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Sales managers worry about two things: this month’s forecast and next quarter’s plan.  The problem… plans and forecasts are fixed but the sales pipeline is dynamic.  It’s a navigation challenge - just like the Volvo Ocean Racing yacht skipper needs to know how conditions change hour by hour in order to arrive at the finish line, a sales manager needs to know what’s changing if she’s to have any hope of hitting either of these targets.

“Dynamic Pipeline Management” is about navigating pipeline variables as conditions change - hence the term “dynamic” - in order to meet a fixed target.

Those conditions are:

• New opportunities
• Deferred deals
• Closed/won
• Closed/lost
• Adjustments and
• Sales rep activities.

Yet whereas the yacht skipper really only has to deal with wind, waves, and crew, a sales manager is constantly adjusting to changing conditions across many deals - an order of magnitude greater complexity, mostly generated by an often unpredictable customer.

Fortunately for the yacht skipper, GPS, radar and weather instruments keep him well informed.  Today’s sales manager however, is often left with a static transactional CRM system and their gut instinct.  Even though the pipeline levers - growth, velocity, and rep activities are commonly within the sales manager’s control, pulling the levers at the right time remains mostly a happy coincidence. That’s where Dynamic Pipeline Management comes in. 

More on these ‘levers’ next time.

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jonrognerud at 2009-06-07T04:35:43Z: What Does Pipeline Management And Yacht Racing Have In Common? http://z3ak7.th8.us

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