Data Intelligence for Sales
As Gordon Gekko said in Wall Street, “the most valuable commodity I know of is information.”
That was true in the 80's, and data has only become more valuable since then.
I am willing to bet that you already agree with the above statements already. I don't have to convince you that they are true.
The biggest issue that faces is not the scarcity of valuable information, but the abundance of data points and knowing what to do with them all.
There are multitudes of valuable data points in any sales organization, so we need to whittle down the flow of data into a few key points.
If you are leading a sales team, here are a few Key Performance Indicators you may want to pull out of your data that will take you beyond who sold how much:
Client Retention Rate Why did your client start or stop buying? Was it poor customer service? Poor sales experience? Price? New customers cost several times more to acquire than existing customers do to maintain. It is worthwhile to dig in and find what experiences make your clients happy to extend their relationship, and what experiences lose you revenue. You also want to be able to see the length of client relationships to predict future revenue and sales goals.
Sales Volume and Profit by Product I like to include these together as these two data points together help you see where your effort is best spent. Maybe you can sell more of widget A, but if you make more profit off widget B it may be worthwhile to spend more time and money trying to sell widget B. It is also helpful to see trends – maybe widget A used to be the most profitable but due to changes in the supply change it is no longer as meaningful on your bottom line.
Orders Per Client If you are leading a sales division, this is a key efficiency metric. Which clients order the most? Who are the Sales Executives for that client? Is one SE consistently getting more orders per client? Why and how can you train your other reps to pursue a similar methodology? This will also help you pinpoint your best clients for interviews and market research. You also want to chart this over time – are your SE’s getting more sales or less sales on average?
Average Sale Size Which clients and which sales people bring you the biggest payday? This doesn’t tell the whole story of course – it doesn’t matter if they sell a $100k product if it cost $101k to make. Still, who are the closers in your group? They deserve a cup of coffee.
Sales by Region If you are a nationwide or worldwide company this is an important metric for you. Which regions of your service areas buy the most and deserve a little more attention? A sales heat map can help you see where your best opportunities lie and where you are wasting time.
If you need help collecting, cleaning, and visualizing your data, reach out to us to get started on your data project.