Have you mapped out your customer journey?

THE QUESTIONS

How do you evaluate your pipeline? How do you manage it? How do you predict your income?

If you are in sales or lead a sales team or organization, you likely have a process to evaluate and grow your pipeline.

What does the current picture tell you? Are you in a good position? Are you delivering value to stakeholders? Are you maximizing your potential and serving enough people? Does the future look bright or bleak?

And, what are you doing about it?

THE QUOTE

“What gets measured gets managed. What gets managed gets prioritized. What gets prioritized drives results.”

It’s challenging to know who’s winning or losing without a scoreboard. If you’re operating a business, measuring results seems obvious. But what about the leading indicators? Are you tracking the daily, weekly, and monthly actions that drive results for yourself and your team? Do you have a crystal clear picture of what your pipeline looks like and how it will translate into future business?

THE STORY: THE REAL ESTATE BROKER’S EGO

Jane (name changed) sat across the desk and wouldn’t stop talking. She was sent to me because she needed help recruiting experienced sales professionals—something I’m highly skilled at. In this case, though, she didn’t know she needed help, nor did she make the decision to come see me. Her superiors did.

After asking a series of questions, a few things became clear. There were aspects of her leadership role where she excelled: deal doctoring, nurturing newer agents into early successes, running good sales meetings. She was a nice person. She enjoyed these things, and therefore did them well.

What she didn’t enjoy was recruiting. And her results were poor. I knew it before I even saw the numbers. How?

The more someone talks when asked a direct question, the less they’re doing the thing they know they ought to be doing.

Me: “How many recruits did you speak with last week and how many appointments did you conduct?”

Her: “Well, I called Julie who is with XYZ Real Estate, she’s getting closer to joining us but her mom just went into the hospital. She’d be so good and I think she would really fit in with the team. The last time we spoke she said the funniest thing…” Blah blah blah.

Here’s what I want to hear: “I made 30 attempted contacts, spoke with 15 people, visited 2 open houses, and set 2 appointments.”

This is the person doing the right things. Saying less = did more.

Back to Jane. In my newsletter intro this month (Subscribe here), I mention areas where people get stuck:

A matter of fear
A matter of limited energy
A matter of bad prioritization
A matter of laziness
A matter of distraction

And I added one: A matter of ego.

Often there’s a combination of these, and Jane had a blend of fear, prioritization, and ego. Not to worry—we can work through this most of the time. How do I know? I’ve done it and still battle to get better each day.

It’s easy to tell when ego is involved. I see it often when we get to the discussion of solutions. My main strategy is to pull answers from the person I’m coaching. If that doesn’t work or I’m getting answers that aren’t aligned with the goal, I’ll offer some options as suggestions. If ego is involved, I usually hear:

“Oh yeah, I already do that.”

“I’ve tried that in the past and it didn’t work because ____________.”

And then the person tries to impress me with what they know and do.

“This isn’t a contest. I’m here to help,” I tell her.

THE HUMOR

I’ve told this story before, but it speaks to my ego, which I battle often.

I was once asked to give a eulogy for a flawed but interesting man on my wife’s side of the family. On the three-hour drive to South Florida, God spoke to me through the lyrics of Matthew West’s song “Forgiveness,” and I knew there were people in that room who needed to hear those words to heal some wounds. I found the perfect place in my eulogy to insert these powerful, convicting lyrics, certain this was a divine appointment.

So there I was in front of 100 people, reaching the emotional climax as I delivered these lyrics about forgiveness, tearing up and expecting the room to be on this journey with me. Instead, everyone burst into loud belly laughs. I was mortified and confused, but I powered through. Afterward, my wife explained: Someone had forgotten to turn off the photo slideshow behind me, and at the exact moment I began reading the forgiveness lyrics, a picture appeared on the screen of the deceased extending his middle finger to the entire room—as if saying, “I got your ‘Forgiveness’ right here!”

The takeaway? Things aren’t always as they seem, and it’s not always about me! Or you! Let’s keep our egos in check so we can be better leaders.

THE RESEARCH: 4 DISCIPLINES OF EXECUTION

As we shift from problem to solution, let me be clear: There are different ways to get results. One big part of the problem is we can fool ourselves into thinking we’re productive with a busy calendar, and often good results can mask underlying problems. What I’m going to give you next leaves no room for hiding. The present and the future are clearly expressed.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)
By Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling

Core Premise
Most strategies fail not because they’re bad, but because they’re never executed. The gap between strategy and execution is caused by the “whirlwind”—the urgent daily operations that consume all our energy and attention. The 4 Disciplines provide a framework to execute strategic goals while managing day-to-day chaos.

