Demonstrating Tangible Return on Investment | Sales Strategies

Over the last few years, I have been working with a number of companies who have all formalized and institutionalized this process of demonstrating tangible return on investment with their sales teams by building return on investment calculators.

These return on investment calculators have been implemented by a variety of companies in different industries. I’ve seen it’s utilization in commodity products, premium products, the services business, the technology space, the healthcare sector, and the retail industry.

Why Do These Calculators Work?

In all the cases where my clients are utilizing these calculators, their closing ratios are anywhere between 10% and 35% higher than their competition. It’s not because these calculators are magic—they’re just Excel spreadsheets where you put in numbers and a calculation comes up in the end—it’s, more importantly, the questions that make these return on investment calculators incredibly effective. It forces the sales rep to ask predetermined, deep questions about where the customer either wants to save or make money. Those questions can encompass the cost of labor, parts, time, replacing products, product consolidation, scheduling, and a whole other host of questions that can be asked. Additionally, it forces the sales rep to get comfortable asking questions in a logical manner about the money involved in the sales transaction. As a result, the customer can then make a clear and quick decision about whether your product is worth it or not.

This institutionalization of the monetary value associated with what you are selling dramatically improves your sales velocity. Indeed, think about creating calculators or institutionalizing those questions in your organization. You will see your sales closing ratio improve past your competitors.