From Lead To Sale - Do You Know Your Numbers?
How many lists must you acquire or impressions must you make to engage someone? How many people must you engage to qualify a need? How many qualified opportunities must you cultivate to write a proposal?
How many proposals must you write to close a sale?
This is the science of sales! And, along with its integration with the marketing process, it is paramount to your understanding of the health of your pipeline. There are many things that contribute to the success of sales and marketing, but arguably one of the most important principles, especially in a tight, competitive market environment, is the close management of the PIPELINE.
Systematically managing the sales pipeline allows:
The key to successfully building and forecasting your sales pipeline is twofold:
1) PROCESS: Not all sales people are rainmakers. In fact only 20% of the sales population possess the intuition and luck to make things just happen. And with these sales personalities, your best bet is to let them "do their thing" with some management to make sure your goals are met and image maintained. The remaining 80%, however, are most successful when they follow a specific sales process that details steps along the way and the tools to use at each step.
For each phase of the sales process, you want to begin tracking actual numbers. Over time you will understand your ratios, and therefore more accurately forecast your sales. Start with your close ratio. It's the most tangible measurement to track. How many proposals have you written in the last 6-months and how many have you won? Then work back from there. How many people did you talk to about a project, and how many led to a proposal, and so forth. In the meantime, consider some averages I find work well in the place of your actual company-specific metrics: Prospect 0%, Lead 10%, Assess 30%, Proposal 50%, Close 90%.
2) SYSTEMS: In order to manage and measure the pipeline, you must have a system in place to track your opportunities. There are many software packages available, including the most sophisticated of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solutions. Many of your homegrown systems can also be modified to include sales process tracking. Still, if you need to get started and don't have the ability to integrate a software package with your sales and marketing database right away, start with a basic spreadsheet.
Pipeline management can be a complicated process to get started, and the discipline to keep it current is difficult to adhere to. The rewards, however, far outweigh the effort. They not only mean more sales, they mean more of the right kind of sales.
Go-To-Market Strategies is a resource center for sales and marketing professionals and business leaders. Our tools, templates, and services help companies achieve big aspirations with limited budgets. More articles and resources available at http://www.gtms-inc.com
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
Added: May 24, 2008
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