5 Numbers Every Sales Pro Needs to Know
Picture this: It’s the last day of the month and you just realized you’re not going to hit your monthly quota. What happened?
Less demand for your product or service? Continued slow to see businesses come back to the office? Seasonal dip in business?
We’ve all been there, missing our Sales goals can happen for a variety of reasons, but it doesn’t have to be a mystery if you know your numbers.
Knowing your numbers means you have a clear understanding of how all of the individual activities in your sales process (calls, videos, appointments, proposals, etc.) affect your overall sales results. Knowing your numbers allows you to break down your larger sales goal into smaller steps that feel less daunting and more doable.
For example, if you know, on average, it takes 6 calls to get 1 appointment, you won’t feel so overwhelmed as you work towards your goal because you’ll know exactly how much time and effort you need to put in to get one appointment.
Knowing your numbers also helps you catch very quickly if you’re off track. Using the same example as above, if you typically have a 6:1 call to appointment ratio but all of sudden you hit a three-week stint where it’s taking you sixteen calls to get one appointment, then you know something is off.
With a clear understanding of your numbers, you’re able to spot patterns in your sales performance, for better or worse, so you can more accurately determine what could be influencing the changes and what you need to do to adjust.
What numbers should you be tracking? Here are 5 numbers you need to know to consistently hit your sales goals and set yourself up for ongoing success:
If you already know these numbers, great! You’re ahead of the game. If you don’t, now is the time to sit down and identify these 5 numbers. If you’re using a CRM, like Salesforce.com or HubSpot, then you can tap into your opportunity and account history to spot trends that will help you determine your numbers.
Don’t be fooled though, selling isn’t only a numbers game. Selling is a balance between quantity and quality. It’s activity x efficiency.
If you’re focused on quantity over quality, you may have a lot of activity but you’re not going to be that efficient. If you’re focused on quality over quantity, you’re efficient but may not have the level of activity needed to fill your pipeline with enough opportunities to avoid the ups and downs of selling.
If we break down number five on the list, how long it takes to set one appointment, we can see that quantity, quality, and activity x efficiency come into play.
You can see this in action by taking this simple challenge I have for you: Set yourself a timer and see how long it takes you to set one appointment.
This exercise hits on quantity (time and number of dials it takes to set one appointment), quality (who you’re calling), and activity x efficiency (focused on one activity with a dedicated goal and timeframe to complete).
I just had a client who conducted this exercise with 60 of their sales professionals. There were three teams of twenty people who were given 20-minutes to set as many appointments as they could. The three teams set a total of 64 total appointments! That took 282 calls to get the 64 appointments with just under a 5:1 calling ratio.
Take the challenge for yourself and keep these three tips in mind to make the most of your time:
Knowing your numbers isn’t just about understanding how many dials it takes to get an appointment, it’s about looking at the bigger picture of your sales process and determining what you need to track and measure to help you keep a pulse on your performance.
Selling is a delicate balance. It requires keeping an eye on the quality and quantity of your activities as well as how your activity x efficiency level will deliver the results you’re looking for.
Good selling to you!
Do you need training? Contact us for a free consultation.
Email: marisa@methodsnmotion.com
Phone: 678-574-6072
