Sales funnel or pipeline — what are we measuring?
A worked example of lead conversion, buyer-led deal stages and pipeline forecasting. Learn why the two views answer different questions.
Read the funnel and pipeline guide →Articles
Questions about sales, customers and profit
Why are orders slowing? Why do long-standing customers buy nothing else? Why does more work leave profit unchanged? These articles examine what might explain the result, what information could settle the question and what decisions depend on the answer.
Start with the situation
Start with a situation
Enquiries or orders are slowingNew enquiries, leads, referrals and sales.Customers renew but don’t buy moreRepeat orders, changes in demand and profitable growth.More work, no extra profitDelivery time, job costs, handovers and margin.Considering CRM or automationFind the problem the change is meant to solve.
Business generation and relationshipsSales process Referrals Account growth Customer fit
Where new orders come from — and why customers buy again
These articles examine the conditions behind customer decisions, the sources of new enquiries and the economics of maintaining an account.
Why is it so hard to replace referrals?
What did an introduction establish before the first conversation, and how might a new channel provide it?
Read the analysis →Why do clients renew but buy nothing else?
Understand the difference between renewing the existing service and identifying a new buying decision.
Explore existing customer growth →Which customers are worth winning?
Industry and company size may not reveal the circumstances that caused the purchase.
Explore customer fit →Before committing to a changeCRM proposals CRM budgets Automation
Before buying software or changing how people work
What does the quote leave with you?
Questions to ask before signing an implementation agreement.
Read the checklist →Which costs are outside configuration?
A budget checklist for people, data, testing and adoption.
Read the guide →Will a faster task improve the outcome?
Look at capacity and the next steps in the workflow.
Read the guide →When orders and forecasts no longer match expectations
- Revenue patterns
Unpredictable revenue. Can you explain the next period?
- Forecasting
The forecast can only use uncertainty the business has made observable.
When more work does not leave more profit
- Margin analysis
Why is profit margin falling — and what changed?
- System performance
Why do team targets improve while profit falls?
- Economics
Revenue is growing. Why isn't profit?
- Delivery economics
Why do some customers take so much time to serve?
- Growth
Why has adding people not increased capacity?
What was agreed with customers — and what delivery involves
- Handover
Why does the job cost more than we quoted?
- Customer quality
A good customer is not only a sales definition.
- Alignment
Why does a large contract become expensive to serve?
When CRM records do not answer the business question
Applied reasoning
Examples from earlier work
Seven anonymised patterns show how commercial promises, SKU economics, cross-system delivery, coordination load, product decisions and market constraints can change the business result.
Read situations from professional experience →