The sales management component of the CRM includes Pipelines and Deals to effectively track and manage your sales processes. Pipelines are used to manage the progression of contacts through stages of a workflow and membership journey, while deals are focused on tracking and managing specific sales and business opportunities. Pipelines are broader in scope, covering various aspects of your association’s operations, while deals specifically focus on revenue-generating opportunities.
Key Terminologies:
- Pipelines: Pipelines in the CRM represent a series of stages or steps that contacts move through in a specific workflow or business process. They provide a visual representation of the progress of contacts and help track their journey.
- Purpose: Pipelines are used to manage and automate the progression of contacts through different stages, such as prospecting, onboarding, renewals, or lapsed members, within your association.
- Examples:
- Membership Renewal Pipeline: This pipeline can have stages like “Membership Expiration,” “Renewal Reminder,” “Payment Confirmation,” and “Renewed Member.” It tracks the lifecycle of members and automates actions such as sending renewal reminders or updating membership status.
- New Member Onboarding Pipeline: This pipeline can include stages like “Application Submitted,” “Welcome Email Sent,” “Orientation Session Scheduled,” and “Fully Onboarded.” It helps guide new members through the onboarding process, automating actions like sending welcome emails or scheduling orientation sessions.
- Deals: Deals in the CRM are specific opportunities or sales transactions associated with potential revenue. They represent potential sales or business opportunities that are in progress or being negotiated.
- Purpose: Deals are used to track and manage the sales process, from initial contact to closing the sale. They provide visibility into potential revenue and help your sales team focus on specific opportunities.
- Examples:
- Sponsorship Deal: Your association may have deals for securing sponsorships from external organisations. Each deal represents a potential sponsorship opportunity, including details like the sponsor’s name, proposed amount, negotiation status, and projected close date.
- Group Membership Deal: If your association offers group memberships to companies or organisations, deals can be used to track the progress of group membership inquiries, negotiations, and closure. Each deal represents a potential group membership opportunity, including details like the organisation’s name, contact person, pricing discussions, and final agreement status.
