The Bottom Line Vine

How do you measure sales effectiveness?

Do you set out to measure the conversion rates from email and phone campaigns to new business?  What is the typical conversion from a phone connection to a proposal?  From proposal to new business?

Surprisingly, the numbers behind the sales effort is a complete afterthought for most organizations.  This information, no matter how redundant and tedious it may seem, is the first indication of how effective a sales member, a sales campaign, a new product launch or a new message really is at engaging new prospects.

All too often, we talk to clients who have invested years of sales effort and millions of dollars attempting to sell and market to industries and individuals that yielded no ROI.  Astonishingly, they never have the metrics to understand where the sales effort is falling short.  Often, within 60 minutes of evaluating their success metrics, it becomes clear to everyone a need to shift their focus to other verticals and industries that are yielding new sales and revenue.

Measured correctly, a sales person can gauge their success based on conversion through each piece of the sales process.  The challenge?  Most organizations are not requiring their sales reps to track this information.  Many sales directors do not want to analyze numbers and trends.  Many don’t know what best in class metrics truly are.  Sales reps are left chasing bad opportunities.

In order to be considered best in class and run an effective sales organization, a company needs to accurately measure internal sales effectiveness.  Regardless of individual sales performance, a complete understanding of conversion rates will allow sales and marketing professional to gain an understanding of what messages, sales collateral, proposals, etc., are capturing the interest of potential customers.  Sales managers and reps alike will have better information on what accounts to pursue, and more importantly, what types of accounts will never lead to new business.

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