How to Chart Customer Meetings
The Constituents and Construction of a Client Sales Pipeline
Charting a sales pipeline allows companies to record vital client information and revenue figures. Here are steps to construct and present an effective sales pipeline.
Sales pipelines are vital to chart business dealings as they represent sales activitiy over the month. They also incorporate all necessary details of client meetings, including expected revenue and contact details. Here are simple steps to maintaining an effective sales pipeline.
Take Notes During Meetings with Clients
When meeting with clients, note-taking is essential to ensure appropriate and important details that have ensued. This allows for easy follow-ups with managers and the clients themselves in the future. Always exchange business cards to keep a record of the contact persons of the company. Following suit, understand what type of deal the customer is looking for, the size of their business commitment, their reaction to service fees, also note down any queries they themselves have. You will want to address them later.
Record the Meeting in a Coherent Manner
Recording the clientele meeting immediately ensures accuracy and consistency in the pipelines. Here are the constituents of a standard sales pipeline:
- Date of initial meeting
- (Leave a space for) Follow-up Meetings
- Name of Client
- Contact Person and Contact Details
- Type of Products / Services Required
- Name of Current Service Provider - the potential client may already be receiving a competitor's service. This is an opportunity to investigate on competitors' activities.
- Expected Date of Deal Closure
- Expected Revenue (Current Year)
- Projected Revenue (Proceeding Year)
- Name of Sales Executive - your company's sales executive
- Any Other Details - such as request for more information, request for further meetings
- Internal Follow-up Details - who does this entry concern, what internal issues should be addressed.
The pipeline details can be presented in Microsoft Excel as the most basic charting agent. Larger companies may have their own sales log system.
What Does a Sales Pipeline Convey
At the end of the month, the sales pipeline essentially has charted sales activities - the number of clients met, a compilation of new contact persons, the types of products and services of your company that are in demand in the market and your competitors' activities. It also charts the progress of dealings with potential clients and acts as a target blueprint to close the deals.
More importantly, the sales pipeline provides your company with an expected revenue for the year and projected revenue for the next.
Who Receives the Pipeline
At month-end, the pipeline should be submitted to top management for them to be aware of sales activities and revenue figures. Top management can be local, regional or global, depending on how your company operates. The product/service development teams should also be in the know, should new product/service opportunities arise. Finally, the accounting team that charts financial figures (including projections) should receive a copy of the pipelines.
