5 KPIs That Salesforce Can Deliver to The C-Suite In Real Time

Old school key performance indicators concentrate on the final number of dollars delivered by a sales rep but with Salesforce.com, organizations can use KPIs to measure activities and then relate them to how the team achieved the success surrounding the final sales performance. Armed with this knowledge c-level executives can help coach teams within a collaborative environment where everyone contributes and crushes their combined quotas.

1. Lead Response Time
Your potential customers have identified their need for your services and are are researching companies who can fulfill their requirements long before they contact you; how long it takes your team to respond could be the difference winning and losing the sale. Research conducted by Harvard Business Review found that companies who spoken with a lead within one hour of initial contact were 7 times more likely to qualify the lead (i.e. have a meaningful conversation with the key decision maker) than organizations who waited two hours to contact the client. Sales Managers should be monitoring lead response time and tracking relative conversion rates not just sending auto-responders to inquiries and adding follow ups to the to-do list.

2. Win:Loss Ratio

Tracking your win:loss ratio will give valuable insights into where the sales team should be putting their efforts and will help you to hone your sales strategy. If the team is busy chasing deals that never come to fruition examining these deals and the reasons why they weren’t won will help understand which deals you CAN win and help you to focus your efforts and expertise on successfully closing those and transforming your team into deal-closers, not just door-openers.

3. Number of Days to Close
How long does it take for a deal to close? Depending on your business it could be days, weeks, months or even years. Salesforce can instantly reveal the timing of a deal from open to close; with this information you can learn what your best sales reps are doing and use their practices to coach other team members to greatness.

4. Value of Deals by State/Region
Do you know definitively where your business is coming from? The explosive growth of the internet and ever-increasing marketplaces means that customers can find you no matter where they operate; insights into where business is coming from is enlightening but, more importantly can help you better target these geographic areas.

5. Rate of Follow Up Contact
Once an inquiry arrives you should be tracking the number of times your team touches that potential customer by drip marketing, personal email, call, meeting or social media. Track the number of times a rep engages in meaningful activity with the customer and relate these activities to converted leads and closed opportunities so that you can use activity reports to drive behavior and increase sales closed.

Final Thought
Salesforce allows you to measure many things. A crucial part of managing to your key performance indicators is recognizing that not every KPI will apply to every user or department; each department will have their own set of KPIs to monitor and manage but there will also be a set of measurable KPIs that roll up to the C-suite which are used to track company goals. Once these KPIs have been defined and communicated it is up to the managers to ensure their teams have the best possible tools to deliver them.

If your organization is not getting the appropriate KPIs for your business from your Salesforce.com data contact us so that we can help you drive more business collaboratively and more efficiently.