How long is your sales funnel?

In a recent discussion with a mortgage broker, he told me that he is making a good income, but he couldn't predict his revenues more than 3 month out.  This makes it difficult for him to plan.
In questioning him further on his sources of prospects, I found that although he has a good understanding of where his prospects come from and how to nurture them, he has no process for nurturing them.  So although he knows the type of prospect he is looking for, he doesn't track what makes him successful at nurturing and turning that prospect into a customer.
This is a common issue for most small business people.  Their focus is on today and making today's transaction successful.  They have no time to focus on future prospects.  They are too busy handling today's issues.
In this specific situation, the solution is to outline what it takes to turn that prospect into a customer.  The business knows what the actions are.  The problem is that they are too busy handling today.  The solution is simple:

1. Define the actions.
2. Define how you would measure the outcomes (How do you know that the prospect has changed stages?)
3. Outsource the activities to a virtual admin (This includes the measurements).  With a few simple activities, the cost will not be high.
4. Monitor the results.

This will take some time to develop the plan.  The monitoring will take only a few minutes a week.  Every new contact needs to be classified into the stage that they are at as they come in.
This process will help you to develop and extend your capacity, your number of prospects and sales and increase the revenue stream.