You Can Manage Certain Sales Metrics, Just Not Revenue (Infographic) Leaders can have a significant impact on the success or failure of their sales force by focusing on achieving specific numbers.
By Jason Jordan Edited by Dan Bova
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As an entrepreneur, you measure a lot of things in your business. In fact, you probably obsess over revenue growth, cash flow, customer satisfaction and dozens of other performance metrics that define your company's success.
But when it comes to your sales force, which metrics can you actually manage? That is, which metrics are under your direct control? As new research suggests -- probably not as many as you might think.
Related: Use Metrics to Maximize Results From Your Sales Team
Vantage Point Performance (where I am a partner) and the Sales Education Foundation conducted a joint research project to identify how top companies measure and manage their sales forces.
We identified 306 metrics that were considered to be key to effective sales management for dozens of leading sales forces. As we sorted through the sea of sales-management reports, we discovered something very interesting: some sales metrics are more "manageable" than others. In fact, we discovered that only 17 percent of the 306 metrics are actually directly manageable.
While the majority of sales metrics, including revenue, cannot be directly managed, don't despair. You can have a significant impact on the success or failure of your sales force by focusing your sales team on achieving the specific metrics that you can manage. Check out the infographic below for details.
Click to Enlarge+
