During this installment of The Confident Advisor Practice from the Horizon Advisor Network, host Pete Bush, CEO of the Horizon Financial Group, discusses the importance of having a Pipeline Management System. Pete leaves us with the necessary tips and tricks to develop a client acquisition process that works for our own businesses. He imparts the information in an easily digestible bite that allows us to walk away with in-depth knowledge about pipelines, client acquisition, and segmenting.
Show Notes:
- 1:00---Introduction of today´s topic--Pipeline Management Systems
- 3:40--- Companies with Pipeline Management are able to shorten the process from finding an opportunity to generating revenue.
- 5:35---The first step to having a pipeline management system is having a defined acquisition process.
- 5:53---A defined acquisition process is having a defined way that clients will get into the pipeline--Acquisition can include going to certain events and sharing what you do. This is the step where you generate contact information.
- 6:15---A defined acquisition process is casting a net to gather people and prospecting is turning those people into actionable meetings where you can share your story.
- 7:54---People can be classified as a prospect once you can classify them as someone who could be interested in your services.
- 8:36---Find a way to keep prospective clients organized after generating leads.
- 12:53---Having a lot of names in a database without classifying them isn't an efficient way to segment your prospective clients. Segment your prospects when you meet them. This segmenting will allow for meaningful follow-up communication.
- 14:20---Pipeline management is moving people through this process-- acquiring (generating leads), prospecting, proposing, actuating (in-process), and finally, becoming a client.
- 15:30---Make sure to follow-up with your prospective clients to keep them moving forward through the pipeline process. Segmenting makes this easier.
- 16:20---Disqualify and eliminate clients who should no longer be in your prospecting database.
- 17:30---Throughout the pipeline process, simplify your efforts to multiply your results.
- 18:16---To have a pipeline management process you need to have the following: A process, segments of the process (assigning different client stages to the pipeline), an accountability partner (to contribute and keep the process moving), and action (moving your client through the different pipeline stages).
- 19:50--- A powerful way to turn leads into clients.
- 20:45--- Following-up with prospects is an important step.
- 24:50---A 90-day rule helps keep us on schedule and take action on steps that are important now.
3 Key Points:
- Having a Pipeline Management system is important in developing a clientele base.
- The first step to developing a pipeline is to understand where, how, and what you are doing to acquire new clients. This information lays the foundation for your pipeline.
- Continuous segmenting is important to be able to follow-up with specific prospective clients in an appropriate manner. Segmenting is key to chasing leads and adding value for clients.
Tweetable Quotes:
- "Don´t think ¨how do I do this?¨ Think who." – Pete.
- "Simplify efforts to multiply results." – Pete.
- "Companies with Pipeline Management shorten the lifetime of going from opportunity to revenue ." – Pete.
Resources Mentioned:
