Whether you're running your own business or managing a sales team, determining where to direct your sales efforts can be difficult. Finding the right people, staying on top of demand, and monitoring changes in the sales industry — it's a lot.

A sales pipeline is a critical tool in tracking and prioritizing sales. In this guide, we'll cover what they are, why they matter, and how to manage yours.

What is a sales pipeline?

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of your sales process. It should span all of your potential customers' actions, from the moment you make contact to the second you close the deal. A sales pipeline is useful for tracking prospective clients and optimizing your sales process.

A good sales pipeline should also support your sales reps to do their jobs better, giving actionable data that you can analyze and leverage.

Why is the sales pipeline important?

Companies with a formal sales process experience an 18% difference in revenue growth compared to those without one. It's the best way to get a read on your deals and predict if you're meeting expectations. 

A sales pipeline can also be useful in evaluating your sales team's performance. By having an accurate, specific, and up-to-date pipeline, you can determine who's hitting their targets, exceeding them, or needs extra support.

Sales pipelines can also help optimize the sales process. You'll see where you face delays, which stages are converting well, and what areas you can capitalize on. 

How to create a sales pipeline

Your sales pipeline is a living document. As you refine and improve your process, your pipeline might change, and that's okay. In fact, it's crucial. 

When you're first building your pipeline, remember that it doesn't have to be perfect. Once you start using it, it'll be easy to spot places to fine-tune. 

A typical sales pipeline follows these steps:

• Identify potential customers: These are the ones who are likely to be interested in your product or service.
• Assess prospective customers: Also known as lead qualification. This is where you look at identified groups and determine who the best investments are. Be sure that your intended customer has not just a desire for your product but the budget.
• Make initial contact: Do this only once you've qualified your leads.
• Make your formal proposal: Include the benefits and details of your offering, pricing, and any additional information your lead may need.
• Negotiate: Discuss the terms of the deal with your lead.
• Close the deal: Congrats! The sales process was successful.

Certain industries may diverge from these steps, and it may be useful to have more than one sales pipeline to diversify your process. Personalization can improve your marketing in general, so it's always worth a try.

How to manage the sales pipeline

When you manage people, there are two main parts to the task. 

The first is ensuring that everyone has everything they need to succeed and do their job. The second is professional development — helping them learn, grow, and flourish.

The same goes for your sales pipeline. Once it's in place, managing it is all about making it work better. Here's how:

Learn to prioritize

Starting from the top of your pipeline, don't hesitate to drop dead leads. It can be hard to let go if it's a relationship you've personally built, but it's essential to prioritize. Otherwise, your pipeline will leak from the beginning.

Instead, focus on high-value leads. Closing a deal from start to finish likely takes about the same amount of time in your industry. If you can confirm the leads you're pursuing are the most valuable from the get-go, you'll see better results with the same amount of work.

Rather than focusing on the leads that are initially the most responsive, focus on those that will be most beneficial to your goals in the long run.

Keep your eyes on the data

Use data from your sales pipeline to refine it. Monitor the metrics you get from it constantly — this will show you where your process is weak. Look for trends in deals that close and places where your pipeline seems to slow. 

Update your pipeline regularly. This data can help you improve your process and evaluate your team's workflow.

Standardize your workflow

A standardized process makes collaboration easier by keeping everyone on the same page. It also clarifies expectations and provides your sales team with a language to discuss successes and concerns.

The bottom line

A sales pipeline is like a critical roadmap for your sales team. Establishing a clear process paves the way for more deals closed and less time wasted. 

Ultimately, deals happen in the inbox — it's where relationships are formed, needs are understood, and the green light is given. To improve your workflow further, consider Superhuman, the most productive email app ever made.

Features like Auto Summarize can show you a one-line summary above every conversation, improving your email efficiency. Meanwhile, Shared Conversations & Team Comments allow you to share a live view and comment on any email with your team, rapidly unblocking progress.

With Superhuman, you can fly through messages twice as fast, reply two days sooner, and save more than four hours every single week. Sign up for Superhuman and discover the power of blazingly fast email.