Want To See Growth? Concentrate On The Metrics

As I travel the country and speak with more and more Data Center executives one question continues to be asked: “If the data center sector is growing then why is my team’s monthly recurring revenue remaining (MRR) flat or declining? We’re not doing anything different.“

Well there you have it. You are not doing anything different in the face of increasing competition. Far too often as sales managers, we fall into the trap of rinse and repeat. Over the coming months I will share some of my observations on how to turn around a stale technology sales organization into the producers our shareholders want them to be.

Concentrate on the right metrics.

Ask any IT service sales executive about their sales metrics and most will jump right to their MRR. Granted that is an important number, but that’s kind of like looking at the scoreboard at the end of the game. Sure you will know if it’s a win or loss but at that point you’re powerless to change the outcome. If you really want to change the game track your leading indicators closely. Top of the funnel activity is what drives a successful pipeline. It is what will change the game.

• How many networking events do your sales members attend?
• How many leads do they average at a networking event?
• Are they on the board of any networking organizations?
• Do they work with partners and track results or has it become a time sink hole?
• Are they relying on Marketing to provide leads?
• Do they lose fast?

These are just a few of the activities that need to be tracked. It is vital that the activity level of a sales person is clearly communicated. Expectation without communication is certain to fail. Next time I will talk about can you win?  Is your team asking the right questions to determine if you can win this deal or are they going straight to price and the quote and hope philosophy. Remember, losing fast is the next best thing to a win.