Magnolia Desk PartnerA pipeline full of optimistic stages feels good and plans badly. How to keep records current so the pipeline tells you the truth.
Pipelines drift toward optimism. A prospect who took one call stays in "Interested" for months. A company whose number disconnected never gets marked. Over time the pipeline looks bigger than it is, and planning based on it goes wrong.
Every touch updates the record
A call, a voicemail, an email, a returned packet. Each one should change something on the record: the last touch date, the next step, the stage, or the contact details. If nothing changed, the touch was not logged properly.
Name the dead ends
- "Not interested" is useful information. Record it with the reason and move on.
- A disconnected number or a departed contact is a data problem, not a prospect problem. Fix the data or close the record.
- A prospect that has gone quiet after several attempts belongs in a different stage than one in active conversation.
Review weekly, not quarterly
A short weekly pass catches stale records while they are still easy to fix. Quarterly cleanups turn into archaeology.