Win More Business by Choosing the Right Sales Activities
Win More Business by Choosing the Right Sales Activities
Follow up sales activity is critical to your success if it is the right activity. The right activity is that which has the highest probability of moving prospects through your sales pipeline. If you are relying on gut instinct or other esoteric criteria to determine activity, you will win some and you will loose… a lot. On the other hand if you take a logical, systematic approach to prospecting, your sales activities will yield systematic results.
Your sales pipeline is a predictable, manageable process that starts with suspects. Suspects are companies that show some interest in you. Perhaps they email an inquiry from your web site, or request a brochure. Your high probability sales activity here is to determine if they are prospects. Prospects are companies who show some interest in you, who are in the market now for your products, and who have money to spend. Your sales activity here is to get them to ask you for a proposal. The remaining activities you know; prepare the proposal, present it and close.
Now you can improve the efficiency of your sales activities if you can figure out on average, how many suspects you need to get one prospect, and how many prospects you need to get one request for a proposal, and how many proposals you need to close one. Calculating these sales ratios helps direct your activities, keeps you motivated, makes it easier to forecast sales and commissions, and helps you diagnose the problem when sales drop off.
Some rough ratios to work with are: to get one contract, you need to be invited to submit three proposals, to be asked to submit three proposals you should be talking to three to six qualified prospects. A qualified prospect has 1.) a budget, has 2.) a specific and current need, and 3.) makes the decision or at least the recommendation. Qualified is not a subjective term, as in they "ought to be" qualified, "they fit the profile" or "I wish" they were qualified. To generate six qualified prospects....that's the tough part. There are an awful lot of suspects out there, i.e. people who have some of the qualifying criteria or people whom you think might/should have it. Suspects may be very interested in what you do, or they might have the right job title, or they may be both, but if they have no budget for a specific need, don't waste time with them.
Each industry has different sales ratios. You might have to screen 100 suspects to find five or six qualified prospects. Sorting out suspects and prospects is what direct mail, trade shows, advertising and telesales do best.
However, in my youth, I built a training firm that generated millions in annual fees by hitting the phones myself. I started the business with a handful of referrals, first, of course, but moved on when it became clear that a suspect was not qualified. When the referral leads ran out, which was very quickly, I made 168 cold calls before uncovering a qualified prospect who became my first significant client. So it can be done if you have enough fire in your belly.
If you can scrounge up some money, invest it in lead generation (well-targeted direct mail is still best). If not, hit those phones!
The hard work of your sales activity can pay off for you if you take a systematic approach to it. Calculate your sales ratios. Track your activity. Measure your activity against the sales ratios and modify it where indicated. Maintain steady pressure and inevitably you will close sales.
And the very best of luck -- that's in the equation somewhere, too.
Win More Business by Choosing the Right Sales Activities - To learn more about this author, visit John Brennan's Website.
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Does it seem like you have plenty of leads to follow up? But are you feeling any heat from any of them? What other suspects and prospects do you have in your pipeline? Any active proposals?
Follow up sales activity is critical to your success if it is the right activity. The right activity is that which has the highest probability of moving prospects through your sales pipeline. If you are relying on gut instinct or other esoteric criteria to determine activity, you will win some and you will loose… a lot. On the other hand if you take a logical, systematic approach to prospecting, your sales activities will yield systematic results.
Your sales pipeline is a predictable, manageable process that starts with suspects. Suspects are companies that show some interest in you. Perhaps they email an inquiry from your web site, or request a brochure. Your high probability sales activity here is to determine if they are prospects. Prospects are companies who show some interest in you, who are in the market now for your products, and who have money to spend. Your sales activity here is to get them to ask you for a proposal. The remaining activities you know; prepare the proposal, present it and close.
Now you can improve the efficiency of your sales activities if you can figure out on average, how many suspects you need to get one prospect, and how many prospects you need to get one request for a proposal, and how many proposals you need to close one. Calculating these sales ratios helps direct your activities, keeps you motivated, makes it easier to forecast sales and commissions, and helps you diagnose the problem when sales drop off.
Some rough ratios to work with are: to get one contract, you need to be invited to submit three proposals, to be asked to submit three proposals you should be talking to three to six qualified prospects. A qualified prospect has 1.) a budget, has 2.) a specific and current need, and 3.) makes the decision or at least the recommendation. Qualified is not a subjective term, as in they "ought to be" qualified, "they fit the profile" or "I wish" they were qualified. To generate six qualified prospects....that's the tough part. There are an awful lot of suspects out there, i.e. people who have some of the qualifying criteria or people whom you think might/should have it. Suspects may be very interested in what you do, or they might have the right job title, or they may be both, but if they have no budget for a specific need, don't waste time with them.
Each industry has different sales ratios. You might have to screen 100 suspects to find five or six qualified prospects. Sorting out suspects and prospects is what direct mail, trade shows, advertising and telesales do best.
However, in my youth, I built a training firm that generated millions in annual fees by hitting the phones myself. I started the business with a handful of referrals, first, of course, but moved on when it became clear that a suspect was not qualified. When the referral leads ran out, which was very quickly, I made 168 cold calls before uncovering a qualified prospect who became my first significant client. So it can be done if you have enough fire in your belly.
If you can scrounge up some money, invest it in lead generation (well-targeted direct mail is still best). If not, hit those phones!
The hard work of your sales activity can pay off for you if you take a systematic approach to it. Calculate your sales ratios. Track your activity. Measure your activity against the sales ratios and modify it where indicated. Maintain steady pressure and inevitably you will close sales.
And the very best of luck -- that's in the equation somewhere, too.
Win More Business by Choosing the Right Sales Activities - To learn more about this author, visit John Brennan's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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