Salespeople are not leveraging their sales data. Don’t believe me?
Off the top of your head, can you tell me your close rate for the last quarter? What about your average deal size over the past 6 months? Do you know how much pipeline you expect to close in the next month? I’m betting most can’t.
Sellers tend to focus on their number – what they’ve sold compared to quota. We have a wealth of knowledge beyond your quota attainment that can pinpoint where you’re succeeding and what you could work on.
It baffles me that so few salespeople know their KPIs. It reminds of playing high school football.
Every Number Matters
I was a running back, and probably like most high school athletes, I focused on the big flashy numbers – yards and touchdowns. I wasn’t aware of stats like yards per carry, yards after contact, etc. I didn’t really understand the game all that well.
There was another running back on the team, Darren, who lived by those numbers. He had specific goals for his yards per carry average, yards after contact average, total yards for the season. Darren understood those numbers would be the indicators of a good season.
I had a couple good games here and there, or so I thought. I was only focused on scores though. Arguably my best game I didn’t even recognize until after I was done playing. Darren was injured, so I played most of the game and racked 149 yards on 12 carries. I didn’t grasp how impressive those numbers were, I only focused on the 2 scores I had.
Had I had Darren’s mindset, I would have recognized how great a game that was and tried to understand what went right for it to happen. I would’ve paid more attention to my yards per carry, watched film to reduce negative yardage plays. Adjusted my running style to improve my yards after contact.
The power of data!
Don’t Leave Data on the Table
Just like I missed out by not studying the numbers as a running back, salespeople who ignore their individual performance data are leaving something on the table. You can’t maximize your output if you don’t understand the numbers.
The greatest sellers I know don’t focus on quota attainment. They have dashboards and reports to track their average deal size trends, win rates for different sales stages, and their average time to close. If they spot deals getting stuck in particular stages they can analyze what’s causing the hang-up and adjust. If their contract value trends are down, they know to investigate.
There is always room for improvement. Don’t assume you’ve maxed your potential because you hit your number. Dig into the finer details and see where there could be small tweaks that can bump you up another notch.
Make Metrics Your Mantra
The bottom line is your personal data and metrics should always be top of mind. They show your selling performance in a way that quota attainment can’t.
I encourage every salesperson to become data-driven. Build your own dashboards. If you aren’t sure where to start I’d suggest these 6. Analyze your historical data and benchmark yourself. Then set concrete goals for how you want to improve these numbers over the course of the next quarter and year.
Maybe your average deal size needs to be bumped up 10-15% or your close rates could use a 5-10% bump. Just like Darren had specific yards per carry goals, you should have targets for these numbers.
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