Your project based company’s pipeline is invaluable for your growth, so managing it properly should be high priority. With everything else in your enterprise that needs organization, however, how do you make sure your pipeline gets the attention it deserves? Some organizations may struggle with dedicating enough people, resources, and time to closely monitoring their pipeline, which means they miss out on gaining valuable insights that they can use to vastly improve their sales. If this describes your organization, you could benefit greatly from pipeline management software. In this blog, we will explain the benefits of using pipeline software as well has how to find the right tool for your business.

Why Use Pipeline Management Software?

How exactly can pipeline management software help? Being able to measure your pipeline health will give you a depth of insight that only few companies enjoy. This insight will help to understand the past, current standing, and a view into the long-range forecast. Having real-time reports and dashboards gives all stakeholders actionable information to make decisions for their role and level in the business.

What Features Should a Pipeline Management Tool Have?

Keep in mind that not all pipeline management software will give you the features and data that you need. Shopping around requires a keen eye and strong understanding of what characteristics will most benefit your organization. Although no two companies have the exact same needs, a pipeline management tool that serves as a good one-size-fits-all solution will be able to do the following:

• The tool is 100% integrated with the project based ERP system you select
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM): track your customer interactions
• Contact categorization for easy reference (decision maker, geographic location, golf buddy, etc.)
• Workflow optimization, assigning tasks and providing notification
• Opportunity tracking by phase
• Easy-to-use reporting, dashboards, and metrics to direct business decisions
• Real-time data
• Project notes and code fields for unparalleled analytics
• Resource demand planning with both current and TBD resources
• Ability to shift forecasts to the right or left
• Ability to make POA adjustments as opportunities move through the funnel
• One-click transformations from proposal project to an executable project
• Cloud based system so there is 24/7/365 access to your information

Important Pipeline Management Metrics to Look for

In addition to the above key characteristics, an efficient pipeline management tool will have valuable metrics that allow you to take your pipeline management even further. With these metrics, you can pay attention to crucial details that may make all the difference between a Closed Won or Closed Lost.

• Pipeline Snapshots (comparing the pipeline to the same time last year, quarter, month)
• Bid to Win Ratio = # of bids/# of wins
• Bid to Loss Ratio = # of bids/# of losses
• Length of the sales process = number of days from identification to contract award
• Phase statistics—what types of opportunities are in each phase, customer, etc.
• Labor Utilization
• Skill Set Utilization
• Revenue targets by region, portfolio, customer etc.
• Rate analysis by year
• Forecast comparisons utilizing POA or other % forecasting methodology

Gain Real-Time Visibility of Your Pipeline with Unanet's Pipeline Management Software

The health of your pipeline correlates to the health of your business, so why take any chances when it comes to your pipeline management tool? Unanet is an all-in-one ERP software for project based organizations. Our Pipeline Management and Customer Relationship Management software is designed to provide your business the real-time data and analytics it needs to keep on top of your prospects and branch into new market territory.

To learn more about the benefits of ERP software for not only your pipeline but your entire business, download our ebook. Or if, you want to test-drive Unanet for yourself, contact our sales team.