This process of managing all the prospects in the salesperson’s sales funnel to ensure that sales objectives are being met is called pipeline management. CRM software provides an efficient and effective tool for forecasting and managing pipelines. Using sales data entered into the contact screens and notes applications, sales forecasts can be continually updated as prospects move through the stages in the sales process. Prospects in the database who are no longer qualified, for whatever reason, can be quickly dropped from the sales funnel.

Pipeline analytics, defined as the ability to conduct sophisticated data analysis and modeling, are found in most CRM systems. Using pipeline analytics, new reports can be generated regarding the movement of the prospects through the sales pipeline. These reports can be more clearly presented with the use of dashboards. Pipeline dashboards (Figure 9.8) are at-a-glance visualizations that define, monitor, and analyze the relationships existing in the pipeline. Sales team members including the sales manager working together from a shared CRM database can collaborate to create value and enhance the sales strategies to help the salesperson move prospects through the pipeline to a successful sale. CRM pipeline dashboards allow the user to quickly and easily drill down into the reports and records supporting them. This provides for quick updates as prospects move through the sales funnel. Dashboards can also provide insight into the need to add new prospects, as existing ones are moved through the stages of the sales process.