03 June 2009 | brian

It would be nice if demands for more sales corresponded with greater resources to pursue those sales. In the real world, however, we’re often asked to do more with less. That sense of urgency, or possibly even panic, can lead you to cram your sales funnel with every potential client who will stand still long enough for you to talk to them. Lots of clients in the funnel makes it obvious that lots of activity is taking place, and the more potential clients you have, the more sales you’re likely to land, right?

Unfortunately, activity is not synonymous with progress in the same way that slapping at the water with your hands and feet isn’t anything like swimming. The flailing swimmer is wasting energy better spent stroking evenly and steady towards a destination. In the same way, stuffing your funnel with clients who are a poor fit wastes resources. Clients in your funnel don’t move themselves towards a sale; if they did, there’d hardly be any need for sales professionals. Somebody has to do the work of bringing the client through the funnel towards a sale. That means every client in your funnel requires effort and attention from your team. If you clog your funnel with any and every client you can find, you’re likely to wind up wasting resources just when you’re likely to have fewer resources to waste.

Clients in your funnel need to be qualified – determine those with whom you can reach a win-win conclusion. Do their challenges and goals match up with your offerings? Can they afford your solutions at a price that is good for your company? Can key decision makers be recognized and worked with in order to arrive at that win-win outcome?

Because the world doesn’t stand still, you need to keep qualifying clients as they move through your funnel. What challenges are they facing today that were not there before? Are their goals still in line with the solutions you’re offering? What new opportunities have presented themselves? As resources become tighter, efficiency rather than activity becomes paramount. Focusing your resources on those clients most likely to arrive with you at a win-win outcome means increasing the likelihood of landing those sales. The alternative may mean finding your team stretched too thin to secure even the low-hanging fruit.

Photo credits: cotaroba, JMRosenfeld.