From lead to sale - Know your numbers?

How many lists should buy or impressions should be done to involve someone? How many people must commit themselves to qualify a need? How many qualified leads should be cultivated to write a proposal?

How many have to write proposals to close a sale?

This is the science of sales! And, along with its integration with the marketing process is crucial to your understanding of the health of the pipeline. There are many things that contribute to the success of sales and marketing, but perhaps one of the most important principles, especially in a tight, competitive market environment, management is close to the pipeline.

Systematically managing the sales pipeline can: Company to understand and accurately assess the volume, speed, balance, and the quality of their conduct, giving them a distinct market advantage.Sales people to prioritize their time and control their own income.

The key to successfully build sales pipeline and forecasting is twofold:

1) PROCESS: Not all sales people are Rainmakers. In fact only 20% of the population has the insight to sales and luck to make things happen. And with these sales figures, the best thing is to let them "do their thing" with a little 'management to ensure that objectives are achieved and maintained image. The remaining 80%, are more successful when they follow a specific sales process that details steps along the path and the tools to be used at each step.

For each phase of the sales process, you want to start monitoring the real numbers. Over time you will understand your relationships, and thus more accurately forecast your sales. Start with the close relationship. It 's the most tangible measure to monitor. How many proposals have you written in the last 6 months and how many you won? Then work backwards from there. How many people have you talked about a project, and how many resulted in a proposal, and so on. In the meantime, consider some media that I work well in place of your current company-specific metrics: Prospect 0%, 10% lead, 30% assess, given the 50%, 90% Close.

2) SYSTEMS: In order to manage and measure the pipeline, you must have a system to track opportunities. There are many software packages available, including the most sophisticated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solutions. Many of your home-made systems can also be modified to include the sales process tracking. Yet, if you need to get started and do not have the ability to integrate a software package with sales and marketing database once, start with a basic spreadsheet.

The management of the pipeline can be a complicated process to begin, and the discipline to keep it current is difficult to meet. The awards, however, far outweigh the effort. They not only mean more sales which means more of the right kind of sales .......