Opportunity Management System

opportunity management process

All organizations spend money and effort on generating leads. However, leads do not result in conversions until they make successful deals. The critical stage between capturing a lead and closing a deal is known as a sales opportunity.

Simply put, when a lead moves down the sales pipeline, it becomes an opportunity. Opportunity management is the process of monitoring all possible leads that can convert positively across the sales funnel.

Effective and structured sales opportunity management is vital for all kinds of businesses. You can track potential customers' movements and take the right actions to convert them to recurring revenue streams.

Opportunity management is a multi-faceted approach and has to be done right. Since most businesses have deals at various stages in the sales pipeline, it is challenging to gather real-time information about live opportunities. The opportunity management process gives you complete visibility into your sales pipeline to not miss out on potential loyal customers!

Why Does Sales Opportunity Management Matter for Businesses?

Sales opportunity management can help you track sales as they occur in real-time and move down the pipeline. You get to exert selling efforts on opportunities that have the potential to convert to paying customers. You can evaluate risk factors and avoid wasting time on lost deals. Opportunity management can enable you to:

Understand potential buyer's and their unique requirements

Uncover risks at the initial stage of the sales pipeline

Monitor deal progress

Develop effective business proposals and close deals with valid contracts

Map out relationships with customers at every stage of the sales pipeline

Opportunity Management Process

An opportunity is a foundation for every possible sale. The opportunity management process is a sequential set of steps that can help you manage opportunities at every stage of the sales pipeline. It ensures that you track every viable sale opportunity and close deals quickly. Here are the steps of the opportunity management process:

Sales Initiation

Convert leads to opportunities by understanding your client's timeframe, budget, and needs. An opportunity is more complex and has a longer sales project lifecycle than a lead. Identify if the potential for a deal exists by checking if the prospect has a genuine need for your products or services.

Qualification

The qualifying stage will help you decide whether an opportunity needs you to invest time, money, and resources. If yes, you move the deal to the next step in the pipeline and focus efforts on conversion.

Proposal

Leverage the data gathered in the lead generation stage to make a personalized offer. Prepare a detailed proposal with pricing and attach any documents linked to the deal. Keep the proposal brief and straightforward so that leads can get to know the terms and conditions quickly.

Contract

Close the deal by ensuring both parties sign a legally binding contract—follow-up with customers to maintain long-term relationships and drive recurring revenues.

Opportunity Management in CRM

Many organizations are using a specialized CRM system to manage their opportunity pipeline. An online customer relationship management software can help you streamline sales, marketing, and support processes. Automation features bring visibility at every stage of the sales funnel and enable you to track opportunities efficiently.

Sales professionals get real-time information about prospects at their fingertips. CRM software can carry opportunities down the pipeline, right from the introduction to closure. Opportunity management in CRM will let you:

  • Capture information about opportunities from multiple channels
  • Monitor the effectiveness of each step in the sales pipeline
  • Prioritize opportunities to spend time on ones that have the potential to convert
  • Manage sales cycle history and automate workflow processes such as follow-ups
  • Create and send quotes and proposals through email to prospects for a quick response
  • Generate graphical reports with detailed metrics to know what is working right while managing opportunities

Best Practices of Opportunity Management

Customer relationship management software can ensure you go beyond managing sales, marketing, and support activities in a single window. It is an all-inclusive solution that will help you get the most out of every sales opportunity.

Your sales team may lose focus and neglect winning principles while working on multiple opportunities simultaneously. Automated opportunity management processes through CRM systems will pave the path for quick deal closure and tip the scale in your favor. Here are some best practices to follow for seamless opportunity management:

Shorten the Sales Cycle Length

CRM software can help you reduce the length of your sales cycle by closing the gap between follow-ups. Map out your optimal sales cycle time to stay on top of opportunities and mitigate painful delays in deal closures.

Maintain Interactive Sales Funnel Visibility

CRM software can empower you to visualize the sales pipeline through accurate forecasting. It gives you a bird’s eye view of opportunity status so that you can make the right decisions at the right time.

Automate Workflow Processes

You can easily automate all critical sales activities with specialized CRM software. This helps you to transition opportunities down the sales pipeline without any problems. Auto-assign tasks to sales team members, trigger actions and set follow-ups to save valuable time.

Maintain Consistent Communication

You need to deliver a clear and consistent message to prospects giving them a unique value proposition. CRM systems can help you schedule follow-ups and appointments with opportunities. This enables you to forge long-term relationships and maximize conversions.

Create Actionable Guides and Checklists

Maintain actionable guides and checklists to manage each sales cycle stage. CRM software can help you store, edit, and classify deal-related documents at a unified repository. Stay organized and keep track of prospect interaction at every stage for a streamlined opportunity management process.

Generate Graphical Reports for Detailed Analysis

Invest time in generating key sales data that can help you maximize lead conversion. Pre-built dashboards will give you real-time visibility to how well your deals are going. Receive instant notifications when opportunities need attention to move them to the finish line faster.

Opportunity Management in Vtiger CRM

Vtiger CRM comes with a number of Opportunity (Deal) Management features that simplify your sales process. With our Opportunity Management module otherwise referred to as Deal Management, you can:

Easily organize and manage opportunities using Pipelines and Sales Stages. You can display required data and customize your view using filters.

Use Kanban View to display and manage opportunities in a visually appealing manner. Use the Summary View to examine every touchpoint, such as email, chat, etc., to gather essential insights.

Maximize sales by assigning deals to star sales performers.

Create a quote directly from a deal record and save time and effort by accessing details about the deal.

Automate repetitive tasks such as approvals and workflow and boost productivity.

Create pipelines, custom stages, and personalize views depending on your business needs. Save and share customized views across various teams for better coordination.

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