The primary targets are derived from the following indicators, which are the secondary targets:
1. Unique visitors to your product/service page
2. Calls made and completed
3. Qualification calls (there was a conversation of business possibilities)
4. Face-to-face meetings (or videoconferences)
5. Offers issued
6. Bids won (business done)
Let's go through each of them.
1. Unique visitors to your product/service page
- Create a single page for each product/service and a data capture form.
- The page should open in less than 3 seconds and should be responsive on smartphones.
- The structure of the page, should resemble your introductory email, with more emphasis on testimonials and clients.
- Text, illustrations, videos, logos, etc. Do not skimp on information that leads the reader to know all the benefits generated by the product.
- Generate traffic to that page through ads (Adwords, Facebook, Linkedin) and spread it everywhere possible: Your emails, signature, articles, social media posts etc.
- Measure, via Google Analytics, how many unique visitors your page receives per day, per week and per month.
2. Calls made and completed
- Make your calls calmly and record completed calls, i.e. you have spoken to someone at the other end of the line.
- They do not count calls that do not complete, busy phones, wrong phones, URAs etc.
- Use a digital dialer that records calls and makes recordings. There are several VOIP options on the market.
- Measure every day how many completed calls per executive were made. Consolidate the numbers by week and by month.
- Measure the total time spent on calls (the system gives you this information).
- A good number is between 30-80 calls per day, until you generate the leads that start to demand your time for conversion.
3. Calls for qualification
- These are calls where there was a more in-depth conversation: needs were raised, possible solutions were explored, prices, deadlines and implementations were discussed. They are qualified calls where both parties calibrate the possibility of evolution.
- Have clear criteria for what is and what is not a qualification call. Even if the conversation ends without progress, it's still a qualification call: You've had the conversation and come to the conclusion that you shouldn't pursue the opportunity (for whatever reason). It's a qualification call.
- Measure this number daily, weekly and monthly. You may have two or ten qualification calls per day.
4. Face-to-face meetings (or videoconferences)
- Every time you sit down, eye-to-eye with your leads, it is a face-to-face meeting. Live meetings and video conferences fall into the same category.
- It is an event where we delve into the needs, explore solutions and talk about prices and conditions.
- As a result of a good meeting is the birth of a "well stitched" commercial proposal.
- Measure this number weekly and monthly. You can have two or ten face-to-face meetings per week. That's a good range.
5. Proposals issued
- This is when you formalise the conditions of the sale, through a commercial proposal. In the same category, budgets are also included.
- Measure how many proposals you have issued in the week and month.
- Total the values and calculate the average.
6. Winning bids
- Here you note how many you have closed and the financial volume of the contracts signed.
- Do this count on a monthly basis.
These indicators above, show the productivity of your commercial area and you can follow the evolution of the results according to your strategy and management.
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Now we have to calculate the costs of the commercial area.
What you should account for on a monthly basis is the following:
- [A] Salaries, commissions, bonuses and allowances for the sales team.
- [B] Telephone, fuel, transfers and parking costs.
- [C] Investments in media (advertisements).
- [D] Investments in the generation and processing of prospecting lists.
And so you can have monthly:
- CPL (Cost Per Lead*) = ([A]+[B]+[C]+[D]) / [Number of leads generated].
- CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) = ([A]+[B]+[C]+[D]) / [Number of contracts signed].
*Lead = Requested proposal
These are the secondary indicators that should be used to guide internal strategy meetings and to guide tactics to achieve primary goals.