Sales Mindset Heading Into Q4

by Jason Ogden | Aug 15, 2023

We’re in the middle of August with the second half of the year in full swing. Many revenue teams have already adjusted their goals downward, primarily due to low pipeline velocity. The cause of this overall slowdown is an increase in buyer caution and delay, resulting in an expansion in the size of buying committees.

Here are 3 things that your revenue team can consider to help increase pipeline velocity, improve conversion rates, and set yourself up for future opportunities. 

1. Improve pipeline velocity by running deals through the velocity formula based on the channel of origin.

Typically, an overall book of business measures pipeline velocity but if you cut it into subsets and see where deals come from that move faster, sales teams can focus on those live opportunities and marketing teams can allocate resources to those channels now and through the rest of the year. 

2. Improve conversion rates by addressing the needs of the buying committee. 

Specifically, address the members who aren’t traditionally part of your buying process. The faster you learn what their needs are, the sooner you’ll be able to address them head-on. This applies to both live sales deals and marketing teams. I’ve written more about the topic of expanded buyer committees here. 

3. Ask more questions. 

Yes, this is sales 101, but asking more questions to your prospects can help give you insight into what they’re actually facing and what their delays might be caused by. This can help you win more deals now. And, it can help you understand the client’s future needs. The more you understand what they’re up to today, the more the conversation will naturally evolve into a more forward-looking conversation. You’ll have the opportunity to generate new ideas both in terms of new products and the way existing products can be delivered differently to help your prospect’s needs today.

These are the three things I would recommend all sales and marketing teams focus on between now and the end of the year to help increase your current pipeline velocity.