Sales Masterclass #1: Lead the Way - the Fundamentals of B2B Sales Pipeline

Keren Myr explains how you should set up and manage an efficient sales pipeline (and why it's important to do so early on)

Welcome to the newest Fusion Masterclass - this time dedicated to the art and science of Sales. Over the next 9 episodes (available in written, video, or podcast form) we’ll feature practical tips for managing your startup’s sales machine - from sending the first email to getting the contract signed. Happy reading!

Watch the video here:

Download the slides here 📥

Episode Highlights

If you’re a founder, sales is your business. 

If you think having a proper sales methodology can wait for when you hire  a sales leader, think again. Especially in the early stages of your company, you can't afford to lose a single lead or prospect due to poorly managed processes. You’ll struggle to grow if  leads are slipping through the cracks because they weren't handled properly. Pipeline management shouldn’t just be one more item on your endless to-do list; it's the backbone of your go-to-market strategy. 

In this blog post, we’ll discuss why an effective pipeline is a key element for your startup's growth and sustainability; explore how a well-managed pipeline can be the difference between a thriving business and a struggling venture; and provide practical advice on setting up and maintaining an efficient sales pipeline. 

What you’ll learn:

• The importance of pipeline management from the get go

• Preliminary steps to structure your pipeline effectively

• Key details to regularly update for each prospect in your pipeline

Meet the expert:

Keren Myr has years of experience building sales organizations within various startups. Today,  she  provides strategic guidance on setting-up the revenue infrastructure to startups on their way to their first $10M ARR. 

Why your sales pipeline matters 

The main importance of a sales pipeline is that it gives you the strategic framework for both an overarching view of your sales and a drill down into individual deals. This level of visibility and control enables you to optimize every touch point with every prospect, increasing your chances of success. That’s why you should  make pipeline management a priority from the outset, and ensure it stays current and accurate.

Starting Points for Effective Pipeline Management

What’s a pipeline, anyway? 

When sales or RevOps people talk about ‘pipeline’, they’d typically be referring  to one of  are three different stages in your sales process :

1. Lead/contact pipeline: individuals whose contact details you have, and are trying to move into a sales meeting.

2. Deal/opportunity pipeline: people actively engaged in your sales process. Your goal here is to get to ‘closed won’. 

3. Customer pipeline: Organizations you’ve already sold to and are now trying to keep as customers (retention), as well as to cross-sell or up-sell to.  retention rates and for exploring cross-selling or up-selling opportunities.

In this article we’re going to focus on your deal-to-opp pipeline, which is typically what you’d think of as ‘sales’. Having said that, the others are equally important when it comes to ensuring scalable and repeatable revenue.

Getting Started: Defining a Sales Process

Having a clearly defined sales process is non-negotiable. It’s very hard to optimize a process if you don’t take the time to think about it and map what you’re trying to achieve.  While your sales process would undoubtedly evolve over time, starting with a basic structure is far better than having none at all.

When building your sales process, remember that not everyone agreeing to a phone call is ready to listen to an extensive pitch about your product, or is the right customer for you. A structured sales process could look like this: 

1. Introduction call - where you mostly listen to the prospect’s pains

2. Technical evaluation - where you briefly introduce your product and see if it fits the pain

3. Commercial alignment - where you discuss budgets and timelines.

4. Legal/procurement - where you iron out the little details of a purchase

5. Closing - where you (hopefully) sign the deal.

Set ambitious but realistic goals 

It may be tempting to postpone goal-setting during the early stages of your startup’s life.  After all, you’re going to do whatever it takes to close every single deal, right? However, this approach will make it hard to track your progress and improve. . 

Goals provide a benchmark for success and help you stay on track. They don't have to be shared publicly. . Your goals should also align with your company's current stage and objectives. If you’re still looking for product-market fit, you’re probably not going to be generating millions in ARR this year; but if you’ve just raised a big round to support rapid expansion, you’ll want to be much more ambitious. You want your target to feel almost impossible to achieve - but not actually impossible. 

