Instituting a Pipeline Can Help Catapult Your Team to Success

With increased competition in the accounting industry, more firms understand the need to infuse sales into their culture. Instituting a Pipeline can help your firm accomplish this.

Instituting a Pipeline in 6 Steps:

1. Create a Pipeline Document

Develop rules around what gets added, how it gets added, who adds it, when it has to be added and what information is needed are all decisions you need to make.

2. Form a Pipeline Needs Process

Pipeline reviews are how you keep the pipeline updated and hold people accountable for actually taking the next steps on leads in a timely manner. The key to keeping reviews from becoming stale is to mix up what you are talking about in terms of new leads, old leads, leads for a certain service or industry, leads for a certain office, etc.

3. Include Sales Management

Coordinate the people who implement your sales strategy to drive performance. Keep an eye on unqualified lead activity to ensure a healthy future pipeline.

4. Use Data Gathered

Pipeline data can be used to track both new work and lost proposals as well as generate discussions around lost work from current clients and possible fee increases.

5. Implement Uniform Training

Sales training is imperative for firms serious about growth. As a result of sales training, firms should see improved performance at the individual level.

6. Driver’s Seat to Growth

Build upon your current pipeline document to ramp up sales within your firm.

Cultural changes do not happen overnight, but you can take small steps today that will encourage everyone to understand the role of sales in firm growth.

Read the full article to get more tips and insight into developing an effective sales process at your own firm.
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