I was wrong. It’s hard to admit but this time I can’t deny it.
One of the first blog posts I wrote was called “3 MUST KNOW Metrics for Door to Door Sales” and I left out one HUGELY IMPORTANT metric in this post.
Here’s a quick recap of the other post in case you don’t want to go read the whole thing…
3 MUST KNOW Metrics for Door to Door Sales:
Contact Rate: of the # of attempts you make, how many do you talk to
Example – if you knock 100 doors and 35 answer and you talk to them then you have a 35% Contact Rate
Lead Rate: of the # of contacts you make, how many are interested or want to move along in the sales process
Example – if you talk to 35 people and 7 are interested they you have a 20% Lead Rate
Close Rate: of the # of Leads you get, how many end up buying
Example – of the 7 Leads you have 3 end up buying so you would have a 43% Close Rate
Now these metrics are extremely important to know by heart because they are 3 Levers you can push and pull to increase Sales. Whether you are a manager or rep if you don’t know these three metrics then you need to figure them out in a hurry.
And Then The Light Bulb Went On…
I first realized my omission after talking to the national director of one of our large customers. During an account review we were talking through their statuses and going over exactly what they are tracking.
This company has completely blown it up since becoming a SPOTIO customer and are now opening up new branches and have dozens and dozens of sales reps. They are experts at getting specific information from the homeowners they Contact.
Then shortly after that conversation I spoke with Chris Thompson, the Canvass King, and the light really went on.
Chris and I were talking about some of the new methods he was putting in place with his clients and what the results were and I was blown away! I asked him what were the important metrics that he likes to track with his clients and he mentioned this 4th one as a key element to fully know.
What’s This Magical Fourth Metric You Speak Of?
It comes between the Contact Rate and the Lead Rate and it is called the Qualified Rate.
Qualified Rate: out of the # of Contacts you make how many are Qualified to buy
Example – if I talk to 35 homeowners and only 5 are Qualified to buy then you have a 15% Qualified Rate
Your Qualified Rate is important for 2 reasons:
1. It will tell you if you are working in the right territory.
2. These Qualified Prospects need to be added to your follow up pipeline along with the leads that don’t close to nurture over time into customers.
What the Qualified Rate Will Tell You About Your Territory:
You can have an amazing opening pitch, a beautifully designed and executed presentation and be the worlds best closer but if you are consistently running into UnQualified prospects then you just can’t and won’t sell anything.
As a manager trying to put your reps in a position to win you need to make sure they are put in a sales territory with Qualified Prospects.
Often times a Qualified Prospect may be as simple as someone who is a home owner, not a renter. Maybe you have more stringent requirements like a certain credit score, income or house value.
Or if all the homeowners already have your product or are in contract with another provider and can’t switch to your service these would also be considered Unqualified.
Here’s an example of what a territory full of Unqualified Prospects can do to your metrics:
Now if you focus on working a territory that has a higher percentage of Qualified Prospects:
In the previous example nothing else changed but the amount of Qualified Prospects I got in front of. I ended up with 1 additional sale and another 20 Qualified Prospects to follow up with over time. The effort you expend is being used wisely.
Multiple these numbers over an entire team and you can easily see how the bottom line is drastically effected by Qualified Rate.
As a manager or owner who looks for every way to get an advantage First start at the top by making sure the team is doing the proper amount of attempts, once you have that verified tweak the Contact Rate by adjusting the time of day the Attempts occur and then make sure all the Attempts and Contacts are happening in an area full of Qualified prospects.
How the Bottom Line is Effected by the Qualified Rate:
Here’s how the Numbers may look for an average rep on a typical day.
*THIS IS IMPORTANT*
Now imagine if you stay in touch with those prospects that are Qualified. Doesn’t have to mean that you go back by their home as it could be as simple as a post card or phone call or you mail them an info packet full of helpful information related to the product or service that you are offering but is not trying to sell them something.
For example, a Realtor may send a newsletter describing other properties sold in the area recently or a Solar Company may send an information piece on Why Solar Is the Wave of the Future. Think outside the box.
In the above example you have 15 Qualified prospects that didn’t turn into a Lead or Sale. After a month of working like this you can add another 300 people to your pipeline that are qualified to buy but not ready at the current time.
If you keep your company name in front of these Qualified Prospects over time you may be able to convert 20% of them to Leads.
300 x 20% = 60 MORE LEADS PER MONTH
Guys and Gals I don’t care who you are or what you do – this is ABSOLUTELY GAME CHANGING !!!
Like Most Good Things, it’s Not Easy to Do
This level of follow up is not easy to do. So much so that 87% of all sales rep will not follow up more that twice. Follow up is tedious and the majority of sales reps and companies do not have a locked in place system for follow up. However, if you go to the extra effort to be at the Top of Mind when a Qualified Prospect needs your product or service then you will be the first person they reach out to.
I will be detailing in the near future exactly what you can do and how to remain in the minds of your Qualified Prospects so when they do need your product or service they call you.
In the meantime, make it a company priority to understand what makes a prospect Qualified and how to commit to your database who is and who isn’t.
Some Action Steps…
At this point surely you see the value in understanding your market further by knowing what prospects are Qualified and which ones aren’t. Here are some easy next steps you can do to start taking advantage of this metric.
1. If you do make contact and the homeowner does not Qualify mark it down in SPOTIO. If you don’t use SPOTIO then write it on your knock sheet. At the end of the day or week tally up the reasons that your team has and decide if it is a large enough number to warrant working a different area. Don’t fall into the trap of the perfect territory though, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. In SPOTIO you can create a custom drop down to mark why they are Not Qualified or Not Interested.
2. When you have determined that a Prospect is Qualified but won’t move to the next step in the sales process ask them for their email address so you can send out some additional information. You can use this email later to send a newsletter or a special offer.
Do you want to work smarter instead of harder by knowing your teams sales metrics?
If so then you need to check out SPOTIO’s lead management software today.
It’s easy to use and loved by sales teams tracking and territory management app used around the world in dozens of different industries.
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SPOTIO is the #1 field sales engagement and performance management software that will increase revenue, maximize profitability, and boost sales productivity.
Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.
