A pipeline generation buying guide: What it is, helpful strategies, and tools you’ll need

Doing pipeline generation right enables you target the right people and close more deals faster

Planning and executing an effective lead generation process isn’t easy, though, especially considering there are a ton of different tactics you can try.

In this guide, we share examples of pipeline generation strategies that are proven to work and a list of lead gen tools that’ll help accelerate the pace at which you add high-quality leads to your pipeline. And as an added bonus, we’ve gathered tips from experts on how to choose the right tools for generating more leads.

What is pipeline generation?

Pipeline generation, also known as lead generation, focuses on gathering leads or potential buyers that may be interested in purchasing your product or service.

The aim? To create a pipeline of leads that you can nurture and convert into paying customers.

The best pipeline generation strategy is quality-focused. Instead of filling the sales pipeline with just any leads, it emphasizes adding only targeted leads that are the most likely to convert.

Examples of high-converting pipeline generation strategies

From paid social ads to tracking customer job changes, there are lots of promising sales pipeline generation strategies. Let’s review some of the best ones to help you create a high-converting sales pipeline:

1. Launch an ABM program

Account-based marketing brings sales and marketing teams together to target specific accounts with personalized messaging.

The sales team defines the ideal customer profile (ICP) for the marketing team, which then creates content relevant to the target buyer for different stages of the sales journey. The content is then shared on different channels your ICP uses to generate high-quality, relevant leads.

2. Use sales multithreading

Sales multithreading involves building relationships with different folks within a single account instead of nurturing only one contact per account at a time.

Since decision-making about tools to invest in is no longer limited to one stakeholder, this strategy helps you close more deals faster.

The best part? You won’t need to start nurturing a new contact from a target account if your lead resigns. Instead, you’ll already be in touch with different contacts within the same target account.  

Sean Huckstep, the VP of Sales at SalesRabbit, notes this strategy helps you personalize your outreach too.

“We take an approach I like to call ‘Suspecting,’ When you have identified a company that is believed to fit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), before you reach out to the decision maker, you connect with lower-level employees to understand the company dynamic,” Huckstep explains.

“This allows you to increase the quality of your outreach to the decision maker because you are bringing commercial insight to the table based on your conversations with lower-level employees at that company.”

3. Target warm leads looking to buy your software

“At least in the B2B market for enterprise technology purchases, one of the best ways to generate pipeline for new business is to meet the buyers at the moment they are doing research for new products/services,” notes Eyal Worthalter, the Vice President of Global Solutions Sales at Ultimaco.

To this end, use intent data software to learn which prospects are looking to buy software that you sell. From there, target specific accounts using thought leadership and educational content.

But to increase your odds of adding leads to your sales pipeline, make sure this content is “not only on the company’s website and social channels but also syndicated into publications where those buyers spend time,” advises Worthalter.

4. Track customer job changes

Tracking your users’ job changes is a surefire way to generate leads and beat pipeline anxiety.

Customers who’ve previously used your product and loved it are likely to convert again. In fact, UserGems internal data confirms previous customers are 3x more likely to buy from you again at their next company.

UserGems pipeline generation software data also shows these folks are likely to spend 70% of their budget within their first 100 days of joining a new company. Reaching out to them in time will give you a leg up over competitors.

Since this is a relationship-based pipeline generation tactic, UserGems’ Director of Demand Generation, Isaac Ware, recommends you align sales and marketing teams for outreach. Ware explains:

Best pipeline generation software

Effective pipeline generation depends on using the right pipeline generation software. These tools help you: 

• Learn which prospects are looking to buy tools like yours
• Identify champions or previous (happy) customers to add to your pipeline
• Find out data for outreach and personalization, such as leads’ email addresses and possible connections with others in your company

Altogether, the right sales intelligence tools help accelerate pipeline generation, personalize outreach, and close more deals. 

With that, here are some of the best pipeline generation tools to explore:

1. UserGems

UserGems tracks customer job changes, which helps you identify warm leads to add to your sales pipeline. It also automatically adds the new leads to your CRM so reps can reach out to them right away.

2. Outreach

Outreach helps automate sales messaging workflows so you can keep prospects engaged throughout their buying process.

3. Vidyard

Vidyard is a sales prospecting tool that reps can use to send personalized outreach messages to leads. They can also use video to educate prospects about your product’s benefits and the results it can drive for them.

4. Leadfeeder

Leadfeeder gives you details about the companies visiting your website, including where they’re coming from and the pages they’re visiting. Using their demographic and behavioral filters, you can also segment and target the warmest leads.

5. HubSpot Sales Hub

HubSpot Sales Hub gives you email templates for reaching out to leads. You can also record and analyze sales call data with the tool to improve your sales process. Altogether, HubSpot Sales Hub helps you track, manage, and communicate with leads.

