4 “Sales Vanity Metrics” to avoid in your sales process

1. Number of Outbound Calls

This means you are waiting for leads and prospects to call you back. And they don’t. So instead, you tell yourself, “Sales is just a numbers game and if I make enough calls, I’ll close some sales.” This sounds an awful lot like the Infinite Monkey Theorem.

Instead, measure number of leads converted to prospects or number of sales advances from your outbound calls. Making 10 calls and logging five advances is far better than making 45 outbound calls with no progress on your sales opportunities.?

Advancing vs continuing the sale #1.

2. Number of Product Demos

Demos stall the sale, because you think the product is the reason the prospect is interested. Measuring the number of demos causes you to rush to the demo before properly assessing the client’s situation and the problem they need to solve.

It’s not your product; it’s how you can to solve the prospect’s problem. In fact, see how far you can take a sale without showing your product. And when you need to, see how short you can keep your demo.

Check out “Great Demo!” for more on this at www.seconderivative.com.

3. Number of Free Trials

If you are measuring the number of free trials, what you’re really doing is sending logins and passcodes to accounts that will never be used. It sounds good, because you think the person is really interested, so much so that they want to use your product. For free. Without any commitment. And they can screen your phone calls, never login, and never talk to you again. Yeah, that sounds great doesn’t it?

Instead of “free trials,” call them “Problem Assessments” where you and the prospect mutually agree on how the new user account will be applied to a specific problem the prospect is facing. Set a deadline and then assess whether your product solved their problem. (Hint: Set up the rules to the game so you win.)

Here’s a nice article on Cohort Analysis (https://chrislema.com/are-you-doing-cohort- analysis/) for your free trial, er Problem Assessments.

4. Number of Proposals

After your demo, your prospect says, “This looks great. Send me a proposal.” You fist pump because you get to notch BOTH a demo and a proposal on your Sales Vanity Metrics.

Proposals are nothing but a reason to stall. A typical proposal includes a product description, price, delivery, training, implementation, and contract length. When you send a proposal, you’re giving the prospect a list of reasons to reject your product – “not the right product”, “too expensive”, “not a good time”, “need more training”, etc., etc., etc.

Instead of proposals, write out a Project Implementation Plan with the client. Ask them what should be included so that the project is approved internally. Make them put in just as much work as you, so you have a clear picture of what they exactly need.

Read more about “Vanity Metrics” for Startups here:

https://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/12/why-vanity-metrics-are-dangerous.html 

Want to nail your product demos?

Then you should check out my checklist:"10 Questions To Ask Before You Demo Your Product."

Get your FREE copy of my checklist here