Many growing digital media companies say that their main problem is ‘closing’ sales opportunities. They get shortlisted in a competitive pitch and stake the next wave of plans on a one in three chance of winning. The reliance most digital media and technology businesses place on closing a small number of key sales leads presents a big problem – if you lose one, there’s nothing to fill the void.

There’s a tried and tested way of hedging against this situation -successful pipeline management; the more quality leads you have, the more you are likely to win.

Companies need to protect against over-reliance on winning major projects by ensuring that the supporting pipeline is kept full at all times with quality sales leads and consistent lead generation.

So, what is pipeline management?

Typically a 3:1 ratio applies: of three final stage (shortlisted) pitches, typically one will be won. Taking this further back in the sales cycle, the ‘times three’ effect is usually accurate. To get three quality leads to the point of final pitch, you’ll need nine sales leads to get to the stage of formal proposal. To get nine to formal proposal, you’ll more than likely need over 20 ‘value proposition’ meetings or presentations. This means you’ll need around 80 quality sales leads in active conversations.

Of course all of this doesn’t unfold overnight. Lead management and maintaining a healthy sales pipeline is ongoing and often has a time frame of three to six months from initial conversation to contract sign off.

With this in mind it makes sense to take a long term view and get strategic about gaining introductions with new business. Setting aside other elements of your marketing and client acquisition strategy (search engines, events & exhibitions etc) the single most effective way to generate quality leads and interest in your proposition is to contact target businesses directly.

To generate leads effectively you will need to articulate sharp hooks which engage the interest of senior level decisions makers; this requires in depth research and a highly motivated sales lead generation team.

The nature of the sales industry is that the top performers are looking to move ‘out on the road’ quickly, moving up the career ladder jumping from company to company. It’s often hard to find and retain a high quality sales professional and therefore maintain quality lead management.

Outsourcing pipeline management can offer an efficient alternative to hiring a full time sales professional. An outsourced sales lead service ensures a consistent level of lead generation, reliably bringing in qualified new business introductions. Qualifa’s recent decision to move exclusively to a ‘pay on results’ model has the added benefit that our clients now take no risk when working with us. If we don’t deliver the senior level introductions that our clients require, there’s no fee.

We understand that as a business grows it will inevitably begin to establish a professional sales function internally, with roles carved out for specific b2b lead generation and account based activity. It’s important however to make sure this growth is managed and continues to hedge against over-reliance on one major deal or on one sales person. Many of our clients choose to continue working for us for this reason; sharing the work load with an out sourced agency ensures their sales pipeline remains full and prevents gaps occurring in the work life-cycle.