Purging and How to Not Lose Slowly
This is not another weight loss or "simplify your life" post. But recently I sorted through my wardrobe and got rid of almost 50% of my clothes. Of all the benefits, the best is it’s now very easy to decide what to wear! The clothing purge inspired me to find other areas where such an approach is helpful. So this is a “simplify your pipeline” post. Read on to see how to purge your pipeline of the deals that have "no chance" written all over them - if you know where to look.
Pipeline Purge
While there are a lot of ways to assess your pipeline, the best place to start is a “pessimistic qualification.” It typically takes 2 hours—1 hour working on your own, and 1 hour with a colleague. (Although the time may vary depending on the size/complexity of your deals and pipeline. That’s okay—it’s worth every minute!)
Start with the assumption that every deal is out of your pipeline.
Carefully review each opportunity, and if you can answer yes to all 4 of these questions, then re-admit the deal:
Budget available and committed to the project within your fiscal year
Documented decision criteria that favors your solution
Confirmed economic buyer, and you have (or will) meet them
Credible champion working for you
Then, re-review the deals you put back into the pipeline with an unbiased person—your SE, manager, another rep—and convince them each deal merits their time.
The goal is to break the habit of putting time into opportunities just because the customer is being friendly or engaging in ongoing meetings. You will avoid being the 2nd or 3rd quote (column fodder), or providing free education. And most importantly, once you look at each deal objectively, you will stop chasing deals that have “loss” or “no decision” written all over them.
Losing Slowly
The net effect is to get rid of the deals that you lose slowly. Because the only thing worse than losing is losing slowly. It wastes a lot of time, causes you to miss other opportunities, and takes a lot of emotional energy. But worst of all, it can lower your credibility within your organization. This is especially critical if your sales process relies on others (sales engineer, manager, product marketing, professional services, etc.). Investing a lot of your colleague’s time in sales cycles that ends up nowhere causes them to be less engaged in the future. Which then limits your results and income.
Pipeline Impact
There is no specific goal for number of deals to purge. Depending on the quality of your pipeline, this will have a small, medium, or large impact. Almost everyone has 1-2 deals hanging around that they need to dump. If it has a significant impact on your pipeline size, however, it will create issues with your manager (and their manager, and their manager, etc.). Keep in mind the overall goal is not pipeline “size,” but pipeline “health.” Every sales manager I’ve met wants a pipeline of qualified, high-probability opportunities.
Rip off the Band-Aid
So go ahead—rip off the band-aid! Don’t drag the pain out for weeks and months. If necessary, do a complete reset. By dropping the opportunities that don’t pass the review, you’ll get rid of deals you weren’t going to win anyway. Now you have a pipeline of qualified, high-probability deals, which will free up your time to invest in better qualified, higher quality prospects and customers.
