Greg Talks About the Sales Pipeline

A sales manager called me last week...interesting back and forth:

Manager: I have one seller who says everything in this pipeline is at 80%… then they just sit there.
ME: WHAT DOES 'BEING AT 80%' ACTUALL MEAN?
Manager: You know… the client likes it. Seems very interested.
ME: I'M VERY INTERESTED IN PLAYING IN THE SUPER BOWL. ZERO SHOT OF THAT HAPPENING. YOU NEED ACTON STEPS THE CLIENT HAS TO TAKE BEFORE YOU CALL ANYTHING 80%
Manager: Like what?
ME: LIKE PLACE A HOLD ON INVENTORY. OR BOOK A POTENTIAL DELIVERY DATE. LET THE BUYERS TELL YOU WHERE THEY REALLY ARE BY WHAT THEY DO, OR DON'T DO..

Any other sales managers living through this pipeline fantasy-hour with your people? Love to hear your take?

GB — Some of you managers out there may read this and think, "Well I would NEVER tolerate that sort of bad forecasting..." But as Doc Holiday famously said, "I beg to diffa sir..." It may not be this blatant, but many managers feed into this delusion because they too want, and need, these "opportunities" to be real in the pipeline. Because someone above THEM is asking, "So how is November - December looking?" Uh good...

THIS IS WHY STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT ABOUT 29-30% OF OPPORTUNITIES IN A TYPICAL PIPELINE ACTUALLY CLOSE...many of those I'm sure were listed as "80% boss..."