Sales Numbers ....Not Sales Results

YOU CANNOT MANAGE RESULTS, THEY HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED

Learn to analyze your sales numbers to Stay On Target Each one you track is an indicator of the skill level of your salespeople.

Don’t beat them up with the results; use them to make them better.

Which figures are we talking about?

Sales departments everywhere want to know where their business is coming from. How many customers does a salesperson have to talk to to make their quota? What is their closing ratio? How many sales calls are they making? How many phone calls? If you don't know the answers to these questions buy, develop or find a system to track these numbers. Without a system to evaluate this information you cannot find where improvement is needed.

Once you have ACCURATE figures use them as a tool. Whether you refer to customers contacts as SALES CALLS, UPS, TRAFFIC or CONTACTS they are all the same thing. How many people is your salesperson talking to? This is the first thing you need to know. Now look at what this is telling you.

It makes no difference if you track daily, weekly or monthly. Each allows the same amount of time for everyone.

Sales Calls
SALESPERSON A- 22
SALESPERSON B- 11
SALESPERSON C- 9
SALESPERSON D- 33

This will tell you whether a salesperson is truly putting forth the effort to get in front of people. Pretty simple arithmetic will tell you if they’re talking to a proportionate number of ups. If you find an unusually low figure here something is going on. They may lack confidence; they might have personal issues on their mind. Often times you will find they are considering employment elsewhere and just going through the motions until they make the move. There are lots of reasons but you must find out.


Sales Presentations
SALESPERSON A-9
SALESPERSON B- 8
SALESPERSON C- 2
SALESPERSON D- 16

Take the number of presentations and divide it by the number of calls.
Here is what you have so far.

SALESMAN A-40.9%
SALESPERSON B-72.73%
SALESPERSON C-22.22%
SALESPERSON D-48.48%

Do you have a person with a very low percentage? That is generally an indicator of either poor confidence or poor product knowledge. Telling a salesperson to give more presenations won’t do it. Find out which it is and help them improve. Knowledge and confidence go hand in hand. Without building excitement it’s hard to get the customer to say Yes. A little extra training is in order. Use Step 4 in the Road to the Sale.

Sales

SALESPERSON A-3
SALESPERSON B-5
SALESPERSON C-1
SALESPERSON D-7
Dividing sales by presentations will give you the closing ratio. Here are the results of that calculation.

SALESPERSON A-33.33%
SALESPERSON B-62.50%
SALESPERSON C-50.00%
SALESPERSON D-43.75%

Don't panic.......

There are lots of companies who sell software to track these numbers. I am not asking you to do it manually. The reason I am asking you to do it this once is so you know what the results are telling you. Once you get the concept you can analyze the numbers from whatever method you use to calculate them.

Take the information you have and lets look at each salesperson individually. These show the level of performance against the others in the group. Only you can decide what each should be based on your particular industry.

Salesperson A

• 22 Sales Calls is above the group average of 18. The presentation percentage of 40.90% is somewhat lower than average which is 46.08%. Sales of 33.33% is definitely below average. This group is running 47.39%. What do you think? Here you have a salesperson who makes their calls. The low percentage of presentation might indicate a lack of confidence. The low sales result probably confirms this. Help this person with product knowledge. That will bolster their confidence in front of the customer and improve their closing ratio.

Salesperson B

• Only 11 calls. Take a look at the presentation figure of 72.73%. That is a great number compared to the group at 46.08%. The closing ratio of 62.50% is strong. What to do with this person? GET THEM IN FRONT OF MORE PEOPLE. One of two things here. This salesperson is in their "comfort zone" and doesn't want to work any harder or they may not know how good they really are. Show them their potential earnings by calling on just a few more people. Challenge them with motivational books and ideas. This one is a keeper with your help.

Salesperson C

• 9 sales calls. Way below the average. Several issues come to mind. Personal problems, financial pressure, health issues. Maybe this is the person we spoke about who is thinking of leaving you. Something is stopping them from talking to customers, find out what it is. Then make your decision about their future employment. The interesting thing is, this person's closing ratio is 50%. This is proof you cannot look at just the numbers, you must look at them in relation to your entire group.

Salesperson D

• 33 sales calls. The most in your group. Working hard, right? But working effectively? The presentation percentage is about average. The closing ratio is definitely behind the group. You can help this person by simply slowing them down. A few less calls, made more effectively and everyone wins.

In conclusion, don't look strictly at the number of sales before deciding who your top person is. Analyze each one and use the numbers to turn your average performers to stars and your stars to superstars.

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