Today’s business world has honed in sharply on the health of the current quarter. With huge shifts in the economy, who can blame leaders for focusing on the deals that make or break their business right now? But using only an in-quarter lens is not the right strategy for long term growth.
Customer buying behavior is shifting as rapidly as the news. Even before COVID-19, Gartner research indicated that the B2B buyer’s journey looks more like a maze than a linear process. This means that sales leaders, and their reps, need to break from linear thinking when it comes to their deals because it disconnects them from serving their buyers throughout the sales cycle.
According to Forbes, myopically focusing on the current quarter neglects the early pipeline stages, their progress, and their future value. This type of short-term thinking puts the health of the company’s revenue stream at risk. It shifts the focus from a confident, strategic mindset to a quest for current-quarter results, notes a Forbes contributor. This causes leaders to sacrifice investment in tomorrow’s growth for deals closed today—and ultimately leads to last minute scrambles to make the number.
Sales leaders should take time each month to understand the complete pipeline picture and realign the sales team’s efforts to drive execution for future quarters.
But how can you gain enough visibility to do that?
In today’s Clari from Home, we’re diving into your next quarter inspection. We’ll help you answer questions like:
- How much pipeline do I need in certain stages to meet next quarter’s quota?
- Am I loading the pipeline with enough qualified prospects?
- How much coverage do I have, and how much do I need?
- What is my deal mix? How do we need to diversify for more balanced coverage?
With answers to these questions, sales leaders and their reps can align and nurture their next quarter deals to ensure that every quarter is a win.
If you want to learn more about next quarter inspection, check out “5 Ways to Inspect Next Quarter Pipeline—and Take Action” written by Kyle Coleman, Clari’s VP of Growth and Enablement.
In Clari from Home, our revenue experts share their tips and tricks for getting the most out of Clari—and how you can too, becoming the most efficient,effective, and remarkable sales leader you can be.
- Deal Updates, Micromanagement Free with Diana Cappello, Sales Engineering Manager
- Clari from Home: De-Risking in the Time of Coronavirus with Michael Kenney, Director of Sales
- Managing Renewals and Churn, Spreadsheet Free with Jessica Starr, Director Customer Success Operations
- Identify At-Risk Deals Before They Slip with Vernon Bubb, Managing Director, EMEA
- Save Time Inspecting Deals on the Fly with Kyle Rutter, Senior Sales Director
- Benchmark Rep Performance with Real-Time Data with Maya Connet, Enterprise Sales Director
- Get a pulse on account health in a digital world with Holly Procter, VP of Sales