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The benefits of a good sales funnel are numerous. A well-maintained, efficient funnel can help companies increase lead flow and revenue without increasing costs by ensuring that the right leads are sent to the right reps.

But how do you run a better funnel? How do you ensure that leads are getting routed to the right people and that opportunities are still being adequately nurtured? When it comes to running your sales process efficiently, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Each company is different; however, here are some best practices for running a better sales funnel with Salesforce.

1. Know Which Leads are Hot

The success of your funnel depends on ensuring that you always have a healthy flow of leads coming to the top. While this means getting your marketing team to keep producing high-quality content, it also means making sure they know when to stop. The last thing a funnel need is a steady stream of low-quality leads sent to the top of the funnel, clogging the works and preventing good leads from getting through.

The best way to do this is by using lead scoring within Salesforce. This allows managers to track which reps are closing and which deals while also giving marketing a clear idea of whom they should reach out to with their content.

2. Maintain a Healthy Balance at the Bottom of the Funnel

At the same time, it's vital to ensure that leads don't get bottlenecked in the middle of your funnel before they ever reach your top reps. This is where lead care comes in: with educational and thought leadership pieces, middle-of-the-funnel leads can be exposed to relevant content and nurtured until they are ready for a call.

The key here is to make sure that your piece of educational content appeals both to the lead's pain points and interests while also fitting into your overall funnel strategy.

3. Remember that Velocity Matters

While it's essential to keep track of the type of content your leads are consuming, it's equally important to ensure that lead velocity is up across your entire funnel. The point of a well-kept funnel is not just getting more leads into the top but ensuring that good leads are constantly moving forward.

The best way to do this is by working lead speed reporting in your KPIs using Salesforce applications. With these reports in hand, you'll be able to see how many leads are getting through each step of your funnel and where bottlenecks might be cropping up.

4. Learn to Use the Power of Leads

With all that in mind, it is also important to remember that lead scoring and speed reports only give managers a high-level look at how their team is performing. While they can tell you which reps are closing deals and which ones aren't, there's no natural way to see how individual leads are interacting with your agents.

To overcome this, a manager should take the time to learn how to use lead lists in Salesforce. These reports allow them to track which of their reps is working on which deals and then use that information to manage high-performing teams better.

5. Reap the Full Benefits of a Sales Funnel

With all these tips in mind, managers can better understand running a sales funnel with Salesforce. While the process may seem daunting at first, keeping track of the lead speed and nurturing a healthy flow of leads through your team will ultimately pay off for both marketing and sales.