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What Is a Sales Pipeline?

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of your sales process. A well-structured sales pipeline shows where your prospects are in the sales journey, from initial contact to closing the deal. Think of it as a roadmap that guides you through the steps needed to turn leads into customers. With a sales pipeline, you can:

  • tick BigContact Track the progress of each lead
  • tick BigContact Identify opportunities & predict sales
  • tick BigContact Manage resources effectively
  • tick BigContact View how well your sales efforts are paying off

How to Build Your Custom Sales Pipeline

A well-structured sales pipeline allows you to visualize and manage your sales process, identify bottlenecks, and track progress. Here’s a concise guide on how to build your sales pipeline:

1
Define Your Sales Stages

Identify the key stages your prospects go through, from initial contact to closing. Add custom stages to the sales pipeline to help it match your sales cycle and gain more visibility into your sales process.

2
Set Criteria for Each Stage

Clearly define what criteria a lead must meet to move from one stage to the next. This ensures consistency and helps your sales team know what to focus on at each step. 

3
Categorize Your Leads

Categorize leads based on their stage in the pipeline. Use a lead scoring system to prioritize efforts and allocate resources effectively.

4
Set Clear Goals & Metrics

Establish objectives for each stage of your pipeline. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success, such as the number of leads, conversion rates, and average deal size.

5
Automate & Optimize

Automate tasks like follow-up emails and data entry. Continuously optimize your pipeline by analyzing data and identifying areas for improvement.

6
Train Your Sales Team

Ensure your sales team is equipped to manage the pipeline. Provide training on your sales process and tools, and conduct regular coaching sessions.

What Stages Should Your Sales Pipeline Include?

While every business is unique, most sales pipelines include these common stages:

Top Features to Manage & Grow Your Sales Pipeline

  • Drag & Drop Interface

    Move deals along easily using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

  • Automation

    Automate repetitive tasks like follow-up emails, data entry, and task assignments. Automation saves time, reduces errors, and allows your sales team to focus on closing deals.

  • Integration

    Seamlessly integrate with other tools you use, like email marketing and business analytics solutions.

  • Lead Tracking

    Keep detailed records of each lead’s journey through your pipeline.

  • Real-Time Analytics

    Track key metrics like conversion rates, deal velocity, and pipeline health to make data-driven decisions.

  • Collaboration

    Facilitate team collaboration with features like custom user roles, shared notes, task assignments, and activity tracking.

  • Mobile Accessibility

    Access and manage your sales pipeline on the go. This will keep your team productive and responsive, regardless of their location.

Drag & Drop Interface arrow

Move deals along easily using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Automation arrow

Automate repetitive tasks like follow-up emails, data entry, and task assignments. Automation saves time, reduces errors, and allows your sales team to focus on closing deals.

Integration arrow

Seamlessly integrate with other tools you use, like email marketing and business analytics solutions.

Lead Tracking arrow

Keep detailed records of each lead’s journey through your pipeline.

Lead Tracking
Real-Time Analytics arrow

Track key metrics like conversion rates, deal velocity, and pipeline health to make data-driven decisions.

Real-Time Analytics
Collaboration arrow

Facilitate team collaboration with features like custom user roles, shared notes, task assignments, and activity tracking.

Collaboration
Mobile Accessibility arrow

Access and manage your sales pipeline on the go. This will keep your team productive and responsive, regardless of their location.

Mobile Accessibility

What Are the Benefits of Sales Pipeline Management?

  • Track Customers Through the Sales Process

    Gain a clear view of each prospect’s journey, ensuring timely and relevant follow-ups.

  • Improve team Efficiency

    Help your team focus more on selling and less on admin work by providing a clear structure and automating repetitive tasks.

  • Monitor Team Activity & Performance

    Track the performance of your sales team, identify top performers, and find areas of improvement.

  • Focus on High-Quality Leads

    Use your pipeline to prioritize leads that are most likely to convert, improving your conversion rates.

  • Forecast Your Sales

    Predict future sales and revenue based on your pipeline data and make informed business decisions.

  • Optimize Your Sales Strategy

    Use data from your pipeline to refine your sales tactics, target the right audience, and improve your overall strategy.

Looking to Build a Custom Sales Pipeline?

Use BIGContacts CRM – a delightfully easy and all-in-one tool to manage your deals.
Powerful Sales Pipeline Analytics

Get in-depth performance insights and track any metric of your choice. Access ready-to-use reports or generate custom reports from scratch to gain better insights into your sales processes and identify challenges your sales team faces. View and download detailed pipeline reports for individual opportunities and identify the stages where most deals get stalled.

  • tick BigContact Gather insights from performance analytics
  • tick BigContact Standard & custom reports
  • tick BigContact View details for each opportunity
  • tick BigContact Identify bottlenecks in the sales cycle

Everything You Need to Manage Customer Relationships

Contact Management

Centralize customer data for easy access and updates

Lists

Organize your contacts for better segmentation and targeting

Reports

Generate detailed reports on sales performance, customer interactions, and more

Automation

Automated workflows and reminders improve productivity

Free Templates

Access a library of pre-designed templates for emails, reports, and more

Data Security

Ensure the protection and confidentiality of your customer data

View All Features

Join Our Thriving Community

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    Lynn Kramar,

    General Manager

  • Seamless data entry that turns chaos into clarity
    We chose to use ProProfs BIGContacts as our CRM because it allows us to import contacts on our own, eliminating the need to rely on a third party for this task. This has dramatically reduced the delay in contacting individuals who attended our presentations.
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    Manager

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    Liz Randall,

    Strategic Accounts

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