The number of outbound calls a sales professional makes per week. Early in the development of a patch or territory a sales professional is expected to make a minimum of 100 calls per week.Some might have to make 200 to hit their numbers.
In control: The sales professional can make more or fewer calls.
Connects
The number of calls that actually connect to a live prospect.On aver-age,the number of connects will represent 30 percent of the dials. this statistical average can be applied across sales environments
No control: The sales professional can try to connect by calling early in the morning, bypassing the administrative assistant,but really doesnt have much control over this metric.
Appointment closing ration and booked appointments
The appointment closing ratio details the percentage of connects that should result in meetings.A new sales person will be expected to hit an appointment close ration of 20 percent.A more senior professional is expected to hit 30 percent. Booked appointments details the actual number of connects that resulted in scheduled meetings.
Control: Skill and knowledge influence the sales professionalss appointment closing ratio and number of booked appointments.
No show /cancel.
The number of appointments that did not show or cancelled.
No control: On average, 20 percent of booked appointments will no show or cancel.The sales person can try to influence this by reconfirming, but these tactics will not likely improve this ratio.
Appointments attended
The number of appointments that were actually conducted.
No control: The sales professional might show up to attend, but the prospect might not.Thus,the only control the sales professional has in his or her ability to show up.
Matter closing ratio
The number of deals that the sales professional closes.A new sales professional would be expected to close 10 percent of the actual appointments attended. A more senior sales professional is expected to close 30 percent.
Control: Skill and knowledge influence the sales professionals close ratio.
Exhibit 4.6 Activity-Based Sales Modeling Tool
(continued)
METRIC DESCRIPTION
IN CONTROL/NOT IN CONTROL
LOEs per week and LOEs per year
The number of letters of engagement (LOEs) or contracts that the sales professional generates.This metric self-generates based on the closing ratio and includes both conflict checks and LOEs to calculate a blended number.
Control: Skill,the ability to close business, influences this metric with the caveat that if the business doesnt clear conflict, the sales professional has no chance of closing.
Minus the 30 percent settle and minus push 10 percent
These columns are unique to litigation consulting.
No control.
Matters per year
Based on the statistics,the number of matters or contracts that are sighed and proposals that are implemented per year.
NA: This metric is a reflection of the previous metrics.
Revenue per
average
matter
The average dollar amount of the deals closed.
In control: Skill influences the sales professionals ability to ask for more money. Over time, sales professionals become more comfortable with closing bigger deals.
Exhibit 4.6 Continued
on education and sharing, and last no longer than 60 minutes. Reach out to the sales team to identify special topics that they would like covered at each meeting and rotate leadership of this meeting so that all sales reps have an opportunity to lead, teach, and learn.
2. National sales meeting: The national sales meeting is held once or twice a year at an off-site location. This is an opportunity to celebrate success, share best practices, sharpen everyones sales skills, and introduce new service lines and professionals.
3. Phone blitz: The phone blitz is a highly targeted competitive call canvassing exercise that brings the salesforce together in a friendly competition to see who can secure the most sales appointments on a given day within a set time. To encourage participation, prizes are awarded to the sales professionals who book the most qualified meetings. This competitive exercise works well as a team-building exercise and can be a training exercise if you build in pre-blitz brainstorming and debriefs at the completion of the contest. It is also a great way to launch a new service.
Selling Your Services
Sell the way people want to buy-not the way you want to sell. Selling is a science, not an art, notes Wendy Lea, managing partner with Chatham Group, LLC.10 According to Lea, the art aspect of selling comes in only as it relates to personal dynamics and politics, which are important, but sometimes overplayed. The science aspect of sales is that selling is a systematic, professional process. This section walks you through the process of understanding your customer and selling the way people want to buy, not the way you want to sell.
A typical sales cycle includes the phases or components shown in Exhibit 4.7.
This is a continuous process of identifying opportunities, and then going through the sales cycle.
