Set Goals – Work with each rep to develop a plan to achieve their goals. Specify clients, products, opportunities, regions or verticals to focus on. Think through strategies and tactics with them. The more specific the plan, the easier it is to execute.

Provide Guidelines for Success  – Discuss average sales cycles, minimum number of calls and meetings, typical pricing structures, the balance of the funnel, which activities and questions happen at each stage of the funnel and other things that will support success.

Clarify Definitions – If you want predictable results, start with your sales process and CRM. If the data in the CRM isn’t consistent, then forecasts won’t be accurate. Clearly define each and how an opportunity moves to the next stage, then map it to your CRM.

Sales Meetings – Have a set agenda for your weekly sales meeting. Include successes, training, a review of the numbers and a team strategy session. Make sure everyone knows how to prepare. Leave individual opportunities or funnel reviews for one-to-one sessions. If the conversation doesn’t include the whole team, it shouldn’t happen at the team sales meeting.

Funnel/Pipeline Reviews – Have a regularly scheduled funnel review with each sales rep. Set the expectation that the opportunities, close dates, next actions, and stages be updated before the session. During each review, assess the shape, check velocity through the sales process, review progress on all opportunities, eliminate dead leads, and select opportunities to strategize.

One-to-Ones – Have an agenda and follow it. Use this time to discuss individual performance issues, including how they are positioned to achieve their goals and what they will need to do to succeed. Discuss individual development plans then coach and train to achieve those.

Strategy Sessions – The reward for a funnel review is a strategy session. That is an opportunity to work together to strategize an account you haven’t looked at recently and to look for threats and opportunities. Follow the same process each time.

Listen – When you are coaching listen carefully to fully understand the situation. Listen for cues to use as triggers for guiding.

Ask – Ask questions to help you understand and to help them understand. Good questions provide aha moments that change immediate performance and future performance.

Guide – Ask what they think they should do, what information they need or what questions they could be asking. Offer suggestions and ask how they think that would work in this situation. Encourage them to try things. Let them know when you think something is a good idea and why.

Strategy Sessions – A great collaboration opportunity is a strategy session. Choose an opportunity to strategize as a team following a specific process. Everyone enjoys strategy sessions, they all feel good about the effort when they are done, and everyone learns in the process.

Key Account Plans – It is no longer sufficient to have one rep be fully responsible for major accounts. Put together a team of people who interact with the account and appoint a leader. Create a Key Account Plan and meet quarterly to ensure the team is on track with the goals around that account.

Brainstorming – Sales reps face the same issues all day long. Having the opportunity to work as a team to find solutions is a great idea. Brainstorm asking good questions, writing value propositions, handling objections, and closing deals. Take time each meeting to brainstorm about one of the topics

Successes —Start each sales meeting by having everyone share a success. It doesn’t matter if it is closing a deal, getting an appointment, or getting a commitment that moves the deal forward. Whatever it is, celebrating successes helps salespeople stay positive.

Close Deals – Every deal is worth celebrating. Share the success at a meeting. Send an email with congratulations and copy the team. Do a happy dance. It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as long as the salesperson gets the opportunity to celebrate with you.

Improvement – Don’t miss the little things. As sales reps are developing, they need encouragement. Make sure to notice that they are getting better at asking good questions, getting in touch with all the buying influences or closing deals when expected. Noticing the little things may make the big things happen more often.

Hitting Goals – Leaders are really good at beating up reps when they don’t hit their goals. Be equally excited when they do hit their goals. Of course, it’s expected, but it’s still worth celebrating.

Before we can talk about being fanatical about your funnel, let’s understand what the term funnel means. One way to think of it is a graphic representation of your sales process and opportunities.

It means that before you open email or go to a meeting, your open your funnel and decide what sales priorities you have for the day. It means that your funnel is the single source of truth about all your opportunities because every time you communicate with a prospect you update your funnel. It is accurate and up to date. The stages and close dates are current reliable. It means you have a next action scheduled for every opportunity. 

The more effectively you use the funnel, the more efficiently you can manage your sales work, and the better results you will get. It may seem like a lot of work to keep your funnel updated, but when it is your single source of truth, your funnel helps you do your job better. It helps you prioritize your activities every day. You can prioritize by stage knowing that closing is the priority, prospecting is the second priority and qualifying is third. Everything else comes after that. Build those priorities into your calendar every day. Doing that will help you stay proactive, minimize surprises, keep leads moving through the sales process, and position you to hit your sales goals more consistently.