B2B Sales Pipeline Acceleration

In the highly competitive market environment, marketers will do anything to stay ahead of the competition. The smartest and most effective strategy here is B2B sales pipeline acceleration. How does it work?

What is B2B Sales Pipeline Acceleration?

A sales pipeline is a list that provides a view of all potential deals in various stages of their sales process – from lead generated to first contact, finally to a closed sale.

Shortening this sales lifecycle to cover more prospects faster and with higher conversions is B2B sales pipeline acceleration. An accelerated sales pipeline leads to much faster growth and meeting revenue objectives. There are various ways to do this, and cutting-edge tools are preferred today.

Marketers use a pipeline acceleration campaign to increase sales velocity. This campaign is a series of activities and processes that have to be managed optimally. It combines marketing activities with sales insights and leads to accelerate deal closure.

This decreased sales cycle will enable fast revenues and increased engagement. The accelerated process is what earlier used to be lead nurturing, which took time to follow the lead and gently coax it into closing the deal. Here is how it can be accomplished:

• Identify your ideal lead profile and target them.
• Identify what’s holding them back from conversion. What more information or activity will finally reel them in? Communicate with the clients or their reps to check what can be done to break this stuck deal.
• Measure the acceleration campaign and select the one with the shortest lead time. This could be done by checking how each marketing content works, which is the most effective, and which should be dropped. Using only the most effective ones could crunch the entire process drastically. So, constant monitoring of the effectiveness of communications and engagement could be the best strategy to push on the successful points and drop ineffective ones.

Benefits of Pipeline Acceleration

While there are direct benefits of sales pipeline acceleration, the real advantages are those that sustain it. The first and most obvious benefit is increasing the velocity of deal closures, which adds to revenue.

Studies say that Accelerating your pipeline means more deals close each month, boosting sales velocity and revenue. For example, a study by Revlitix says reducing closure times from 50 to 30 days increases daily revenue from USD 2,000 to USD3,000+.

Here are some more benefits that a smart B2B sales pipeline acceleration can achieve:

1. Stacking up the top of the funnel allows the teams to launch straight into the offensive. The sales team then has the time to add to it. In this manner, while the rest of the leads are generated, the sale steam will already be out in the market, closing accounts. This shortens the sales loop and generates revenues without a long wait for closure.
2. A typical sales pipeline, where teams engage with clients for prolonged periods, tends to peter out over time. Very often, there is a loss of focus, and clients tend to drop off. An accelerated sales pipeline can prevent that by continually keeping clients engaged with content and activities to keep their interest alive. They can learn what were the limiting factors and then redesign content to eliminate those points.
3. The final push may be just what the lead needed to graduate to become a client. In several cases, this final push happens not with long-drawn engagement but with focused, powerful last-mile deals. Sales teams can work with a lead over a period of time, but in the end, they need to identify a deal pusher and deliver to the lead’s last-mile expectations to convert them.
4. Increased velocity of the sales pipeline adds to team motivation and, hence, productivity. A fast-moving list of deals won is the best thing for an enthusiastic team that sells, especially so if it’s a new or small company. The sales resources are hugely motivated by success, which they achieve in a shortened or accelerated pipeline for their sales deals.
5. With a clear b2B sales pipeline, revenue forecasting becomes much clearer and easier to chase. Once the pipeline velocity is established and it shows adequate acceleration, it is obvious where the final lead conversions will land. The marketing and sales teams can work together to achieve this transparency and clarity, helping leaders plan their projections better.
6. An accelerated sales pipeline results in happier and more satisfied customers. Customers also appreciate the speed of closure, the efficiency of the sales team or the CRM, and the agility of the process.
7. An accelerated sales pipeline enables a cost-optimized cost for the sales resources. A long, drawn-out deal increases the cost of closing a deal, while a faster one crunches the time, ensuring fewer resources and investments. Margins and profitability, thus, are positively impacted. Successfully closing a deal that’s already taken some resources and a lot of time saves the cost of continual engagement, convincing, and perhaps even investing in converting a prospect. With an accelerated sales pipeline, these issues are resolved- and investments can be curtailed to only the most critical needs.

Sales Pipeline acceleration is not a new or novel concept. It makes business sense that if the sales loop is shortened, a company can cut back on costs, resources, and time while making better profits. What’s changed is the availability of tools that can make this happen really efficiently. Enterprises are adopting them to derive huge benefits from this strategy.