Pipeline acceleration, on the other hand, demands full joint sales and marketing involvement, commitment, alignment and participation from beginning to end. When it comes to pipeline acceleration, we at SiriusDecisions talk of three core areas, or pipeline zone-focused programs. These are:

• Rapid-entry. Periodic efforts to fill the top of the pipeline with highly targeted, pre-qualified leads that have a much greater propensity to qualify through to stage one status.
• Intra-pipeline. The creation of pinpointed offers and sales enablement assets designed to keep current opportunities moving on a trajectory toward close. Intra-pipeline efforts kick in once an opportunity has been assigned a monetary value and anticipated close date.
• Last-mile. Offers designed to drive positive interactions with late-stage opportunities that when combined can provide a push across the closing finish line.