In the realm of Revenue Operations (RevOps), traditional sales-led strategies aren't receiving as much attention nowadays compared to product-led growth tactics. Yet for businesses offering complex solutions with longer sales cycles, like the company I work with, a sales-led approach is essential. Our product is in a category-building stage in a yet-to-be-defined market, requiring substantial education for prospects to become customers.
Given these circumstances, I've decided to discuss how we've enhanced our pipeline reviews, introducing a more data-driven model and enabling our sales representatives to manage their deals proactively. A common challenge these days for most RevOps teams is accomplishing more with fewer resources. We achieved our results using standard Salesforce reporting and dashboards, replicable in any modern CRM.
BEFORE THE TRANSITION
Our pipeline review process began modestly. A small team, led by our sales director, would evaluate opportunities weekly, identifying potential risks and sharing insights or requesting advice. However, as our team expanded, this approach became increasingly unscalable, resulting in lengthy meetings where Account Executives (AEs) were more reactive to the director's inquiries.
OUR STRATEGY
Our primary objective was to infuse our pipeline review with data-driven insights. We use MEDDPICC, which stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion, Competition.
It's a sales methodology used primarily in complex B2B sales environments where the sales cycle is typically longer and involves multiple stakeholders. By addressing each of these areas, sales professionals can increase their chances of closing the deal and manage risk.
We implemented a scoring system based on each MEDDPICC element. Each opportunity could score a maximum of 55 points, with defined stage-based thresholds to flag any potential risks:
- Stage 1: Minimum score of 10
- Stage 2: Minimum score of 20
- Stage 3: Minimum score of 30
- Stage 4: Minimum score of 35
To empower our AEs, we shifted the pipeline review focus from director-led questioning to AE-driven analysis. To facilitate this, we created a dashboard providing an overview of their individual pipelines and key sales velocity metrics:
- Quarterly opportunity overview
- Focus opportunities (closing within the current month/quarter)
- Average sales cycle length per AE
- Medium/high-risk opportunities closing within 30 days
- Pipeline coverage data
With this information readily available, we standardized opportunity update presentations, offering a simple template. Here's an example:
- Current Status: We have confirmed that our solution adds value, but my understanding of the decision and paper process is lacking.
- Next Steps: Scheduled a call for 9/1-2023 to manage expectations and form a mutual go live plan. Aiming to upgrade decision process and paper process scores from 1 to 4.
- Help Needed: No current help required, but the customer requires specific feature support.
- Useful Tips: The prospect has an exciting use case; planning to target similar companies in an outbound campaign.
With AE processes in place, we identified key data points to track from a Head of Sales/RevOps perspective:
- Deals flagged due to low MEDDPICC scores relative to opportunity stage
- High-risk open Renewals
- Opportunities created and lost within 90 days (for post-mortems)
- Qualified contacts
- New pipeline added
- Quarterly overviews
- Opportunities with frequent close date changes
- Opportunities with minimal contact roles
This data, along with AE updates, significantly enhanced our weekly reviews, providing insightful overviews of opportunities and areas requiring support or intensified effort.
POST-IMPLEMENTATION
Following the adoption of these data points and dashboards, we have significantly improved our pipeline visibility. We now better understand our quarterly results forecast, account churn risks, areas needing push, and who needs to increase their pipeline to hit target.
Our AEs now have a reliable framework and dashboard to manage their deals effectively and provide accurate updates. Furthermore, our Head of Sales can devote more time to mitigating risks and providing assistance, as opposed to understanding the overall opportunity status.
This transition has allowed us to maximize the potential of our sales-led strategy, helping us navigate the complexities of the sales cycle, and helps predict where we land each quarter.
Final Note:
I hope you found this piece helpful and maybe a bit inspiring too. My goal is always to share stuff you can actually use, rather than just theories.
The game plan laid out has been a real game-changer for us, especially since we're dealing with a small batch of big-ticket opportunities. But if your sales reps are juggling a ton of opportunities each quarter, this approach might pile on a bit too much desk work. Something to think about if changing your pipeline reviews.
If you've stuck with me this far, thanks! And I'd love to hear what you think.
*(This article was fully written by me, ChatGPT helped me with copywriting after the finished article)
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