How to Use Metrics to Improve Sales Performance

You've been working hard to improve your team's sales performance, but how do you know if it's really paying off? Are your employees reaching their goals?

Obviously, you can look at your weekly sales numbers and see if they are increasing as quickly as you'd like. But, there are other metrics that you need to consider to bring your team to the rock star status you're looking for.

What Are Sales Metrics?

According to Hubspot, sales metrics are "data points that represent individual, team, or company-wide performance. Sales leaders use sales metrics to track progress toward goals, prepare for the future, adjust sales compensation, award incentives and bonuses, spot problems before they get out of hand, and more."

Sales metrics allow you to create a data-driven culture where you can identify the products, processes, and employees that aren't quite making the grade. From there, you can make informed decisions about sales strategies and objectives.

Following sales metrics is important to the well being of your business. But first, you need to know what metrics to track.

What Sales Metrics Should You Measure?

There are several types of metrics that you need to follow. Two of these are: Sales and Activity

Sales Metrics

The following metrics can be used to identify individual weaknesses (or strengths) and those of the company itself.

• What is the total revenue for the week, month, or year?
• What is the average deal size?
• How long does it take to close a deal? (sales cycle)
• What is the response time between when a lead is received and when they are contacted?
• How much time is actually spent selling?
• What is their Opportunity Win Rate? (How often a deal makes it to the closing stage)

Rock stars measure how many albums they sell, how quickly their concerts sell out, and much more. Are your employees hitting the top of the Billboard charts with their performance?

Activity Metrics

Ever wonder what your team members do every day? While it would be great if 100% of their time was devoted to selling, there are other tasks that are important to sales.

In order to get a good idea of where their time is spent, you should measure the following:

• How many calls do they make each day?
• How many emails do they send?
• How many sales conversations do they have?
• How many meetings do they attend?
• How many sales presentations do they make?
• How much time do they spend learning and improving their knowledge base?

While it may seem like time spent learning is time not spent selling, this isn't necessarily true.  Rock stars don't learn a song overnight and they don't hop on stage at a sold-out show and play brand new material. Rock stars practice. They learn new skills and techniques, and so should your sales team.

When you properly measure both the sales metrics and the activity metrics of your sales team, you approach your sales goals from a new, powerful position. You know what's working and what's not and can make necessary changes to improve your team's sales performance. You may discover that you have an issue within your sales process, that one of your employees is better suited in a different role, or that your sales team needs more education. With sales metrics, you'll be able to create the rock star results you've always dreamed of.

"At the end of the day, it’s not the person with the most toys who wins, it’s the person with the most memories." - Jon Bon Jovi

Mark Kamp® aka Marvelless Mark® works with organizations who want their teams to achieve immediate rock star results. A Keynote Speaker/Entertainer/Author, Husband, Father, and child of God, his primary message, “Opportunity Rocks®” gives attendees a fresh new perspective on Sales, Marketing, and Employee Performance. Fun and engaging, Mark combines the success secrets of your favorite rock stars with just the right amount of entertainment to transform your employees into business rockstars. Learn more at www.OpportunityRocks.net.