Our last article explored Pipeliner’s incredible new Revenue Intelligence Loop functionality. This functionality includes a major new feature—our greatly expanded targeting component, bringing unheard-of flexibility, control, and accuracy to sales targets.
With the new functionality, you can not only create and monitor targets for individuals but for teams and sales units as well.
Target Type
In creating a target, you start with specifying a target type—created leads, qualified leads, or revenue. Because Pipeliner allows companies to have more than one pipeline in CRM (as companies naturally have multiple processes), you can specify the pipeline to which this target will apply.
We even allow you to take it deeper than that. You can filter exactly what type of sales you want to target—for example new, recurring or upselling.
The time period for the target can be week, month, quarter or year.
Historical Data
As we covered in our previous articles on the Revenue Intelligence Loop, quotas, targeting and forecasting can only be accurately accomplished with historical data. With this understanding in mind, when a target is named, Pipeliner immediately detects all existing relevant historical data and places it into the targeting data.
Once historical data has been populated into the target feature, the system will inform you how possible target attainment is, based on your pipeline progress to date. It will let you know how much of a challenge the target is, or if it is easily attainable.
You can then include data types of leads, opportunities, or both. A third data type that has never been seen in CRM is working time. A particular salesperson may work full-time or only be putting in 20 hours a week. How many vacation days does the salesperson take per year? How much sick time? The working time will affect the possibility of target attainment.
Another factor affecting target attainment is the lead conversion rate, and you can set this as part of the historical data. Other factors you specify are average opportunity size, win rate, number of opportunities closed in a given period, and sales velocity—the time it takes to close a deal.
Once historical data is imported and the above factors have been input and calculated, you can activate the target.
Target Progress and Drilling Down
With the target activated, you will then be able to consistently track its progress. The system will inform you, based on your lead conversion rate, how many more leads you will need to make the target, and how many opportunities based on your average opportunity size and sales velocity.
Target progress is visually displayed in a graph that shows the revenue needed throughout the target period, compared to the revenue as it is achieved, and the overall target progress.
The target feature shows you the value of opportunities currently in your pipeline—and here comes another Pipeliner exclusive, for you can then drill directly down and view all the different opportunities that make up that value. This is the data that places insurance and security behind your target decisions.
From the Pipeline View
The new target functionality reaches right out to the target that has always been displayed in Pipeliner’s pipeline view. The target data which has been set up behind the target “takes over” and adjusts the target shown in the pipeline view.
Self-Responsibility
A core principle behind Pipeliner CRM is bringing self-responsibility to the salesperson. Our new expanded targeting functionality certainly supports that principle, for the salesperson can look over the visual presentation and readily say, “Wow, I can do this!” or “Okay, I have to work to beef this up.” or “I have to change something.” The rep may need to get out and visit some prospects or customers, or work with Marketing to get a marketing campaign in action.
It’s similar to a person’s desire to lose weight. They jump on the scale and can instantly see how much they weigh and how much they need to lose to reach their target weight. With Pipeliner’s expanded target feature, a salesperson instantly sees how well they’re proceeding toward a sales target and what needs to happen for them to make it.
Sales targeting has never been like this! Pipeliner once again brings functionality never before seen in CRM.
P.S. Just as a hint for the future, we’re not stopping here. While this new targeting functionality, as we’re introducing it now, is only for managing pipeline opportunities and closing deals, this technology will be available for many other tasks and functions in the future.
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