We just launched free trials for Distro (our CRM lead routing product). It’s a new experience for us — and we’ll certainly be sharing our experiences over the next several months.
Anyone have any tips for adding a PLG motion on top of a sales-led growth engine? Send them my way 🧡
HOT TAKES
Not 👏 all 👏 pipeline 👏 is 👏 created 👏 equal 👏
But many companies are still looking at all pipeline blended together as if everything is the exact same.
But when you blend all pipeline or leads together, you run into problems:
Problem #1: Too much subjectivity in “qualified” definitions
“If we create this much pipeline, we’ll hit our revenue goals.” Great, in theory, but does all qualified pipeline convert at the same rate? Usually no.
What’s your definition of “qualified” pipeline?
Sidney Waterfall ask this question to every company she works with. Why? Each company has a different definition, and oftentimes, you hear different answers from different people internally.
“At stage 2 when the demo is complete.” “When the sales team adds products to the opportunity.” “At stage 3, after X is completed.”
You get it.
The problem with these definitions is that they’re subjective, and there’s no quality control metric that keeps this definition tight.
Problem #2: Pipeline converts to revenue at different rates
Most commonly, companies will separate the pipeline by which department “sourced” it. This is an internal measure usually mapped back to goals, but again, it’s blended. AKA not separated by how the customer came into the pipeline.
Companies do this because it’s how their teams are goaled, how they budget, and how they forecast. How many leads, opportunities, pipeline, and revenue will each team drive?
There are a few issues here:
1. These are big buckets that combine a lot of different types of buyer actions that are blended together. You’ll miss some key insights, just like when you bucket all lead types together.
2. When you look at inbound altogether, it’s easier to get lower-quality deals, which incentivizes teams to focus on volume. Volume should not be the goal—it should be efficiency.
3. No matter your definition, this drives misalignment between sales and marketing since they are incentivized and fighting for “credit” to their goals.
The solution? Standardize your pipeline
1. Split the funnel
Before you can standardize your pipeline, you need to split your funnel. AKA calculate % of revenue and win rate from different lead sources.
Here’s a great video from Sarah Perry to catch you up.
2. Match opportunities to pipeline sources
Look at a set of closed opportunities (closed won and lost) in a specific time period. Then, understand if those opportunities reached each stage during the lifecycle.
You’ll end up with a closed opp data set for each pipeline source.
3. Find your High Intent Revenue Opportunities (HIRO)
Once you reach the pipeline stage with a win rate greater than 25%, that stage is your HIRO date for that pipeline source.
Sidney Waterfall lays out her entire pipeline standardization process (+ templates).
THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO ROUTING. EVER.
Lead routing shouldn’t be a full-time job. With Distro, you can set your routing rules once and never think about them again.
It’s stupid easy to set up — and automatically pauses reps from distribution when they’re on vacation.
And now you can try Distro free for 30 days.
ADD TO CALENDAR
May 14: Have you registered for the Game Changers Masterclass yet? The 4-part series kicks off next week with a CMO panel on uniting your GTM team and getting exec buy-in to fuel efficient growth
May 16: Learn how sales leaders conquer their goals at every stage of the sales funnel. From stand-out outreach strategies to closing enterprise deals.
June 4: Something spicy is coming! Here's a sneak peek 🌶️
SPICY INDUSTRY UPDATES
- So.. what’s happening with TikTok?
- Tips to become BFFs with your sales team
- Are any of these the new Wordle yet?
- How MOps can automate your way to more revenue
- Who remembers this?
- Chili Piper is hiring for a field marketing manager! Send us any recs.
P.S. I went to a conference 35 weeks pregnant — I wrote about the experience here. If anyone is pregnant (or thinking about it) and worried about traveling for work, feel free to DM me 🧡
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