Replenish your pipeline
It's all coming down to the last wire - it's the end of quarter and every sales rep is worried about how the quarter is going to end. In the tough North American economy which grows at a very slow pace sales growth is a hard thing to come by as you are focused on closing. Too many of us forget to replenish our pipeline so we can ensure continuous sales growth for the future quarters.
This is easier said than done - but why is that? Well - a lot has to do with where you are in the economy. Is your product what I call a mature product in a mature economy? Or is it a cutting edge product in an emerging economy? What do they mean?
Mature vs. Emerging Economy
Well, mature economy is one that would be classified as a developed one averaging growth rates of approximately 1-3% per year whereas an emerging economy would be one that would be getting more than 5% growth per year. Examples of a mature economy are Canada, United States, Japan, etc. while an emerging economy would be Indonesia, China, India, etc.
Mature vs. Up-coming Product
What I would call a mature product is one that has a high percentage of saturation or market penetration - your growth for sales in these would be relatively low. While a cutting edge product would experience higher growth. Examples of a mature product would be selling cellphones an upcoming product would be a smartphone.
Why is this important to know?
Well look at the table below -
New pipeline focus
|
Cutting edge product
|
Mature product
|
Emerging market
|
Low
|
Medium
|
Mature market
|
Medium
|
High
|
Once you know which territory you are calling into (mature or emerging) and the category of the product you are selling (cutting edge and mature) - you can then determine the percentage of time you need to devote on prospecting. Keep this in mind and try to keep yourself focused.
Good luck and all the best in selling / prospecting!
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