In order to increase levels of sales we need to be able to identify what works for us so we can focus our time into activities that raise our levels of productivity and increase sales.
This simply means that we need to understand what we need to do more of, and in the same vein recognise what does not work. All prospects will have differing needs and all sales activities will evolve with different results, but if we can establish some statistics of what works for whom, and in what market sector we are in a much stronger position to build on our own success; it is about tracking your sales funnel.
The first stage of tracking is creating awareness of sales practices and behaviours and monitoring how and where they fit in your sales cycle and precisely what you need to do to improve the level of sales you are recording. It also includes tracing the results of other marketing tools and what has created positive results, the formation or development of your CRM system and how it is being used, and the analysis of what’s happening as you meet with your prospective customers.
So, we need to examine all the activities we undertake during each step of the sales process and identify how it fits with our customer journeys. It will begin right at the start with initial contacts; gaining an understanding of where leads come from and how they were generated, how many there were and what were the focal points of interest. How were these leads qualified, and how many meetings were booked.
What happened at these meetings, how many created those important second meetings, and how many resulted in you or your sales team creating the opportunity to actually deliver a presentation of your products or services. The tracking of all these activities must continue right through to the number of sales made and should include those which created future opportunities with dates and times to re-approach and follow up. This last step of the sales process is an area often overlooked because it is not an immediate opportunity. Always monitor and track your follow up procedures because time passes quickly, and you need to ensure you know the precise times to reconnect.
Tracking enables us to address our customers key needs and make sure that we deliver the right messages at the most appropriate stage of the sales process.
Reinforcing the process of tracking sales funnels is the introduction of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) so reviewing what you have in place would be a useful exercise. This will improve the performance of sales teams and will add value to the journey through clearly defined benchmarking. They are great for teamwork and shared learning and will help support and manage in a positive and meaningful way.
These activities need to be recorded and used to establish your ratios of success in sales; you will create awareness of the average value of your sales and how many sales you need to reach your target. You will establish evolving trends both in the marketplace and within your own specific sectors, and it will also help you to forecast your sales and add value to your sales plans.
The feedback we gain from monitoring our sales activities creates this sales funnel and provides great insights and learning curves for all those involved in sales and customer service. Whether good or bad all feedback is important and should be used to improve the ways in which sales teams work. Without this information you will find it difficult to increase your level of sales, because it is the tracking of this that ensures we allocate sales resources in the best and most productive areas.
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