A small business owner uses a search engine to compare insurance plans for her employees. She doesn’t realize it, but she just entered the Acquisition Pipeline.

A technical engineer responds to an online survey about his changing software needs. He is already moving through the Acquisition Pipeline.

A young couple requests a brochure and uses it to help select a new cellular phone provider. They are nearing the end of the Acquisition Pipeline.

These examples represent three distinctly different scenarios, each with highly individual prospects in separate stages of the decision making process. But they all have a common thread, because each of the prospects is being moved along the Acquisition Pipeline on the way toward becoming a satisfied customer.

So what precisely defines the Acquisition Pipeline? How does this powerful conduit work? And above all, how can you leverage it to expand your customer base?

To answer those questions, let’s begin with a high-level overview of the Acquisition Pipeline.

As the name indicates, the Acquisition Pipeline is actually a sales funnel. Used effectively, it allows you to steadily migrate prospects from the initial Targeted Awareness stage through a number of other key stages until they are converted into customers. The Acquisition Pipeline can also be employed for both business customers and consumers, and it is applicable at any stage of the decision-making process.

However, utilizing the Acquisition Pipeline never involves a one-shot, cookie cutter approach. The potential variables involved are simply too great.