How to Predict You Sales Success | Accurate Sales Planning and Forecasting

Sales Performance Science, is that really a thing?

Does it really exist?

You bet it does.

So you know sales is part art and part science.

And you know machine learning is trying to make it way more science and a lot less art, that’s definitely on the cards to be widely available at some point.

But before we get tangled up in what we haven’t got to help us close more deals, make more targets and hit more sales milestones, let’s take a look at how you can take control of you Sales Performance Science today…

Why?

Sales in science helps my clients accelerate their sales performance and improve their sales results.

A science based sales improvement solution works faster, is easy to replicate and simple to scale.

It’s the same as being taught how to fish, you’ll always be able to feed yourself and you’ll never go hungry!

Sales Performance Science +

The more…

Science you build into the sales process the better.

Predictable your sales results will be.

The more predictable your sales results, the more easily you’ll be able to forecast the future.

When you can forecast the sales future, the more chance you have of spotting the highs and lows and compensating for them before they become an issue.

That doesn’t just help your mental health, providing safety and security for all, also planning becomes a dream, cash flow no-longer the nightmare it can be. Plus you’ll boost your attractiveness to buyers/investors/lenders.

In summary, it puts you in full control of your destiny either as a sales leader, a sales professional or as a business owner.

Shall we call it your own sales crystal ball?

That’s Sales Performance Science for You!

Sales modeling is a science that’s as critical to business as anything I can think of.

100% fact.

Yet, it’s a forgotten skill.

Sadly.

Instead, these days as more and more sales teams rely on the CRM to do all their thinking for them.

You know that sales database that everyone hates to update?

The one that contains people you once had a random coffee with who said they sometimes bought what you were selling if it was a month with a blue moon, on a day with an ‘r’ in it and when they’d seen 4 black cats on their walk to the railways station three days in a row….you know what I’m saying?

Getting data out of the CRM is easy.

Designing reports is easy.

It’s all easy.

The creation is easy…but, rubbish in rubbish out is the strap line for every single sales CRM I’ve ever seen.

It really is.

That’s Why You Need Sales Performance Science…

It debunks the CRM comfort blanket and gives you a shot of reality when you need it most.

Because the CRM is used as the primary reporting tool, the critical bit, the bit where we apply integrity to what we’re actually looking at has gone.

Disappeared…forgotten about.

Tragically.

Sales Performance Science and Sam!

Let me give you a very, very real example…

Sam has 80K at negotiation stage in the sales CRM.

The average order value is 5.7k, so there are approximately 14 deals available to be pushed through to close.

Some deals at been at that stage for less than a week, some deals had been at that stage for over 365 days, the average stage duration for deals at this stage is 21 days.

So, just knowing what they typical historical weighted sales performance metrics at this stage are for the whole of business sales team is, allowed Sam’s boss to look at his 80k and immediately conclude that Sam actually had just 56k in his sales pipeline at negotiation stage.

Sam – comforted by 80k and 14 potential deals, was working in a state where he was totally comfortable yet wildly deluded.

Now someone’s had a good look at what Sam’s really got going on Sam’s mood has changed slightly, and so have his behaviours – he’s working like crazy to to try and close the gap or risk missing target this month.

Sam didn’t want this added insight.

He could have quite happily passed another failed sales moth and relied on his veil of ignorance has he stepped into next month and kicked the same old tired sales prospects another three months down the line in his CRM.

But Sam, now with this added insight can make a choice, work to hit target, keep his job, learn his lesson and work each stage hard, or simply go on as he was before, head in the sand, another missed month

We don’t tolerate fuzzy forecasting and we don’t think you should have to either.

Consider Suzy

Suzy has a swollen pipeline – everything is at propsal stage.

So we looked at what Suzy’s Sales Recipe is – how she converts from 1 stage to the next stage.

From proposals to order her conversion rate is 3.5% – when it should be 90%+

Everybody had given Suzy training in how to close – major waste of time and money.

Suzy doesn’t know how to qualify, disqualify – She’s is a nice person and wants to sell to everyone.

But she doesn’t know how to screen effectively.

And is a walking information pack – she is great at educating everyone – not great at selling.

Suzy is a liability on a sales team – constantly busy, nice, prospects love her but don’t buy from her.

You could make Suzy the best closer in the world, the conversion rate from proposals to orders would still be 3.something percent

Sales Performance Modeling is Delightfully Predictable….

And saves you from working in a critical and high risk business space where uncertainty levels can be high and you don’t know you’ve got it wrong until it’s too late.

Sales Performance Modeling is typically quite predictable.

Predictable at a time, when the more predictable you can be the better.

Putting all of your faith in the report that the CRM churns out is you surrendering to the gods of prospect control, missed targets while trying to steer the ship with sand in your eyes…when there really is no need.

Your sales CRM can be the most valuable asset in your business, it houses everyone you’ve got a relationship with and all those you’d like a relationship with…

But it’s not good enough anymore to talk about rubbish in, rubbish out, shrug your shoulders and say, ‘well it is what it is…’ because it’s not.

Sales modeling puts you back in charge of sales performance with real control.

So if you’re a sales leaders, sales team leader, sales manager, director or business owner and you’d soooo tired of the complete mismatch between what sales orders you were expecting to get versus what you really got come month end…

If you’re tired of putting your name to a sales forecast that makes you look like you’ve drunk the kool-aid come the end of the month them maybe we should talk.

Sales performance science gives you the power you need to totally revolutionise the sales performance of your team.

It’s the start of everything that’s good about running a first class high performance sales team.

You can find out more about our Smart Sales and Smart Modeling Course here…help to save you from a team full of Sam’s and Suzy’s!

Sales performance science doesn’t cure sales people of hoping and praying that the gods on high with come good with wishy-washy prospect promises (it’s not THAT good!!), but it is a brilliant secret piece of kit to work with with sales guys like Sam!