Let’s take a moment to reflect on the sales funnel. It’s handy as a metaphor (or maybe an analogy, I often get those confused) that paints a mental picture of your sales process, and where your clients and prospective clients are at in their transaction cycles.

I like using it because it recognizes that the sales process is not always a straight line from “greetings” to “SOLD!” Various factors will shorten or elongate the cycle. Visualizing where each client, deal or prospect are in the cycle allows you to ensure your follow-up is on point. No less important, when your boss asks you what you’re working on you can show them.

Think of the upper portion of the funnel as the entrance: New leads coming your way enter your life here. Now you need to properly qualify them: get to know them, their needs, and their timeline. Occasionally, leads are so immediate that they’re a slam dunk straight to making the sale. But that’s the exception. Most leads need to be nurtured. Maybe they have a lot of questions that need to be answered, maybe there’s a date on the calendar by which they need to make a decision. Everyone has their reasons, and you need to know what they are to deal with them appropriately.

As the prospect gets closer to making a final decision they move further down your funnel, as it narrows. You’re doing your job: providing them with the information they need to reach a decision, and regular contact so that they don’t forget about you.

Now’s a good time to mention that the outcome of the sales funnel isn’t preordained. Not every prospect is going to move in a straight line to a sale. Some will move up and down the funnel, alternating between coming closer to closing to further away. Some will vanish entirely and you’ll never hear from them again.

Many of the reasons for that may be beyond your control. But regular contact and communication is something within your control that will minimize that

Now something that I hadn’t really thought about until recently is how much my sales funnels depend on the sales funnels of my dealers.

I have my own funnel in terms of new business development, and companies I reach out to in order to gain new dealers. But I’ve got another funnel that is fed by the sales funnels of my dealers.

Their sales teams are working on their own clients and prospects, trying to close deals. Those deals directly impact my sales results, since it’s the brands I rep to my dealers that they’re selling to their clients. I know when my dealers are working on big deals because they reach out to me asking about inventory and timelines to fulfill.

It’s a two-way street: I’m helping them make a sale so that I can make a sale to them. Like saying “Mi casa es tu casa,” except that it’s “mi funnel es tu funnel.”