Are your sales statistics lying to you?
I have spent a lot of time in this forum talking about karmic selling in terms that focus on the science of sales success. It is clear though that success is equal parts art and science. The question is how do you give sales people the flexibility to practice the art of selling, through their innate sales skills and sales techniques, without sacrificing the predictability of a data based sales model. An earlier post that I have made talks about "data in context", good sales managers define the context of sales in strategic terms while their data is formulated in specific tactics.
One way to implement this philosophy is a metrics based scorecard. Identify the key performance indicators of your sales team and begin tracking trends over a statistically significant period. These metrics should be tied to strategic objectives of your business. Ultimately the goal is to take the KPI's of your business and try to correlate them to strategy achievement and sales.
What are some KPI's that you should consider:
1. hours on the phone.
2. New opportunities weekly
3. Growth in pipeline.
4. Quota multiple in pipeline
5. average sales price
These are just some ideas. Ideally the order of operations to gain maximum benefit of this scorecard approach is: Strategic objective-tactic that will produce results-kpi that measure those tactics. It is important though not to fall into the trap where you are dazzled by the numbers. Remember data must always be placed in context and flexibility must be given to the sales people to practice the art of selling.
Moment of Zen
“The earth is enjoyed by heroes”—this is the unfailing truth. Be a hero. Always say, “I have no fear.” -Swami Vivekananda
P.S. If you are interested in leveraging the karmic philosophy to accelerate your career or business please check out my website http://www.karmiccoach.com , and get Karma working for you!
One way to implement this philosophy is a metrics based scorecard. Identify the key performance indicators of your sales team and begin tracking trends over a statistically significant period. These metrics should be tied to strategic objectives of your business. Ultimately the goal is to take the KPI's of your business and try to correlate them to strategy achievement and sales.
What are some KPI's that you should consider:
1. hours on the phone.
2. New opportunities weekly
3. Growth in pipeline.
4. Quota multiple in pipeline
5. average sales price
These are just some ideas. Ideally the order of operations to gain maximum benefit of this scorecard approach is: Strategic objective-tactic that will produce results-kpi that measure those tactics. It is important though not to fall into the trap where you are dazzled by the numbers. Remember data must always be placed in context and flexibility must be given to the sales people to practice the art of selling.
Moment of Zen
“The earth is enjoyed by heroes”—this is the unfailing truth. Be a hero. Always say, “I have no fear.” -Swami Vivekananda
P.S. If you are interested in leveraging the karmic philosophy to accelerate your career or business please check out my website http://www.karmiccoach.com , and get Karma working for you!
Posted by Dinesh Kandanchatha at 4/14/2009 8:04 PM 
Categories: sales
Tags: sales management sales tactics Sales process Sales Coaching Sales tips sales tricks Sales Strategy
Categories: sales
Tags: sales management sales tactics Sales process Sales Coaching Sales tips sales tricks Sales Strategy
Trackbacks
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7/22/2009 8:43 AM
Mystic Selling-Chronicles of a Karmic Salesperson wrote:
Previously I discussed how organizational structure impacts the philosophy that drives sales compensation. Another major variable is the type of business you are in. What this really means is the alignment of shareholder/owner goals to the goals of sales people and sales management. Let me use an example to illustrate. If the owners primary goal is revenue growth, the compensation plan should be structured towards top line revenue growth, and this should trump any sub goals such as cost of sales, gross margin, etc. Many business owners believe you can create incentive programs that pull multiple levers. In my experience ... -
7/22/2009 10:45 AM
Mystic Selling-Chronicles of a Karmic Salesperson wrote:
Previously I discussed how organizational structure impacts the philosophy that drives sales compensation. Another major variable is the type of business you are in. What this really means is the alignment of shareholder/owner goals to the goals of sales people and sales management. Let me use an example to illustrate. If the owners primary goal is revenue growth, the compensation plan should be structured towards top line revenue growth, and this should trump any sub goals such as cost of sales, gross margin, etc. Many business owners believe you can create incentive programs that pull multiple levers. In my experience ... -
7/28/2009 8:31 AM
Mystic Selling-Chronicles of a Karmic Salesperson wrote:
Previously I discussed how organizational structure impacts the philosophy that drives sales compensation. Another major variable is the type of business you are in. What this really means is the alignment of shareholder/owner goals to the goals of sales people and sales management. Let me use an example to illustrate. If the owners primary goal is revenue growth, the compensation plan should be structured towards top line revenue growth, and this should trump any sub goals such as cost of sales, gross margin, etc. Many business owners believe you can create incentive programs that pull multiple levers. In my experience ...
Great post Dinesh. I have been a "stalker" of your blog for a while now.
I agree 100%. As highlighted it is to do metrics that are strategic and lead you to your goal. What is nice about this is you can also build incentive programs around this very easily.
Again...great post Dinesh.
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