If you walk in to just about any office with an active sales organization, you’ll see some kind of posted metrics. Big dry erase boards will have several rows and columns measuring everything from inbound calls to deals closed. Some offices even have electronic scrolling signs that update in real-time with the organization’s key metrics. Metrics, metrics, metrics! It’s what drives virtually all sales organizations.
But what about home based sales professionals? What are you measuring? I mean really measuring? If nothing, then you should consider changing that behavior soon.
Blog continued below . . .
If you like my blog, you’ll love my book, Click Send and Sell! Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Results.
If you have ever had a prospect “go dark” this book is for you. It has proven email techniques to “wake up” your prospect. While unconventional, these emails are authentic and professional, and almost always work. And , for only $3.99 you can put them to work for you today.
Also included are email techniques for following up on leads (this email typically gets a 20% response rate!) and for planning your next prospect meeting. Proven through years of use and honed for you, these emails will help you stand apart from the crowd.
The book is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.
No eReader? No problem! Click HERE to download and print the book in any format you want.
What are you waiting for? Those deals won’t wake up on their own!
Frank Bettger in his book, How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Sales, gives virtually all of the credit for his success to measuring his sales activities. And this was before spreadsheets, CRM systems, and even computers. The original copyright date of the book is 1947.
So what should you be measuring? That’s up to you, but here are some thoughts:
- Number of outbound dials.
- Number and/or value of proposals delivered.
- Net new contacts initiated.
- Number and/or value of sales closed.
- Number of appointments scheduled.
- Ongoing pipeline value.
In short, you should measure anything that, when improved, will lead to an increase in sales and help you achieve your goals.
If you don’t have an automated way to measure your activity, start with Post-it notes or a tablet. Just make sure that it’s something that stays in front of you and is easily accessible. Then just start tracking the activity. Over time you’ll notice two things; first whatever you measure will improve or increase, and second your sales will grow. It’s really that simple.
If you aren’t measuring anything now, why? If it’s not a part of your sales culture then make it a part of your personal sales culture. Start with something simple and stick with it. I can promise you that it won’t be a burden and you will see the results.
Are you someone who likes to visualize? Consider how a future conversation might transpire:
Before measuring your activities:
Manager: “So how was your week?”
You: “I had a great week. I sold a few things, and initiated some important new contacts.”
Manager: “Sounds good, better than last week?”
You: “Yeah, last week was really slow.”
After measuring your activities:
Manager: “So how was your week?”
You: “I had a great week. I sold three new accounts and up-sold four for $24,500 in new bookings. I also initiated five new contacts and that resulted in three new appointments next week.”
Manager: “Sounds good, better than last week?”
You: “Yeah, last week was really slow. I only sold three new accounts and up-sold two for $15,300 in new bookings. I only initiated three new contacts for one new appointment.”
The stark difference in these conversations comes from your willingness to measure your activity, thereby knowing exactly where you stand day-to-day or week-to-week.
What if I had painted the scenario differently? What if the first conversation was with you and the second conversation was with a colleague? Which rep came across more professional? Who seems to be taking their role more seriously? If you are looking to make a change this year, measuring your performance could be the edge that you’re looking for.
Measuring is free, it’s easy, and it is something that will improve your performance. If you don’t believe me buy Frank Bettger’s book and take his sage advice. It will serve you well.
I really like this one…This seems like common sense, but as a home based sales guy I often get caught up in the everyday hustle of returning calls, managing accounts, responding to e-mails and falling into the quagmire of "reactionary sales" I forget to measure how productive I was and the effectiveness of our efforts for the day or week. Many times I trick myself thinking I was on non-stop calls all day or received and responded 93 e-mails so I must have been productive, I worked really hard. When the reality is I am no closer to closing a deal or bringing in more reenue for this company than I was at the beginning of the day or week.
ReplyDeleteCreating metrics and having the discipline to track these can turn the reactionary sales process into a more pro-active sales approach. Keeping your sales manager happy is one benefit of being pro-active and will help from a career perspective, but having a plan to bring in more revenue and being able to measure the effectiveness of that plan via reasonable metrics is even better providing more long term benefits!!!! Great advice Sam...Creating some metrics today.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteGreat Post. I agree that measuring your productivity is a great way to maintain professionalism with your manager and could improve your overall success . However, what if your are not having a good week? How do you eloquently tell your manager that this week was not as great as last week?
Thanks! Keep posting please!
Your right on track with this blog. Keeping track of your time as it slips by is frustrating, but reconfirming success (which is the key to selling and reminding yourself of the triumphs) helps to motivate the sales person to make the next call.
ReplyDeleteProspecting, tracking your time, and knowing that you have to be accountable to yourself and your manager keeps the needle moving.