Building a Strong Pipeline in the Midst of Losing Clients

The first step towards building a strong sales pipeline is creating a strong list of prospective customers. Your top priority right now should be to gather a big group of companies who you feel could benefit from what you do (or possibly a variation of what you do). You should be building a bigger list than you ever have before to offset the number of clients you’re losing at this time. Once you have a great list together, start reaching out to as many people as possible.

Now is the time to go full-force and have impactful conversations with prospects. Rethink your strategy and ask yourself the following questions:

• What can companies use that you offer during this time?
• Is there a new service you could offer (a variation of a current service) based on a need you see in the market? How can you cater to all needs right now?
• Can you offer value by sharing knowledge and expertise with potential customers?
• Would it be valuable for you to share what your company is doing to combat these tough times?

Regardless of the types of conversations you’re having or what approach you decide to take, make sure you’re filling up your calendar with meetings and having meaningful conversations as often as you can. Start engaging with as many people as possible, as fast as possible so that you can fill the gaps and be successful during a time when most businesses are suffering.

Building connections with people and keeping in touch with them is an important part of any sales program. A healthy sales pipeline means you have an active list of companies that are a good fit for your service and you’re talking to them regularly. Even though this is always important, it’s especially important right now.

Now is the time to talk to as many people as possible. Not only will engaging with prospects help you offset the number of clients you lose, but it will also help you achieve top of mind awareness. When the time comes and a potential customer does need a provider, who are they going to look to—someone they know and trust, or a new provider that they’ve never heard of?

Some math to consider: 

Let’s say, for example, you lose five clients in one day. Let’s also say that you know for a fact your close rate is 1 out of every 10 companies you talk to. Do you know what 50 companies you’re going to talk to tomorrow to backfill those five clients that you lost?

As a business owner, thinking through this math is important. It can put things into perspective and show you exactly how hard your team needs to work to make it through this. Yes, these are challenging times for everyone, but harder work is going to pay off and help your business thrive, and the simple math proves it.