage to the next stage

| Sales Cycle Length

Average time from an opportunity/deal

creation to closure

Deal Slippage Rate, %

Number of Deals Slipped Deals/
Number of Deal Planned for Closure

‘Average Time by Pipeline Stage

The average time a deal spends on a
certain stage

14. | Example. Win Rate Has Declined

e

Things to check if the win rate has declined:

© Win rates by sales reps

© Win rate by deal sources

© Conversion rates by pipeline stages

© Conversion rates by customer profiles

© Closed-lost reasons

Ways to increase win rates:

Use comprehensive frameworks like MEDDIC for proper
opportunity qualification

Establish a solid sales enablement process, including
training, resources, and tools

Know your competition inside and out
Move faster than your competitors

Show empathy for your customers

Keep the pipeline clean and prioritize deals

Focus on addressing customer pain points, not just selling
features

Meet with customers in person

15. | Example. Sales Cycle Has Lengthened

©

Things to check if the sales cycle

has lengthened:

© Average time spent in each pipeline stage
© Average sales cycle length by sales rep

© Average sales cycle length by deal source
© Changes in the average deal size

© Recently closed deals with longer sales cycles

EE

Ways to shorten
a sales cycle:

Properly qualify opportunities
Start multithreading from the beginning

Automate operations, especially proposal and agreement
management

Create a mutual a

ion plan with customer commitment
Discuss pricing early in the process
Meet with customers in person

Always discuss and confirm the next step with the
customer

16. | Deal Slippage

Reasons why deals slip:

Close dates are set based on gut
feeling or intuition

A sales rep doesn't understand the
full buying process and how much
time it takes (especially regarding
legal and security questions)

A sales rep doesn't communicate
h the right persona

Inefficient pipeline reviews

Sudden and new obstacles

>

A deal slip rate > 20% is a red flag!

Goals are not met and quotas are
not achieved

Sales forecasts are inaccurate

Expenses and resources cannot
be planned properly

>

How to prevent or minimize deal
slippage:

Use your historical data for
benchmarking similar deals
Conduct thorough pipeline reviews
to spot risks early

Train your sales reps on how to
outline the customers buying
process clearly

Ensure your sales reps
communicate with the right people
in each deal

17. | Walking dead deals

Deals that have minimum probability of closing, already lost
or stagnating, but still live in your pipeline and constantly slip

What leads to half-dead pipelines: What can be done:

© Improper opportunity qualification © Ensure only opportunities with a high probability of closing
© Deals are already lost, but sales reps don't know it yet become deals in your pipeline

© Inefficient pipeline reviews © Regularly clean your pipeline and remove dead deals

© Automate insights on deals that are stuck at a certain
stage for too long

© Automate insights on deals with no sales rep activity for an
extended period

© Set limits on the time a deal can spend in your pipeline
without being closed

18. | Pipeline Waterfall Analysis

$3M S2M
6 $2M
gi2m $0.5M A er. $1.5M
$12M — amount ER $14.2M
Amount Rue Pushed Won
Amount Pulled
NewDeals increase Decrease Lost
Starting
Pipeline Ending
Pipeline

© The waterfall pipeline chart explains how the pipeline changes
over time and helps to prevent revenue leaks

19. | Pipeline Review and Cleanup

Conduct one-on-one weekly pipeline ©
reviews with your sales reps 3 “

Reasons to conduct pipeline reviews: re
» Clean up pipelines
° Update core data on deals

° Prioritize actions
° Update forecasts £
„ Identify risks and challenges, and 4
develop plans to overcome them =
+ Motivate your team and build leadership = 8 OÖ

20. = Forecastio

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Gain actionable sales =x
pipeline insights with Y
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L
“à » Alex Zlotko y

y CEO & Co-Founder at Forecastio
—_—S
I — 4
4} forecastio.ai
[email protected]

Pe [E Alex Zlotko