No one likes doing CRM admin. Everyone hates a messy pipeline and an inability to accurately forecast or know what's going on with their deals.
Most pipelines in HubSpot are often overcomplicated and under-defined, leading to inaccurate sales forecasts and ineffective pipeline reviews. To ensure that your pipeline is optimized for maximum efficiency, it is essential to make a few small tweaks that can save you a lot of work and stress in the long run.
One of the key elements of an effective pipeline is ensuring that the minimum time is needed to find blind spots and that the stage of each deal accurately reflects the buyer's reality. I love Stuart Balcombe's scorecard, he links it here: https://connectedgtm.substack.com/p/how-to-maintain-a-clean-sales-pipeline
Scorecard Audit
To identify the highest impact changes you could make to your sales process, having a defined scorecard to evaluate your implementation consistently on an ongoing basis is essential. This scorecard helps establish a baseline and communicate specific bottlenecks in your sales process.
Here are 15 items to consider when cleaning up your pipelines:
- Defined pipeline stage definitions - Each stage in your sales pipeline is crystal clear and aligns seamlessly with the buyer's journey.
- Stage Synchronization - The buying process of your target customer, from awareness to decision, has been meticulously mapped out and harmonized with the pipeline.
- Entry/Exit Criteria - Specific criteria have been established for when a deal enters and exits each stage in the sales pipeline. These criteria are objective and easily understandable for your sales team to implement.
- Activity Clarification - Essential and recurring activities are well-documented with supporting playbooks.
- Automation Integration - HubSpot workflows have been successfully implemented and are actively utilized.
- Metric Monitoring - Key metrics are outlined in a HubSpot dashboard and consistently reviewed on a weekly basis.
- Uniform Data Entry - Information is consistently entered in the correct format and validated through data rules.
- Sales-Marketing Synergy - Metrics, processes, and definitions are in perfect alignment and regularly reviewed in team lead meetings.
- Periodic Evaluations - Sales and RevOps processes undergo regular reviews on a monthly/weekly basis.
- Feedback Integration - A concise feedback loop is established for each deal following the sales process, with issues prioritized and addressed promptly.
- Training & Assistance - Comprehensive documentation and adoption guidance are readily available.
- CRM Engagement - HubSpot features and functionality are effectively implemented and embraced.
- Conversion Efficiency - Pipeline stage conversion is accurately and consistently measured.
- Deal Momentum - There are no persistent bottlenecks, and deals flow smoothly through the pipeline.
- Lost Deal Analysis - A structured process for analyzing lost deals is in place to understand reasons for loss and enhance future outcomes.
Optimizing your sales pipeline step by step
Maintaining a clean and accurate pipeline requires discipline. It may seem daunting to review every deal record to track recent activity, but who has the time for that?
Here are three systematic ways to enhance your HubSpot pipeline:
1. Utilize required fields to establish entry/exit criteria
- Clearly document the objective criteria for each stage of your pipeline and ensure they are defined in properties.
- Make it mandatory to complete the relevant properties to progress through each stage of your pipeline.
2. Create a dashboard to pinpoint deals with missing data
Report #1 - Deals Missing Next Steps
- Data sources: "Deals"
- Utilize the KPI chart type:
→ Values: Count of Deals
→ Filter: Deals with unknown "Next steps"
Report #2 - Deals Missing Amounts
- Data sources: "Deals"
- Utilize the KPI chart type:
→ Values: Count of Deals
→ Custom Filter: Deals not in "Discovery (Sales Pipeline)" stage AND Deals with unknown or zero "Amount"
Report #3 - Deals Missing Next Steps
- Data sources: "Deals"
- Utilize the KPI chart type:
→ Values: Count of Deals
→ Filter: Deals with unknown "Next steps"
Report #4 - Deals Missing Data by Rep
- Data sources: "Deals"
- Utilize the Vertical Bar chart type:
→ X-Axis: Count of Deals
→ Y-Axis: Deal Owner
→ Apply deal filters:
Last Activity Date is > 7 days
Amount is Unknown
Next Steps Last Updated is > 7 days
Next Steps is Unknown.
3. Highlight problematic deals with deal tags
Create a new deal tag named "🚨 Data Hygiene Issue", provide a description, set the colour to red, and assign this tag only in the "Sales Pipeline".
- Last Activity Date is > 7 days
- Amount is Unknown
- Next Steps Last Updated is > 7 days
- Next Steps is Unknown.
- Investing time and effort in constructing and maintaining an effective pipeline is crucial because:
Implement these strategies and use the provided audit template to identify areas for improvement in your sales pipeline and make the necessary adjustments to enhance its efficiency. Remember, a refined and efficient sales pipeline is the key to success in the competitive sales landscape. Start refining and optimizing your pipeline today to stay ahead of the competition!
By following these steps and using the provided audit template, you can identify areas of improvement in your sales pipeline and make the necessary adjustments to enhance its efficiency. Implementing these changes will not only save you time and stress but also lead to more accurate sales forecasts and effective pipeline reviews.
Remember, a well-defined and efficient sales pipeline is the key to success in the competitive world of sales. Start auditing and improving your pipeline today to stay ahead of the game!