Mid Year Sales Funnel Check, Are You Set Up To Close Strong?
Posted by
Chris Lang on Thu, Jun 09, 2024 @ 03:55 PM
Analyzing the funnel is like getting your physical. You dread the Doctor’s lecture about getting too much sun, not exercising enough and drinking too much wine. In addition the check up is getting more and more…well ”invasive” as time goes on. Your risks and their potential outcomes are exposed and it scares the hell out of you. Now that we’re coming to the midway point of the year, you need to be the doctor and run a thorough analysis of your funnel to see what tweaks need to be made. Here is what to look for. (Now turn your head and cough).
Connect Rate
If you put in 100 dials, how many people will you actually have a meaningful conversation with? A good connect rate to go for is 12-14% and a great connect rate is 15%-17%. There are a couple of things to look at if you are not at these numbers:
List Quality: Do your reps have valid names, numbers and titles within the right verticals to call?
Call methodology: Do you have a best practice process in place? (PS: There are experts in this. Writing out a call plan on a napkin while in flight from Philly doesn’t make it best practices. Go to someone!)
Personnel: Do you have the right people that are properly trained and motivated?
Lead Rate
When you get someone on the phone, how often do they turn into BANT qualified leads? Lead rates can vary drastically based on product, but for high tech solutions that range from $30k - $300k, you should expect a 3.5% - 6% lead rate. If you are below, you may want to check:
1) Targeting - Are you targeting the right titles within the right verticals?
2) Qualification process – Are you pitching based on value? Do your questions make sense to the listener? Does the rep know when to pass to sales? Do they talk too much or too little?
3) Messaging – Does your pitch create interest in the prospect?
Lead to Forecast Conversion Rate
Assuming that sales knows their close rate off of forecasted business, which is another whole issue entirely, you should figure out your conversion rate from lead to forecast. Use these numbers for now: $50k average deal size, 40% conversion from BANT Qualified lead to sales forecast, 30% sales close rate on forecast deals. If you know these numbers, you can engineer your lead numbers to hit the desired revenue. Using the numbers above; 10 leads will put 4 on forecast for $200k. With a 30% close rate you can plan on $60,000 in revenue. If the company goal is to bring in $240k in revenue per month, you will need 40 leads of consistent quality to get there.
We are a little over 2 weeks away from the 2nd half of the year. Depending on your sales cycle, you probably have very little time to make the necessary changes to get business in by years end. Take a look at the numbers above and make the needed adjustments to exceed your goal.