6. Winmo

Winmo is another notable lead generation tool that gives you data on who the decision-makers are in your target accounts. It also helps you understand your prospects’ pain points, budget, and buying behavior, which saves time in manual research.

7. ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo identifies accounts that are a good fit for your product. It also helps you track companies that are at the beginning of their buyer’s journey so you can reach out to them before your competitors do.

8. Datanyze

Datanyze gives you prospects’ contact information, such as their email addresses and mobile numbers, so you can speed up your outreach efforts.

9. Cognism

Like Datanyze, Cognism also gives you prospect information, including their email address.

10. Clearbit

Clearbit collates prospect data from 250 sources to deliver accurate information about prospects, such as their location, employee count, which tech stacks they use, revenue, and contact information, among other details.

11. Zendesk Sell

Zendesk Sell helps create targeted lists of prospects for multiple channels. It also assists you in making personalized templates to generate more leads and engage prospects better.

12. CallPage

CallPage is a click-to-call website widget that helps generate more leads. As soon as a website visitor requests a phone contact, the widget starts the calling process to connect reps with a new lead.

How to choose a pipeline generation software

Pipeline generation tools help you identify, reach out to, and nurture accounts that align with your ICP. They also help personalize outreach, save time on manual research, and speed up sales prospecting.

The question now is: how can you find the best pipeline generation software?

The first step is to look internally. Learn your team’s struggles to identify which problems need solutions. By doing so, you can better research which tool(s) are the most likely to help improve your sales process and pipeline generation.

Postal’s ABM Demand Generation Manager, Brianna Gammons, recommends you ask yourself the following questions when vetting potential pipeline generation tools:

• “How would the tool and the strategy behind it help us meet and exceed what we can accomplish today?
• How does it align with our goals at the business level (not just the demand gen level or marketing team level)?
• Do we have the internal resources to support a new tool, and what would be required to ensure its success? Internal admin, training, implementation, and initial setup.”

Next, start searching for tools that can help solve your specific problems. As you shortlist tools, study the following factors about each tool before you pick one:

1. Return on investment (ROI)

Look for both the direct and indirect ROI you can expect from a sales pipeline generation tool.

Adam D'Angelo, the SVP of Sales & Customer Success at UserGems, explains these as: “Direct ROI is how much incremental pipeline [and] sales are expected from this investment (versus status quo/current state).

[On the other hand,] indirect ROI is how (and by how much) this investment improves efficiency (team/rep, conversion rates, cost per lead/opp./win, etc.) and/or creates cost savings from overlapping technology.” 

ROI isn’t strictly tied to the revenue generated, though. Gammons advises you also need to look at: “hours saved for the team on manual tasks, increased moments you were able to wow prospects in a meaningful way, [and] meetings booked.”

This way, you’ll be able to review which tools can help you overcome your biggest challenges and reach your goals.

2. Customer reviews

Find out what other customers are saying about the tool. This will help you better understand:

• How the software integrates with other tools
• How responsive is the platform’s customer support team is
• What results have other teams achieved
• And how the business treats its current customers

3. Ease of use and time to value

It’s also crucial you look at how easy to use the tool is so you can understand how fast your team will be able to adopt it.

“Some tools are simply too complex for small teams,” notes UserGems’ Isaac Ware. “While many tools claim to automate processes, in reality, if you don’t have someone managing the platform, you won’t get your money’s worth from the tool.” 

Ultimaco’s Vice President of Global Solutions Sales, Eyal Worthalter, also adds you should consider “Time to Market/Value, how long the implementation [will take], how many resources are needed to manage it, how difficult is the integration into existing systems, etc.”

Reviewing these factors will make it easier for your team to add the tool to their daily routine quickly and without any hiccups.

4. Integrations

Lastly, explore what other tools the software is able to integrate with

The right integrations make pipeline generation software much more efficient. They also streamline your sales workflow, increase tool adoption, and team productivity.

For example, UserGems identifies your alumni customers and automatically adds them as warm leads to your Salesforce CRM — thanks to its CRM integration. As a result, reps can see who to reach out to next without having to go back and forth between tools. 

In addition to a CRM integration, though, the software you select should also integrate with your current tech stack, including your marketing automation platform. This way, reps will get an accurate picture of how accounts are interacting with the business and personalize their interactions with them to close more deals.

Close more deals with a great pipeline generation strategy

Effective pipeline generation boils down to knowing your target customers and where they spend time online.

From there, create a lead generation process to get on your potential customers’ radar — either using cold outreach or ABM campaigns.

And to accelerate pipeline generation, make sure you invest in the best tools. These help speed up prospecting, personalize outreach, and assist in closing deals faster.

Looking for a tool that will help you to maintain a healthy pipeline? Book a free demo with UserGems today.