Telesales call sheet
Sales strategy means being able to target the actions necessary to be effective in sales. That is not to say just when you are talking to the customer but also managing our ‘pipeline’. A pipeline is the flow of contacts we need to turn prospects into bone-fide customers. We call it a pipeline because whatever we put into the pipeline (like oil or other liquids being pumped through a pipe) will come out the other end. It’s the same in sales; if we call 100 cold prospects who don’t do any business with our organisation, only some will flow into ‘warm’ customers – those who may be interested.
Let’s say our conversion from cold to warm is 25%, and so only 25 of the original list shows any interest in buying. From these warm prospects some will decide no and others will show a definite interest up to the point of saying, “Yes, I think we may go for that. I just need to speak to my board of directors”. These we would call ‘hot’ prospects and a % of these will be converted into sales. We therefore need to know how many of our 25% will become ‘hot’ prospects – let’s say only half: that leaves about 12 who express a real desire to buy. In reality, we will not sell to all of the 12 (perhaps we will only convert 50% into real sales) but of these we only sell to 6. If this conversion has been backed up with facts and figures over time we know that we need to contact 100 customers to sell to 6. Only by logging conversions will we know our average numbers to contact to maintain our sales results. If I have to sell to 12 customers a month then I’d need to contact 200 new customers per month. Realistically, the results will fluctuate month to month but at least we know that if we need to sell more the most obvious tactic is just to contact more prospects.
The Call Sheet below shows the logs and number of calls needed to convert cold calls into clients. This sales person needs to make 75 calls per day to speak to 65% contacts that can make sales decisions. From these calls, they usually convert half of these into sales. The percentages and numbers needed to hit target are shown in brackets.
Their results from the week are shown. Obviously, they have missed target, with 113 sales compared to the target of 125. This was primarily due to the number of calls made (312 compared to a target of 375). This sales person will have to increase the call rate to maintain their pipeline and achieve the sales target.
| Day | Target number of calls | Total number of calls made | Qualified contacts(65%-49) | Total Sales/appointments (50%-25) |
| 1 | 75 | 53 | 30 | 12 |
| 2 | 75 | 62 | 28 | 20 |
| 3 | 75 | 78 | 52 | 35 |
| 4 | 75 | 32 | 12 | 8 |
| 5 | 75 | 87 | 61 | 38 |
| Total | 375 | 312 (83% of target) | 183 (Target 245) | 113 (Target 125) |
Exercise
Sales Analysis: Use the call strategy sheet and log your calls consistently over the next month. Work out your average conversion rates
| Day | Target number of calls | Total number of calls made | Qualified contacts(my conversion rate is %) | Total Sales/appointments (my conversion rate is %) |
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| Total |
By using the chart above you will be able to analyse your performance over a given period of time and create a strategy for increased success. The types of question you need to ask are:
Do I need to:
- increase total number of calls I make to increase my sales?
- improve my closing rate?
- increase critical areas of my pipeline?
- improve my lead sourcing so that I target more specific customer groups?
- analyse which part of my sale that needs improving e.g. objection handling, closing skills etc?
