As a sales rep, when was the last time you took a bird’s-eye view of your sales process to objectively assess the impact of your individual effort? Where you stand now, can you accurately measure and identify your strengths and weaknesses, and benchmark your impact against the top performers on your sales team? If you aren’t rating your own performance on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, you need to lend focus to laying down the precedent for an accurate and measurable sales process if you want to pull your numbers up.

According to Dealmaker Index, 30% of sales reps are more likely to hit sales targets with a competitive strategy, but, in reality, 30% of them don’t even have a strategy in place. Where do you fair out?

Metrics that matter – Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Operating at peak efficiency means having the mechanisms in place to measure your own performance, and these mechanisms come in the form of KPIs. One common KPI is  ‘Quota fulfillment’. Quota fulfillment is a leading indicator of sales performance. When a quota is in place, it not only gives you a tangible goal, but it also works as a great motivator. You have to consider things like your sales team’s overall revenue goals, the history of your team’s revenue generation and the individual performance of each member.

‘Closing Ratio’ is another important KPI. A closing ratio gives you the ability to measure your success at converting Sales Calls into actual sales. Say you have 50 Sales Calls in a given month; out of those 50 you convert 20 into sales, giving you a ratio of 40%. If you have a low closing ratio, it is likely a sign that you have areas to improve on and need training to hone your closing skills.

Marketing has produced a steady stream of prospects for you. What now? How successful you are at assessing the buyer’s journey is key to closing the deal. If your numbers are low it may be an indication that you aren’t responding to the needs of the prospect according to their buying stages. Are they in the early stage of the sales process or are they close to making a purchase decision? You need to hone the skill of knowing where to devote more time to prospecting. Perhaps sending out a follow-up email… Providing access to a Web portal… Engaging in more social selling or initiating more face-to-face meetings. You improve the sales process by assessing the buyer’s journey and responding accordingly to each prospect’s needs.

Let’s move on to‘Customer retention’. This KPI is measured by determining the number of customers that have stayed with your company or have decided to move on to your competitors. Customer retention is an indication of how well you serve the needs of your customers and the impact of your business relationship in the long-term.

You’ve chosen a career as a sales rep because you know it can be dynamic, exciting and lucrative, but you know that competition is tough. That’s why improving the sales process is a key part of achieving sales success. Overcoming the odds and keeping numbers high means actively working on improving performance, and leading sales organizations invest heavily in training in order to empower their teams. It’s important to understand that doing it all on your own is a great feat; that’s why working as a team Is key. Learning from and pushing one another is part of improving the sales process. Sales teams that achieve success know this and are greatly investing in each other. How successful are you at continuously improving your own sales process?