Crudely expressed, divide the spend by the leads generated (and then converted) and that’s how much each has cost you. Of course, it’s never as simple as that, but it’s worth bearing in mind how expensive it is to generate a lead when you start looking at the next stage in the process: qualifying it.
And what I hope to demonstrate in this next section is not just the importance of having a qualification process that everyone buys into, but that it can also be continuously tested, adjusted and improved upon – with benefits to the whole sales force.
So what are my three ingredients of “Great Qualification?”
- Impose uniform standards - Sales and marketing have to agree on what the sales qualification process is – and share that company wide.
This is no easy feat as qualification processes will vary with different market sectors, channels, products, services etc. Yet, by developing a uniform company qualification profile the benchmark of grading an opportunity can be applied unilaterally throughout the company so that everyone is ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’.
- Enable self improvement - Sales people do not like systems that monitor their performance… because they see it as a means to control and criticise. So giving sales people the power to use qualification data to analyse and improve their own individual performance is the key ingredient in getting qualification to work.
Equally, managers can use the data generated by the qualification profiling of a lead to zero in on the real reasons why sales are lost - as opposed to just focusing on a sales person’s win ratio, which may be only part of a larger problem.
- Make maximum use of available time - Though many would want it differently, there are only 24 hours in a day; and if you have more leads than can be thoroughly followed up, a decision has to be made as to which ones to pursue.
And more action does not necessarily mean more sales. Indeed, you could actually lose sales through following up the wrong leads. That’s why it’s critical to qualify - and continue to qualify - each opportunity throughout the sales cycle.
The key aims of qualification in improving time management can be summed up as follows:
- Identify the key opportunities to pursue that will help you reach your target in the shortest time.
- Keep the sales cycle as short as possible by identifying issues that could arise to slow the sale.
Going after the opportunities that meet those criteria will allow you to deal with more opportunities, although time remains constant. “Work smarter, not harder” should be written in large letters on every sales figures board.
Work smarter…
No one wants to see sales leads not pursued, because of the fear of lost revenues. But not all sales leads are equal, and the mentality of “working smarter not harder” is not only an attitude that sales people have to adopt but also sales managers.
And here’s a for instance.
If sales person A has 20 sales leads and sales person B has five, which one is going to make the most sales?
Sales person A might only convert 10% but sales person B might convert four out of the five because they have a greater understanding of successful opportunities to pursue.
As a sales manager, do you force sales person B to cold call until they have 20 sales leads? Does this mean that they will now convert 16 opportunities? Of course not.
Let’s put “leads” in context. Yes, the process of getting them and managing them is important, but the key to gaining the acceptance and enthusiasm of the sales force is to enhance not activity… but productivity.
And working smarter, not harder, can rely on the injection of technology…