Key Inside Sales Analytics for Success

The key to effective sales analytics is understanding prospecting metrics. As a sales leader, analytics are essentially the modern-day crystal ball. By tracking the right metrics, you can predict which sales professionals are on pace to meet their goals. You can gauge which sales tactics are influencing the desired outcomes. And you can tell whether there are enough opportunities being created for account executives to meet and exceed quota. (RingDNA.com)

Components of key sales analytics:

• Increase your dial to connection ratio
• Ratios to help companies analyze sales performance and effectiveness
• Selling strategies that increase your closing ratio
• Essentials of call disposition
• Effective voicemail tactics to create value for your customer

Essential Metrics to Incorporate into Your Key Sales Analytics:

Dials to Connection Ratio

• “It takes an average of 8 dials to reach a prospect” (RingDNA.com)
• However, the more often you leave a voicemail, the more likely you will be able to connect with your prospect on various levels.
• To increase your dial to connection ratio, sales professionals can dial from local area codes.
  • RingDNA offers a local presence tool where prospects will view a local number instead of an unfamiliar area code.
  • This can enable sales professionals to “connect with up to 4 times more prospects every day.” (RingDNA.com)
• Initial lead lists typically include outdated information. This can include contacts that have left the company or disconnected numbers. All these factors will have a negative impact on the number of conversions.
  • Incorporate tools like Datanyze or Data.com to research prospects at organizations based on specific criteria.
• Utilize these tools and strategies to increase conversions and compile a list of qualified prospects.
• Prioritizing your qualified prospects list will enable you to connect for effectively.

Dials to Appointment or Demo Ratio

• This ratio determines how many dials need to be made by sales professionals that result in an appointment with the potential client.
• Another determining factor are dials to opportunity percentage. This ratio incorporates several factors including:
  • How many calls by sales professionals are made that connect with the client?
  • Number of calls that connect to make an appointment with the potential client?
  • Meetings are accepted as a qualified sales opportunity?
• 58% of sales meetings are not valuable to buyers (RingDNA.com)
• These ratios help companies to better analyze sales performance and effectiveness of their sales professionals.
• Marketing teams can also utilize these analytics to compile market specific campaigns that will drive more qualified leads.
• The more qualified leads that are generated, the more sales revenues will increase.
• Therefore, trackability is essential, as the source of the caller can help to determine where there is opportunity for future lead development.

Talk Time

• “92% of all customers interactions take place over the phone.” (RingDNA.com)
• The ideal talk-to-listen ratio for the highest yielding sales call is 43 minutes:57minutes (sales professional: prospect ratio). (Hubspot.com)
• Discussing price throughout the conversation is a good indicator of a potentially successful sale.
• “The top producing sales reps ‘talk price” around the 40-49 minute mark in their sales call.”
  • This enables the sales rep to listen to their client, discuss applicable products, and then talk about pricing structures.
  • You must first show the client the value in your product or service before moving on to price discussions.
• Keep in mind that it’s a best practice for the sales professional to listen instead of giving your typical elevator speech.
• Instead let the prospective buyer do most of the talking. The buyer will tell you all the essential information that you need to be an effective seller.
  • By listening, you can then sell more strategically the products and services that would create the most value for your customer.
• When prospects discuss business pains or worries, create value by incorporating risk protection verbiage throughout the conversation to reassure them.
  • Here are some key examples of risk protection verbiage:
  • Utilize 90-day review date or opt-out options
  • Flexible cancellation policies
  • Money back guarantees
  • Simple and effective setup
  • “When sales professionals remove friction by adding sentences like you can cancel at any time, they increase their win probability by 32%.” (Hubspot.com)

Call Disposition

• This essentially designates the outcome of the call to the prospect.
• Disposition can include an assortment of statuses, including:
  • Demo scheduled
  • Left voicemail
  • Not a working number
  • New point of contact
• 82% of buyers say they accept meetings with sellers who reach out to them (RingDNA.com)
• Call dispositions provide valuable information for sales reps and they are significant time savers.
• Sales professionals can utilize one-click shorthand notes as well as manual notes for customization.
• Call disposition also enable managers to better track their team’s performance and where they are at in the sales process.
• As a best practice, call dispositions should be incorporated into your CRM.
  • This way they can be associated with an account, point of contact, and applicable notes.
  • It simplifies the tracking process as a single report can pull all this information together.
  • Additionally, these reports can help to determine potential trends and call outcomes in real time. (RingDNA.com)

Voicemail Return Call

• “100% of all sales voicemails that get a callback, are more effective than a sales call with no answer and no voicemail left.” (RingDNA.com)
• An effective outreach strategy enables sales professionals to leave a meaningful voicemail. This will serve to further build a relationship with the prospect by incorporating value into your message.
• “Research reveals that people have roughly 50/50 odds of correctly interpreting a written message’s tone.” (Hubspot.com)
  • Therefore, even the best written email can be misconstrued by the prospect.
• Verbal messages provide more intuitive content through the tone of your voice and can even create excitement for the prospect.
• Voicemails remind potential customers that sales professionals are people too. Fundamentally, they create a more humanistic approach.
• Emails seem to be more disconnected because you can easily hit delete to get rid of the message.

Voicemail Strategy

• Appropriate voicemail strategy is key when approaching your prospect.
  • Leaving a general “elevator speech” in your voicemail will only cause the prospect to delete your message before you’re finished because there is no value incorporated.
  • Effective voicemails reinforce sales emails while also including valuable content.
  • This can include short tips to enhance your prospect’s business, something that would pique their interest.
    • For example: a quick static on the frequency of social media postings.
  • Voicemails can also help to “break the ice” more easily for email correspondence. Remember, you also want to create value for your prospect. This is where doing your homework pays off. Research your prospect’s website so that you can make a direct reference to it.
    • This enables you to refer to something that they are incorporating into their current marketing strategy.
    • Then you can make a recommendation to further enhance their strategy.
      • For example: include GIF sites that they can utilize if you notice that your client tends to incorporate these into their social media postings. (Hubspot.com)
    • Variety is the spice to any relationship- that includes business partnerships as well.
      • Change up your voicemail strategy so that it’s not the same tedious tactic every time you reach out to the client.
      • Start with a quick tip for your initial voicemail, then follow up with a more informative email creating value for the customer.
      • Then leave a follow up voicemail with information that would provide additional value to the customer.
      • Follow up with a third voicemail with another recommendation that would help to further enhance the prospect’s business.
      • And if they do not respond to any of the above actions, then it’s time to leave the conclusion voicemail.
        • You may not have won the business; but if the time comes when they do need products or services relatable to your industry, they will be significantly more likely to come to you.

Use these strategies to discover new opportunities for business development and engage potential consumers more effectively. Create action plans based on the analysis of the applicable ratios to better strategize and improve your performance and obtain your goals.

Connect with a CMT sales and marketing expert today to develop effective tactics and proactive approach to enhance your business!