A B2B sales pipeline becomes more effective with restructuring and tweaking parts that might work better. As customers come and go and you specialize in various industries, you’ll find the methods that worked in the beginning no longer do the trick. Making a few minor changes can result in higher conversion rates and more revenue from each client.

The process from connecting with a lead to closing a sale is complex. Restructuring your methods requires following a list of steps so you miss nothing crucial in the equation. Here are some of the keys to a successful reboot.

1. Analyze the Current Pipeline

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way businesses look at data and process it. In a McKinsey 2023 survey, 40% of respondents indicated their companies planned to increase AI investment because of advances in capabilities. 

Computers have gotten faster and more intuitive. They can gather massive amounts of data, look for patterns and even make recommendations on potential future behavior based on past scenarios. 

Utilize AI to sort through patterns and buying behaviors. Find bottlenecks and fix them to improve your B2B sales pipeline. 

2. Set Clear Objectives

Write out your goals to ensure you know what you want to achieve with your restructure. S.M.A.R.T. stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Narrow your options so you know what you want to achieve and how long you have to reach the goal.

Having S.M.A.R.T. goals in place puts everyone on your development team on the same page. Sales can do a quick check of the objectives and see if current methods deliver the desired results. Marketing can ramp up efforts to improve conversions. When everyone works toward the same end result, the entire sales pipeline improves. 

3. Embrace Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Tap into the power of CRM software to engage current customers and turn them into raving fans. Anything you can automate in your sales funnel frees you up to try creative new ideas or reach out to customers one-on-one. 

CRM software can handle reminding clients it’s time to reorder. Set it to send a birthday greeting. You can even segment your audience and automate notices about new products to the group most likely to order the item. 

4. Identify and Solve Pain Points

Develop a customer-centric approach. At the core of your B2B sales pipeline should be a solution to a common problem your customers have.

Figure out what the pain points are. You may need to survey customers, look back at customer service calls or even read through reviews about your business and competitor’s companies. Once you have a list of problems, it’s time to solve them.

What emotion drives the user to seek a solution? For a business owner, it could be a matter of survival and fear that their business might fail. Once you know what drives them, offer the ways you can help. Your sales funnel must show the lead you understand their problem and you have the answer. 

5. Tweak the Funnel Stages

How can you encourage leads to move forward in your sales funnel? List the stages buyers go through on their journey through your pipeline. If they are in the awareness stage, you’ll provide education and information. On the other hand, if the user is already in the decision stage, you’ll make a push for why you’re the best choice to solve their problem.

Go through each level of the sales funnel and see if it meets user expectations. Can you improve anything to convert more people to the next stage? Run A/B tests and see which wording, images and calls to action (CTAs) perform best with your audience. 

6. Create the Right Offers

Involve sales and marketing to come up with the offers that convert leads into buyers most frequently. Your industry can be a big factor in the type of special discounts people expect. Pay attention to what others in your field provide as a lead magnet and offer something similar but unique.

If something converts well, repeat it in your funnels. If it doesn’t, try something else in your B2B sales pipeline. You can also ask your customers which offers they prefer and if anything different might entice them to sign up. 

7. Rate Leads

Hubspot's 2024 State of Sales Report found 82% of sales professionals believe building relationships is the most crucial component of selling. However, staff have limited time to reach out and interact with leads.

One thing you can do to immediately improve conversion rates is rank your leads by order of most likely to make a purchase. You can also rank them by the likely spending amount, prioritizing accounts that have higher budgets.

Don’t rule out the small, new business owners with a lot of growth potential. However, when you have limited sales time, prioritizing some of the people in the funnel to a more personalized approach with a dedicated salesperson can be a game changer. 

Keep Changing Your B2B Sales Pipeline

The most successful sales pipelines are fluid. They change as the customer base changes and they adopt new approaches to overcome additional objections from leads. As you learn more about the best ways to close a sale with your target audience, your conversion numbers should naturally increase. Try new things and pay attention to what clients prefer as you tweak your funnel and find success.