Schedule frequent pipeline reviews 

The sales pipeline shouldn't be a mystery for a founder, and regular pipeline reviews should be part of your agenda. Allocate 15 minutes daily to stay on top of pipeline issues, understand each prospect's status, and strategize on how to advance or unblock them. Integrating this into your daily routine offers a balanced view of the macro and micro aspects of your sales efforts and prevents deals from stagnating into oblivion.

Have a system in place 

The software you use for your pipeline is less important than the act of documenting it. Whether it's a spreadsheet, a piece of paper, or sophisticated CRM tools like HubSpot or Salesforce, the key is to use it consistently. Advanced tools do offer perks like reminders, tasks, and analytics, but remember; the tool is only secondary, and the focus should always be on thorough documentation and regular sales process review.

Managing Your Sales Pipeline: 7 Critical Aspects to Track  

Started talking to qualified prospects? Congrats. You are now managing a pipeline,.  

Your sales pipeline is a living, breathing thing which  you should update after every communication with a prospect – whether it's via phone,  email, or in-person. This on-going habit not only keeps your pipeline current, but it also allows you to reflect on your interactions and assess their effectiveness. Additionally, maintaining a tidy pipeline can free up mental space and allow you to focus on other important tasks. 

Here are the critical elements to track for every opportunity in your pipeline:

1. Stage of the deal. Remember the sales process you defined? This is where it comes into play. Update the stage only after a specific action has occurred. For example, if you've completed the introductory call, that's your current stage. Once you know where you are, it’s easier to anticipate the next step and create more realistic forecasts.

2. Next step. Detail your next action and schedule it. This step is a key to success — vague plans lead to missed opportunities. If you're unsure of the next step, then determining it becomes your immediate action. "Waiting for a reply" is not an active step. Instead, plan when to follow up or escalate if there's no response.

3. Close date. Choose a realistic close date based on your understanding of when the deal will likely be won or lost, and avoid arbitrary close dates like the end of a month or quarter. Setting a practical timeline helps in accurate forecasting and keeps you accountable.

4. Estimated revenue. Based on your conversations with the prospect, you should be able to make an educated guess as to what size of deal you’re looking at. This also helps with forecasting and helps you identify whether you’re on track to meet your overall revenue targets. 

5. Probability to close. Determining the probability of closing a deal is subjective and varies from one salesperson to another. It doesn’t necessarily correlate to the deal stage (although that will be the default settings in most CRMs. There are deals that you feel are a great fit even before the prospect gets on the call; there are ones that are still shaky one month into a proof of concept. Using intuition is unavoidable here, but try to keep it grounded in evidence. 

6. Age of the deal. Typically, your pipeline management software will calculate this for you. Prolonged deals are often dead deals, so this is a number that should always be in front of you - even if there’s no direct action you can take to move the deal forward.

7. Relevant information. You want all the relevant information about the prospect to be handy - such as company details, use case, who is your champion in the organizations,  etc. This will help you tailor your approach; when your organization scales, it would also be easier for the next person to take over. 

The Art of Killing Deals

Here's a real-world example of a pipeline, to highlight two key principles:. 

First, brace yourself for a harsh reality: out of your active deals, you're likely to lose 75% - in this case 5/34. (And this is a win rate that would make you a top performer). Losing deals is disheartening, but it's also a goldmine for insights. Each lost deal teaches you about market dynamics, customer pain points, and the effectiveness of your sales strategies.

Second, time kills deals. This data set shows that won deals typically closed within 17 days, whereas lost deals dragged on for an average of 91 days. Lengthy deals may keep hope alive, but they also drain your resources and give a misleading sense of a thriving pipeline. If you've given it your all and still don't see a fit between the prospect and your product, it's time to let go of the deal.

Always be Closing

Effective pipeline management isn’t just about reporting - it’s an essential part of closing more deals and getting those ARR and NRR numbers to where they need to be.  Understanding and optimizing your relationship with prospects will help you turn your sales process into an efficient system  that actively helps you push leads down the funnel and towards signing on the dotted line. By embracing these principles, you set the foundation for a sustainable business model.