+44 (0)7776 203 431 hello@protensd.co.uk

Sales managers, and particularly field sales managers, can often feel like they are trapped in a fog. Without a regular physical presence in the field, it’s difficult to keep tabs on their team and business operations. Instead, they rely heavily on their field representatives to be their eyes and ears.

The best way for field managers to gain visibility into their team’s activity is to collect and measure both team and product performance through KPIs. KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are metrics used to track the performance of a business, a department, or individuals against goals. The key is to choose the KPI;s that are most relevant to your industry and business goals. Focusing on the wrong ones is costly to you and your company.

Here are our 5 top KPI’s to consider implementing.

1. New Leads/Opportunities
How are your salespeople contributing to the expansion of your business in their given territory? Who’s hitting their target? What percentage of your team is hitting their number?

Share this data with your team so they can see how they compare to other sales people. There’s nothing like a little competition to get your team motivated.

2. Client Acquisition Rates
Another commonly used measurement is rate of client acquisition. Of the new prospects your sales people contact, how many convert to customers? It’s natural for some salespeople to perform better than others, but if there are large discrepancies between conversion rates, dig deeper.

Are lower-performing reps approaching bad-fit prospects? Is there something that over-performers do in sales meetings that others don’t?

Finally, use conversion rates to compare different contact methods, such as emailing or cold calling versus pursuing face-to-face meetings.

3. Existing Client Engagement
Maintaining good rapport with customers after the sale is important to ensure long-term business. By regularly touching base with their customers to understand how things are going and how they can help, salespeople can build trust and keep customers happy.

When sales people are consistently available to help, customers know they’ll always have somebody there to support their business needs. Ask your salespeople to keep a tally of interactions they have with each of their customers, then compare the number of touches to the average length of a client relationship.

4. Upsell/Cross-Sell Rates
Which are the most qualified leads in your CRM? It’s your existing customers. Have your sale team track their upsell and cross-sell numbers, and use that data to identify whether certain verticals respond well to certain product/service pitches.
Look at when, how, what, and to whom your reps are upselling and cross-selling, and adjust your efforts accordingly.

5. Sales Cycle Length
Similarly, it’s important to look at the average length of your team’s sales cycle. Are some sales people closing in three weeks while others are closing in six? What are the respective churn rates six months from onboarding?

Analyse what sales cycle length produces the highest number of closed-won business. And don’t forget to also look at how successful those deals are down the line.

If you have a team member who’s closing business in record time, but you find that their customers are dissatisfied with your solution and often churn after nine months, a longer sales cycle might yield a healthier business.

Once you have data on your KPIs, analyse the information to understand why you got those results. Then, determine how you can improve performance and follow through with action. And remember, as important as establishing KPIs are, they must be always tied to an overall business goal.

Do you need help identifying the most useful KPIs for your sales team. Maybe we can help.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get regular updates and ideas.