Sales metricsImagine this. You just hired a sales and recruiting team for staffing solutions and you are excited to see results. However, you realize that some of them are not meeting the sales goals and you’re not sure how to fix that. This is where the importance of sales metrics comes in. Sales metrics are the data points that represent a person’s or a team’s performance. These metrics track the success of a sales staff to make sure that the company is meeting its goals, generating profit, and pushing towards growth.

A Metrics-Driven Organization

Measuring success in sales and recruiting includes a range of different key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics ranging anywhere from total revenue, to number of calls made, number of follow-ups, and ultimately number of placements. Meeting these metrics becomes a part of a sales person’s job and they need to remain focused on working towards them in order to achieve success for themselves and the organization. It is one thing for a sales employee to be making X amount of calls and it is another for them to be following up on X amount of calls.

More often than not, sales people and recruiters can become lazy and only do the bare minimum. The idea of sales metrics is to boost productivity and push them to become more effective and efficient in their quest for placements. Sales metrics are meant to motivate salespeople, provide a set of standards to meet, and measure changes throughout time. If there are a set of sales goals in place that need to be met, it pushes employees to perform well. A metrics-driven sales and recruiting organization prospers ambitious employees who strive to make these goals. If there were no metrics in place, there would be no oversight. Metrics-driven companies are often more successful in their placements, as there is a constant push for meeting quota. The more motivation to succeed – the better.

Metrics-Meeting Methods

Fortunately, there are many solutions that will ensure that your sales and recruiting teams are making their numbers. Using incentives is a great way to motivate an individual to work towards a goal. If there is some benefit in sight, this will not only cause employees to get the job done, but will encourage them to go above and beyond in their efforts. In addition, using incentives can help them from feeling micromanaged and give them a sense of autonomy in achieving their results.

Popular incentives among organizations are extra commissions, sales contests, quota achievement, etc. Competition between salespeople is highly motivating and boosts efficiency, as demonstrated by many competitive sales and recruiting work environments. If there is constant competition and the availability of commission on the line, salespeople continually aim to out-work each other, which results in every employee striving to be produce results and brings in more revenue for both them and the organization as a whole.

Common Misconception

While metrics-driven companies are known to be successful in their sales and recruiting efforts, there are still common misconceptions about them that cause speculation. For example, there are instances where a sales person does not meet the metrics. Often, people believe that in a case like this the individual will become unmotivated with an overwhelming feeling of failure – resulting in a greater lack of determination. While this can be damaging and cause people to become unmotivated, most people find inspiration within these poor results and use it as a driver to do better. If you’re not seeing the results you want, don’t be so hard on yourself. Instead, use it as a motivator to meet your quota next time and drive consultant and organizational success.

Sales metrics are essential in creating an efficient and effective environment for your sales and recruiting team. In efficiency, metrics encourage salespeople to be making a certain amount of calls or emails. In effectiveness, metrics motivate salespeople to be making quality calls and emails. It is important to understand how to best uses sales metrics in order to maximize efficiency and increase performance. So – avoid the misconceptions, begin the competition, and work towards meeting your metrics today!

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About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.