But that's just me...

I'm an independent consultant. My current sales pipeline is a bit unusual (for me), and wanted to begin a discussion around whether I should be looking harder at what I'm doing to "cause" these anomoloies, or if this is some sort of "new normal." (I'm hating that phrase, by the way)

Briefly:

My confirmed bookings for 2012 are down about 5% from same time last year--no concern there at this early stage, just a mention--but my active sales pipeline is bigger (significantly) than it's ever been. That's unusual enough, but adding to my curiosity is that most of the likely engagements in my pipeline are smaller (like 40-50%) than my normal pipeline opportunities.

I know all about the uncertainty of final numbers, but I do have over a decade of past experience with which to compare, and this is just unusual for my world. The totality of the pipeline is very good (we'll see), but it's a bit worrisome, as more clients take more effort than fewer clients (all other things equal).

I "pushed" a little harder on my referral networks in 2011, so that could be part of it, but other than that, I'm having some difficulty accounting for both the numerical size and the dollar-value potentials.

Any thoughts? Email me with thoughts, comments, or just random ramblings...

But that's just me...