Sales Is a Numbers Game - There Is No Myth to Debunk
Henning Schwinum
Helping growth-minded Founders, Owners & CEOs to identify their ideal sales/revenue/growth leader for a fractional, interim, full-time, or consultation role, using our proprietary PerfectMatch? system.
There are authors promoting the idea that sales is not a numbers game.
Liz Wendling makes the case by promoting “productive conversations” with “x amount of qualified prospects.”
While “x” clearly indicates a number, the rest indicates the misconception that quantity is somehow disconnected from quality. Just making calls for the sake of hitting a number does not make sense, does not lead to success, and better not be part of a sales process.
In a well-functioning process, numbers are used to standardize, clearly identify the success factors, and measure outcomes of not just the end result but every step along the way. You can define what constitutes a "productive conversation," give it a numeric score and then measure the outcome. You can define what a "qualified prospect" is, give it a numeric score, and then only insert those into the sales process that meet or exceed the score.
Then you have created a level playing field for the numbers game to begin: George Dudley, a world-renowned behavioral scientist and book author, concludes what salespeople have realized for years—success in sales is determined by the number of contacts initiated with prospective buyers on a consistent basis.
Jill Konrath states that “sales isn’t a numbers game anymore; it’s an effectiveness game. … What if we could generate more sales with fewer prospects? … Top sellers spend more time?thinking critically?about:
Knowing your audience and adding value are indeed traits of successful salespeople. And it still remains a numbers game: The outcomes of the different approaches are measured and compared; the value provided in an interaction like an email or a phone call is measured, both using AI and outcomes; faster close rates are recorded. And if a new process proves more effective, its metrics become the new standard.
And then there are authors who ask whether sales is “just a numbers game.” Or they equate numbers to luck and chance.
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A great sales leader wants to be able to measure every aspect of the sales process. It is the essential C in the PDCA cycle of the continuous improvement loop or planning, doing, checking, and acting.
And here are a few more reasons why I think sales is a numbers game:
Contact us to find out how fractional and interim sales leaders are using numbers to their advantage.
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Liz Wendling – Selling Is a Numbers Game Myth: Debunked
Jill Konrath – If You Think Sales is a Numbers Game – You’re Wrong
SalesPop – Sales is Much More than Just a Numbers Game
Wikipedia - PDCA
Product Strategy and Agile Product Ownership
2 年Without reading too deeply, I can see how great sales leaders would see sales as *more* than "just a numbers game"--while insisting that it is, in fact, a numbers game. Like manufacturing is a numbers game. Publishing is a numbers game these days. Medicine is a numbers game, for better or worse. For some, even quality of life is a numbers game. But these things should also be more than that. I think SalesPop has the right title, even if it stimulates fewer responses than the Wendling title.
Career Strategist, Transition Mentor & Coach | Holistic Relationship Builder, Job Seeker Accelerator | Public Speaker | Training & Development | Interviewing | Networking | Turning Challenges into Opportunities
2 年Those who can't "do", teach or write articles.
Author of "Selling Smarter" | Sales Training | Sales Coaching | Fractional Sales Leader | Sales Process | Executive Coaching | Leadership Development | Communication | Workshops
2 年Ah, the age-old question in sales. Whenever I hear the "quantity vs quality" question I respond with "how about a lot of high-quality sales calls? It does not have to be either/or, does it...?" As stated, the ultimate measure is quota attainment. The components that result in sales revenue include: Sales Revenue = Numer of Sales Calls X Sales Effectiveness X Revenue Size of Opportunity. * To satisfy the quota, Sales Revenue has to equal or surpass the quota. And since quotas typically increase over the prior year, one or more of these factors has to go up each year. And that is without getting into the nuances of all the things that impact each factor such as motivation, better targeting, better qualifying, selling skills, the timing of receiving new sales revenue, customer account development and management, time and territory management, and, and, and. The question of quality vs quantity overly simplifies and underappreciates the true skill level and capabilities of the true sales professional. That is why knowledgeable and skilled sales leadership is so key because the question of quality vs quantity has long since been put to bed. We need both!
President, Hammond Hill | Helping B2B Tech Founders Build High-Performance Sales Teams & Rock Star Managers
2 年Sales is absolutely a numbers game. Successful modern sellers also need to bring quality and informed insight to their prospective customers. For most sales people, one high-quality deal won't achieve target. They need multiple deals. As Evan Sanchez said below, higher numbers are needed to create more transactions.
Helping you replicate your top 10% Performers: Leadership, Sales, & Growth Mindset Training
2 年Higher Numbers create more transactions. This is created with more conversations. Agreed!