Reality Testing Sales Pipeline Opportunities

On this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount and Colleen Stanley discuss the importance of Reality Testing sales pipeline opportunities. **Please note that this episode was recorded in a restaurant in Milan Italy. The content quality is excellent. The sound quality not so much. Reality testing sales pipeline opportunities is an important step in ensuring the success of your sales efforts and the effective use of your time. It's important to regularly check the accuracy of your assumptions about the viability of the deals in your pipeline against hard evidence that those deals are advancing in line with your sales process. Reality testing is described as the ability to see things as they are, rather than what you would like them to be. You cannot afford to waste time with pipeline opportunities that you won't win. Nor can you spend time with stakeholders who can't or won't buy. For sellers, the greatest waste of time is spending it with the wrong prospect. As we move into a period of market volatility, it is critical for self-professionals to get real about what's in their pipeline. The Problem With Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias that involves paying more attention to information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving less attention to information that contradicts those beliefs. It is the human tendency to see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. With sales pipeline opportunities, confirmation bias can lead salespeople to interpret new information in a way that fits with their preexisting views, even if that interpretation is not necessarily accurate. It's the act of putting on rose colored lenses. For example: When a buyer says, "I might be interested." It is interpreted to mean, "I absolutely want to do business with you." Confirmation bias can have a number of negative effects. It causes salespeople to hold onto false beliefs, make flawed decisions, have clouded judgement, and to be more resistant to pushback from leaders during pipeline reviews. Awareness is the key to overcoming this natural human bias. This, in fact is what reality testing is all about - considering a diversity of viewpoints from your leaders and team members along with actively testing and challenging your own beliefs and assumptions. Empty Pipeline Lead Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias and false beliefs about sales pipeline opportunities run rampant on sales floors. Just sit in a pipeline review for ten minutes and you'll hear salespeople using all manner of excuses to justify deals that will never close. This is why most sales pipelines are little more than pipe dreams and sales teams consistently miss forecasts. The culprit, in most cases though, is simple: Empty pipelines. When salespeople are consistently prospecting and keeping their pipe full, they are much more in tune with reality. When an opportunity is not advancing they quickly run a reality test and if it doesn't meet their win probability standards, they'll walk away. In other words, a full pipeline begets clear judgement. On the other hand, salespeople with empty pipelines are desperate. They are consumed with confirmation bias. They hold on to loser deals and waste inordinate amounts of time working opportunities that will never close. Therefore, the easiest way to get good at reality testing your pipeline opportunities is to start prospecting and keep your pipeline full. Focus on Winnable Deals This may be a blinding flash of the obvious but if you want to sell more, spend your time with and invest resources in deals that will close. Desperate sales reps have a bad tendency to ignore win probability and scratch lottery tickets. High-performing sales professionals are consistency reality testing on every deal to gauge win probability. When WP drops below a comfortable threshold, they walk away and focus their time and attention on winnable deals. Ideal Qualified Prospects Reality testing starts with getting clear on your ideal qualified prospect. An ideal qualified prospect is a potential customer that is a good fit for your company's products or services; AND that is also likely to make a purchase. In other words, high win probability. In order to identify ideal qualified prospects, you'll typically use criteria such as industry vertical, business size, demographics, geographic location, budget, purchasing habits, and other relevant characteristics. The best place to begin when developing your IQP is by building a detailed description of the characteristics of your best existing customers. Take time to analyze customers that are the best fit, easy to work with, generate the most profit, and view you as a long-term partner. Then, focus your time and attention on finding more of these types of customers. Test Engagement and Commitment During sales conversations, be careful not to brush over signs that your prospect may not be committed to the process. Sometimes they are just not tha