The 4 Disciplines

Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) – The “Lack of prioritization” crusher

Narrow your focus to 1-2 goals that will make the biggest difference
More goals = diluted focus and effort
“If everything is important, nothing is important”
The more you try to do, the less you actually accomplish

Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures – The “Fear” crusher

Lead measures are predictive and influenceable (what you can control; removes fear of the unknown)
Lag measures are historical results (what you want to achieve)
Example: Lag = recruits hired per month; Lead = number of contacts and appointments
Focus on activities that drive results, not just the results themselves

Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard – The “Ego” crusher

People play differently when they’re keeping score—and if done properly, there’s nowhere to hide
Must be simple, visible, and show lead & lag measures
Team members must be able to tell at a glance if they’re winning
Creates engagement and ownership

Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability – Brings it all together

Coaching sessions (30-45 minutes, 2x per month) and weekly email check-ins
Team members report: commitments made last week, results achieved, commitments for next week
Holds each person accountable to move the lead measures
Creates rhythm and momentum

Key Research Findings

On Lead vs. Lag Measures:

87% of leaders cannot name their organization’s top goals
Most organizations track only lag measures (results after the fact)
Lead measures must be both predictive AND influenceable to be effective

On Scoreboards:

When employees are asked “Do you know if you’re winning at work?” most answer no
Complex, consultant-designed scoreboards fail because team members don’t own them
Player-designed scoreboards create 3-4x more engagement
Visibility drives behavior change—what’s measured and displayed gets done

On Accountability:

Without regular accountability, 70% of goals fail
Weekly cadence creates 3x more follow-through than monthly
Commitments made publicly to the team have 85% completion rate vs. 30% for private commitments

On Execution vs. Strategy:

The #1 challenge facing organizations is not strategy, it’s execution
70% of strategic initiatives fail due to poor execution, not poor strategy
Leaders spend vast amounts of time on strategy and almost none on execution discipline
The whirlwind will always consume the urgent at the expense of the important

THE SOLUTION: CREATE THE RIGHT SCOREBOARD FOR YOUR LEADING INDICATORS

Fear and prioritization are easier to work through than ego, which is more ingrained. Let’s explore some options that might help level-set all three:

Option 1: Keep doing what you are doing.
Stay in your comfort zone. For now. Continue to underperform. Get fired or watch your income whittle down from attrition.

Option 2: Use grit and grind it out.
Just start doing the thing you know you should be doing in the appropriate quantity. This “Just do it” approach can actually work for some when we introduce accountability into the equation.

Option 3: Try something new.
I’m going to give you an example. One key point: this is a generic version of an exercise I go through with clients. This is the template. The key is that the client drives the final version—the “player-designed scoreboard” concept.

Daily example (KISS version, we have more complex trackers for the detailed):

Weekly roll-up to pipeline:

Not only does this give you an accurate picture of the leading indicators of your business, it allows you at a glance to see the client experience, activities, and success metrics associated with each step. If you like paper, print it out. If you’re working for a company with a tech stack that ties this together, perfect—that makes it easier to manage. If not, we can use AI to build a spreadsheet that works for you and link to the various components.

What matters is that we have more time to focus on the key actions that make the difference. This is on the sales side she can use with her agents; we also do one on the recruiting side for her.Want the full example? Email me “PIPELINE” at [email protected].

THE POINT

If you can’t see where you are, you can’t get where you’re going.

A compelling scoreboard doesn’t just track results—it reveals truth. It strips away the busy work, the excuses, and the ego. It shows you exactly what’s driving your business forward and what’s holding you back.

The leaders and salespeople who win aren’t guessing. They’re measuring. They’re managing. They’re prioritizing the actions that matter most.

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. And you can’t improve what you won’t face.

The question isn’t whether you need a better pipeline management system. The question is: What is your current system costing you right now?

FINAL THOUGHT

What’s your scoreboard showing you right now?

If you don’t have one, you’re flying blind. If you have one but aren’t using it, you’re lying to yourself. And if you’re tracking the wrong things, you’re working hard toward the wrong results.

Let’s build a pipeline management system that tells the truth—and drives the results you actually want.

Ready to see clearly? Reach out.

Want to go deeper? I work with leaders, entrepreneurs, salespeople, and marketing professionals who are ready to improve performance. If you’re serious about implementing systems that actually stick, let’s talk.

Email me: [email protected]

Or schedule time using Calendar function here: Contact Us – Momentors Business and Life Coaching

Let’s go!