To make informed decisions and drive better results, sales managers and reps alike need a reliable way to track and analyse sales activity.
But how? Enter the sales cookbook dashboard. This powerful tool provides valuable insights into sales behaviour and performance, and businesses can use it to drive sales using proven data.
At the heart of the cookbook dashboard lies the fundamental principle of tracking and monitoring essential sales metrics. This is perfect for sales reps looking to improve their performance and for sales managers wanting a quick overview of their team’s performance.
Keep reading to learn more about how sales managers and sales reps alike can benefit from using the sales cookbook dashboard. We’ll also detail some key metrics of the cookbook dashboard, why they’re important, and what they tell us.
Using Data to Optimise Sales Behaviour
For Sales Reps
The cookbook dashboard's primary goal is to empower sales reps to take charge of their performance by analysing their daily activities against key metrics.
Armed with data from the reports, sales representatives can conduct self-assessments and identify areas for improvement in their sales process, such as the quality of prospecting or the effectiveness of calls. This helps them stay on track with their daily goals and continuously enhance their skills.
For Sales Managers
For sales managers, the dashboard becomes a valuable tool during weekly reviews with their team members. The reports enable managers to understand individual performance, identify patterns, and provide personalised coaching to enhance skills.
And while it’s an essential aspect of sales management, supervision is often time-consuming. The cookbook dashboard shifts some of this responsibility to the sales reps themselves. This leaves more time for managers to focus on training, mentoring, and strategic planning.
A Breakdown of the Cookbook Dashboard
The true power of the dashboard lies in its ability to pinpoint the root cause of performance issues through metrics gathered during the sales process. Listed below are key metrics to consider when using the cookbook dashboard, and how they can make a valuable contribution to sales.
1. Calls Made
What is it?
The Calls Made metric shows us the number of call attempts made by each sales representative.
Why is it important?
This metric serves as a vital indicator of daily performance and helps establish a minimum benchmark for productive behaviour. As most managers appreciate, one of the most crucial parts of a sales rep’s job is to meet their minimum daily call attempts.
This is because engaging in consistent outreach is vital for connecting with potential customers and securing deals. It holds true even when considering various contact methods, as call attempts tend to yield better results than emails or social media outreach.
What does it tell us?
If a sales rep is underperforming against this benchmark, it could mean their time is being taken up by other internal factors. As a sales manager, this metric could suggest you need to step in and help re-prioritise.
2. Call-to-Conversation
What is it?
This report highlights how successful sales reps are in transitioning call attempts into meaningful conversations.
Why is it important?
Call-to-Conversation tells us how effective the sales team is when speaking with prospects. Rates dipping below 20%, for example, indicate challenges in connecting with potential clients.
On the other hand, rates above 25% signify exceptional performance and the need to identify what's driving such success.
What does it tell us?
By analysing conversion rates, sales managers can determine whether issues lie in lead quality, external factors, or the sales reps' approach. For example, if you're dealing with a large number of poorly fitting leads, you need to provide feedback to marketing.
Similarly, a sales rep might take time to reconsider their approach, and whether they have been choosing to make call attempts to contacts that actually, on reflection, probably wouldn't have been a good fit in the first place.
You can also see the difference in conversion rates when dealing with inbound leads versus outbound sales outreach. Typically, inbound leads yield a conversion rate of 25-30%, which is considerably higher than that of outbound efforts.
However, this is contingent on having a sufficient volume of inbound leads to call. In cases where there are no inbound leads, the conversion rate from outreach calls to conversations drops to 10%. This disparity offers valuable insights for a business development perspective, guiding the allocation of resources and efforts to maximise results.
3. Conversion Rate from Conversations to Open Deals
What is it?
This report tracks the conversion of the first conversation into an open meeting, such as a discovery call. Here the goal is achieving a conversion rate of 25%.
Why is it important?
Knowing how well your conversations are converting is integral to managing the sales process. This metric will indicate if you have a problem with conversation conversions, and potentially from where this issue may have arisen.
What does it tell us?
Deviations from this benchmark can indicate problems with lead fit or potential issues with the sales reps' approach during the call. Managers can then provide targeted feedback and coaching to address these issues effectively.
4. Conversion Rate from Open Meetings to Closing Meetings
What is it?
This final report gauges the success of moving potential deals through the sales pipeline to closure. Note that this rate may vary depending on the company's offerings.
Why is it important?
Tracking conversion rates from Open Meetings to Closing Meetings enables valuable insights into deal velocity and probability of closure for future pipelines.
What does it tell us?
This report is essential when figuring out your deal forecasting and weighted value inside the pipelines. Over the long term, this means you have a better idea about how much additional investment you put in from a pre-sales perspective.
The cookbook dashboard is a game-changer in the sales world, offering comprehensive insights into activity, conversion rates, and deal progress. It empowers sales representatives to self-supervise and stay on top of their daily goals while enabling sales managers to provide targeted coaching for enhanced performance.
With this powerful tool in their arsenal, sales teams can drive success and exceed their targets, bringing them a step closer to achieving remarkable results.
Want to learn more about how the cookbook dashboard works, and how you can implement it into your own business? Reach out to us today for a chat about how we can help you take your business to the next level. You can also get a more technical step-by-step guide to setting up the Sales Cookbook Dashboard here.
Call us on 01235 313 555 or click the button below to learn more.
