Michael Schell

Increase B2B Sales by Managing Your Prospecting and Sales Ratios S



Posted: Friday, March 04, 2011

by Michael Schell
Thought Leader Publications & Training

I asked a six person sales team I was coaching if they knew how many sales meetings it took (on average) to generate one qualified proposal. No one knew for sure. A business owner I coached didn't record the stats from her direct mail campaigns. She always made a few sales so she just kept it going. (But at what cost?). A manager of a small B2B call-center I met didn't know how many decision-maker conversations it took (on average) to set one appointment. (It's different with every caller he said...). Not-Working.com! Management guru Dr. Peter Drucker said, "What gets measured gets managed." Want to avoid sales mediocrity? Then track your numbers and improve your ratios. If you're responsible for generating new business, start by looking at a meaningful number worth tracking...your desired income. As a salesperson, what's your annual income goal? Let's say your goal is to earn $84,000 a year ($7,000.00 per month). To figure out how to do that, work your ratios backwards as follows. On average:

And there you have it. Schedule X dials a week and you're on plan. A "Dial" means:

You can't control how many decision-makers (prospects) you connect with, but if you make the dials and have an effective introductory call process, the decision-maker conversations and appointments will come. The number of dials you make per week is completely in your control. The key is knowing how many you need to make each week and scheduling them. Let's review:

Michael Schell, President of Thought Leader Publications, is a speaker, sales trainer & 5-time author. (Winning Sales Advice, Buyer-Approved Selling, etc).

His books are based on interviews with decision makers from companies like DuPont, Oracle & ADP. Who best to tell us how to sell than the very people we sell to?

If you want to out-communicate & out-sell the competition, visit http://www.tlp1.com for a free report: 3 Winning Sales Approaches.
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