Using KPI's in sales

What are KPI’s?

KPI’s are key performance indicators which are metrics that help sales representatives measure how effective and efficient their sales are. Different businesses have different KPI’s depending on their business goals. They can be used to track the performances of every person in a business, from sales managers to marketers. KPI’s are used to help managers and leaders track the performance of their company and recognise any themes and trends that occur. The only issue is that there are thousands of KPI’s to choose from and if businesses choose the wrong KPI’s to start with this could set them off track. However, businesses will soon recognise this and then be able to adapt their KPI’s to suit the company’s aims.

‍Why are sales KPI’s important?

Using KPI’s in your business is important for many reasons. First of all, if you do not track KPI’s, your sales representatives won’t know if their actions and efforts to make sales are actually improving results and making a difference. This makes it difficult for them to improve as they do not know where they are doing well or where they may need to improve their sales skills. Not only this, KPI’s are important to use in your business as they give a clear overview of how the business is performing to management and help to point sales representatives and leaders in the right direction. Without KPI’s, it would be extremely difficult to predict future sales and figures, leading businesses into the unknown about their future. Companies should also ensure they are monitoring KPI’s regularly to see whether they are the most relevant KPI’s to suit the business.

‍Examples of KPIs to measure:

There are thousands of KPI’s that businesses can measure, and every business will use different ones depending on their main goals. Below, we give you just some examples of KPI’s used by successful sales teams.

- Monthly sales growth: many sales managers use this KPI to help measure and keep track of their sales performance on a regular, monthly basis. Measuring this monthly helps to track where and when sales are fluctuating enabling sales managers to act on the results to continue improving their results.

- Sales volume by location: this KPI compares the number of sales processed across different locations. This includes both in physical stores as well as online sales. This allows managers to see where the higher sales demand is and allow them to investigate why this may be the case and act on it.

- Existing client engagement: this KPI is all about ensuring your sales team maintain a good rapport with existing customers. This helps to encourage long-term business as ensuring you track this will encourage your sales reps to continue to build trust and give their continued support to previous customers in the hopes they will continue to purchase from your company.

- Deals won from proposals sent: this relates to the number of proposals sent to a prospect compared to the number of deals won. This can help to give managers an indication as to whether you are sending your proposals to the correct prospects.

- Employee turnover rate: this KPI can help you to track how many employees leave the company in a specific time period. If this is a high number, this will allow you to recognise this and act upon to reduce this figure.

Shark software can assist with customer success reviews that can help to track baseline value KPI’s and compare these to your targets. To find out more, get in touch with one of the Shark Finesse team.