Sales Management Through Pipeliner CRM

The topic of Sales management is very broad, and is covered in an infinite number of books, so we won’t be covering that here. There is also an endless list of material on sales management—and as anyone who has read my previous writings on the subject knows, I consider that management is management. There are principles which dictate great management, and they are applied in sales management, as well as in the management of any other part of a company, or in the overall management of the company itself. The management methods that we have found the most effective, and to have the biggest impact on effectiveness and efficiency, are those of world-renowned management consultant Fredmund Malik.

“Management must be learnt just like any other profession, a foreign language or a type of sport. Management is not easy, so it must constantly be practiced. However, neither is it more difficult than other professions, so anyone can achieve a certain degree of competence, higher than that of an amateur.” —Fredmund Malik

In this ebook we are going to get very specific: we’re going to be dealing with sales management through CRM. I personally believe (as do a lot of experts today) that utilizing a CRM is the only way to manage a sales team—and in fact, it is practically impossible to manage one without it.

There is no system in the industry today like Pipeliner CRM, one that empowers precision sales management through CRM. Therefore we can truly say that Pipeliner CRM is the only really effective tool available today in the market.

We are going to break sales management through CRM down into 4 basic functions, with a chapter covering each.

Lead Management

In sales, it all begins with leads. There is always a sales quota to be made. A quota won’t be attained without adequate opportunities—and opportunities won’t happen without adequate leads.

Even with a good inbound lead program (which most companies have today), to truly guarantee their success, every salesperson should prospect, should generate their own leads. Lead management can be very precisely conducted through Pipeliner CRM, from lead assignment up through conversion to an opportunity.

Opportunity Management

At the very heart of running a sales, the pipeline is opportunity management. Opportunity management consists of, first, setting up a sales process. This means knowing the various stages that your opportunities pass through, from lead all the way to close. When you know how long a deal takes to make it through the pipeline, and how long it should take for an opportunity to make it through each stage of that pipeline, you’ve got a fairly accurate sales process.

Account Management

Account management is a considerable job—and one of the most important for a sales professional. Account management consists of several key functions, all of which actually add up to happy customers. Account management is most precisely conducted through CRM.

Existing accounts are the foundation and stability of a company. Moreover, it is far less complex and costly to keep an existing account satisfied and happy than it is generating new business.

For all of these reasons, account management is a primary important function of an enterprise.

The War Room Concept

The War Room is a vital concept in sales management.

A physical war room, in the military, is a space in which generals, officers and battle coordinators visually plan out battle tactics and strategies for specific operations. In business, the term has come to mean a meeting space built for the specific purpose of providing a dedicated location for stakeholders and project teams to share a location and visually communicate tasks and activities associated with the execution of critical projects.

Moving over to sales, the idea is to control and manage all of your sales resources in one location, in a way that they are all visually available and all data is present.

Hunter and Farmer

Finally, we need to examine the two basic types of salespeople, the hunter and the farmer, and how each of these are managed.

Come with me as we explore each of these vital parts of sales management through CRM.