As we’re rounding out any month, quarter, or year—depending on how your fiscal year is created—I always like salespeople to think about accelerating their sales in the next period. The easiest way to start this process is by looking at your current sales velocity.
Calculate Your Sales Velocity
I’ve written and talked about sales velocity numerous times, and if you’re unfamiliar with it, sales velocity is simply the number of opportunities you have in your pipeline multiplied by the value of those opportunities, multiplied by their closing ratio, and divided by the number of days on average it takes you to close. Once you’ve completed that calculation, you can make decisions about where you need to improve.
For example, your boss wants you to have a 10%, 50%, or—as one of my clients have yielded—an 80% increase in sales. Which of these levers can you start pulling now that’s going to affect that 80% calculation by the end of the year? It could be the number of opportunities being created, closing percentage, or the value of those opportunities. The closing percentage can be pretty easy to move if you are dedicated to asking for the business. If that’s one area you want to improve on, make sure you are asking for the business and you’re handling objections effectively. If, on the other hand, you need to look at a higher quality of opportunities with bigger deals, start looking NOW for opportunities because bigger opportunities take longer to close.
Indeed, start with calculating your sales velocity. Take a look at your current calculations and see what levers you can pull in order to affect the change you’re required to make.
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