There seems to be a new cliché among sales trainers these days and that cliché is: “Sales isn’t a numbers game.” I believe most sales trainers are saying that for shock effect and to sound different and controversial. I also believe they are saying that because they think that’s what salespeople want to hear. The reality, and what salespeople need to hear, is that sales is and always will be a numbers game. It’s simple, the more people you talk to, the more business you will do, even a blind pig finds corn. In other words, if you talk to enough people you’ll eventually bump into someone who is looking for exactly what you have. Now granted, you have to have quality behind the numbers, but assuming you’re talking to the right people the right way, it’s all about the numbers. Talking to a large number of people means a large amount of business, talking to a small number of people means a small amount of business.
Following are 6 ways to make the numbers work for you.
1) Set goals.
How many calls are you going to make, how many presentations, how many sales? The most effective way to do this is to work backwards. Start with the total number of sales you want to make for the year, then break that down to monthly, weekly, and daily numbers. Next, based upon the averages, how many leads do you need to make your sales numbers? Now how many people do you need to talk to in order to get those leads? Finally, how many calls do you need to make to talk to that number of people?
If you’re not sure of the numbers you need in each area, talk to your manager and other salespeople, or take an educated guess. Just start somewhere.
2) Track your numbers.
Have a sheet of paper in which you keep count of your cold calls, follow-up calls, presentations, etc. You don’t have to be fancy here, just mark them down so you know what your numbers are at the end of the day.
3) Keep track of what happens on each call.
For example, if you made ten cold calls, perhaps two weren’t there, two you didn’t get in to see, two weren’t qualified, two weren’t interested, and you got two leads.
4) Get some reasons behind the numbers.
When will the two people be there? Why didn’t you get in to see the two prospects? Why didn’t the two qualify? Why weren’t the two interested? Why were the two leads you did get interested?
5) Analyze the information.
From the above pieces of information, you will start to recognize patterns and areas of the sales process that need work. For example, are you making your cold calls at the right time of day? Are you effectively handling the gatekeeper? Are you calling a qualified list? Are you building sufficient interest? What are you doing right on the leads you do get?
What about your presentations or sales calls? What happened on each call? Did you close the sale? Did you lose the sale because the person got cold feet or didn’t qualify for financing? Did you get an objection you couldn’t overcome and you have to return?
What does that information tell you? Did you not build enough urgency? Was the person not really an interested lead? Did you fail to properly qualify the prospect? What are you doing right and what do you need to work on?
Save these numbers in a log book so you can come back to them later to review and look for trends. This will give you some ideas as to what you need to improve in order to make more sales. Also, take the results to your manager and the top salespeople in your company, get their feedback, and then work on your weak areas.
6) Adjust the numbers if necessary.
If you find you are not reaching your sales goals, adjust your numbers accordingly. Continue to tweak the numbers until you’re where you want to be.
Running your sales business by the numbers will add some certainty to your career. The one element you have complete control over is your activity: the number of people you call on and reach out to on a daily basis. Use the 6 tips above to have more success and make more sales and remember: if you take care of your sales numbers, your sales numbers will take care of you.
John Chapin’s specialty is helping salespeople and sales teams double sales in 12 months. He is an award-winning sales speaker, trainer and coach, a number one sales rep in three industries, and the primary author of the gold-medal winning “Sales Encyclopedia”. In his 24 years of sales, customer service and management experience, he has sold in some of the toughest markets and economies.
If you would like access to John’s free white paper on what it takes to be successful in sales along with a monthly newsletter, you can visit John’s website at https://www.completeselling.com For permission to reprint, or to reach John, email him at johnchapin@completeselling.com.
