Crelate's Business Development Pipeline allows firms to track progress of prospecting efforts before a more tangible lead is formed. The pipeline is intended to help transition colder prospecting outreach to Lead Opportunities and then ultimately, a more fully formed Job Requisition. The ultimate goal of the Business Development opportunity is to convert to a Lead and continue to process through Crelate's Sales workflow.
With your Business Development Pipeline enabled (to enable, review here) you can start managing both Contacts & Companies through the workflow.
Just like with Job Opportunities (but differing from the Sales Pipeline), the pipeline is intended to organize and house the prospects you're marketing to.
For Example: I might create a Business Development opportunity called, "VPs in New York", and within that opportunity, may start adding both VPs I'd like to target in New York and also companies I may wish to target but do not yet know the right VP to connect with.
Creating your Business Development Opportunity Type
To start and create your opportunity, on the home page, select the Business Development tab and then select New.
If running an outreach campaign around a most place-able candidate you can select a Contact, otherwise, in the majority of instances, simply name your Business Development Opportunity to get started.
Adding Contacts & Companies to your Opportunity
Once the Opportunity is created, begin by adding Companies & Contacts to the pipeline. The pipeline is unique as it allows for the inclusion of both Contacts & Companies through the workflow. Know a company but not who to target? Great! Start there by simply adding the company and investigate later. Already know a VP in your market that you'd love to track progress of outreach to? Great! Simply add that contact to the newly created opportunity.
Pro Tip: You don't have to stop at just one contact at a company. If there are 3 VPs at the same company, you can certainly add all of them. While two may turn into a dead end (and end up in a "Disqualified Stage") the 3rd may end up being more qualified and thus each could have different outcomes.
Once Prospects have been created, move them through the Business Development stages & add activities to demonstrate actions taken.
Pro Tip: With a Prospect selected, use the drop down to take individual or bulk action. For example, leverage Crelate's Sequencing functionality to enroll prospects in multi step automated actions.
Pro Tip: If you're ever using Crelate's Search feature and come across a contact (or multiple) and think they'd be the perfect fit to prospect to, we have you covered! Simply use the Selected Record drop down and then Add to Opportunity. From there, use the Select Opportunity option to search for the Business Development opportunity you've created (or create a new one on the fly!).
Converting Contacts & Companies to Leads
Ideally, as these Contacts & Companies start to convert from colder outreach into a more tangible opportunity, it's time to transition to a Lead.
Why convert to a Lead?
The Business Development Pipeline is intended for cold outreach to track progress of engagement.
The goal of the Business Development Pipeline is to simply reach or engage the Prospect and generate some type of interest in further conversation.
Inevitably, as you uncover more information about the Prospect, different information becomes important to track. For example, Ian at Crelate starts in my Business Development Pipeline. As I actually get a hold of Ian, I learn that he's looking to fill a Customer Support Position. That's great! Now I want to start thinking about:
What the role's start date is
What the potential value to my business this role might bring
What the probability of closing this Lead is
To convert, drag the opportunity to the Qualified Stage. Doing so will automatically prompt a Lead Form. Much of the information from the Lead Form will auto populate (as it will pull information from the Company and Contact respectively), however you may also fill out any additional detail now or afterwards.
Finding Your Newly Created Lead & Next Steps
With your Lead now created, navigate to the Sales tab to continue the process. You can then begin Managing that Lead through the pipeline. You've now officially begun the journey through the Business Development Pipeline and are ready for the Sales Pipeline! Get started with more on our Sales pipeline below in the "What's Next" section.
What's Next?
Looking for even more sales? We have you covered!