(888) 815-0802These 5 Inside Sales Metrics are Wildly Underrated
If you’re managing an inside sales team, you’re probably tracking at least a few sales metrics. But if you’re looking for new ways to have the best quarter of your career, try taking a deeper dive. Obvious metrics like revenue per rep and time to close are probably never not going to be in the must-track category. But to really kick your sales team into top gear, I highly recommend taking a look at these five less-tracked (and wildly underrated) sales metrics:
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Time to First Response
It’s critically important to monitor how fast your sales reps are following up with inbound leads. Tracking this metric helps managers ensure that no valuable leads are slipping through the cracks. Be vigilant, because even waiting five minutes to respond to a lead has been shown to have catastrophic effects on conversion rates.
Loss Percentage by Reason
Even the best sales teams lose deals. But sadly, not enough sales teams diligently track why deals get lost. This metric tracks the percentage of deals that are lost, grouped by cause. There are many reasons why deals fall through: competitors win deals, decision makers don’t get budget approval, needs change, implementation timelines shift. Tracking why deals are lost can help you mitigate those losses. As an example, say that 50 percent of your deals are being lost because of your product’s price point. By delving into call recordings, you could then determine whether the price point might need to come down, or whether reps simply aren’t doing an adequate job of explaining the value of your offering.
Call Abandonment Rate
Inbound phone leads are incredibly valuable. When people reach out to companies over the phone about potentially buying a product, they are almost always serious buyers. It’s important to ensure that these high-value leads aren’t left hanging. If a call abandonment rate is high, it can indicate that you need to hire more reps to cover the phones. It can also indicate that calls are being routed to the wrong place, or that reps are simply failing to answer the phone. Try to make your abandonment rate as close to 0% as possible.
Meetings/Opportunities/Revenue by Campaign
At the world’s most successful sales organizations, marketing and sales are in lock step. It’s pivotal to track which marketing campaigns not only drive the most leads, but are impacting your entire sales funnel. By tracking calls in Salesforce, you can gain visibility into which campaigns are driving meetings, opportunities and revenue that closes over the phone, which offers Sales and Marketing leaders a full view of marketing ROI. That way, you can work with marketing to invest more in campaigns that not only generate leads, but also meetings, opportunities and—most importantly—revenue.
Pipeline Inflow Vs. Outflow
This metric tracks the total number of new opportunities that come in each month compared to the number of closed opportunities, expressed as a ratio. Each month, opportunities close. Some are won, some are lost and some close without a decision being made. But unless enough new opportunities are created (inflow) to replace old opportunities (outflow) then your salespeople might not have the fuel they need to meet their quota. Try to at least maintain an inflow to outflow ratio of 1:1. More inflow than outflow may signal growth. But beware – this can also signal that close dates on existing opportunities are getting pushed back.
For a look at more game-changing sales metrics, be sure to check out our Complete Guide to Inside Sales Analytics.
