Today I spent a great deal of time improving my sales tracker. As you know, I am currently managing a team of sales reps and we have a very important goal to hit by April 1st 2008. In order to get an accurate up to the minute look at closing percentages, closing rates and number of other details it is important to use some sort of a tracking system. I have found that Microsoft Excel spreadsheets work best for me even though I know several people that just use pen, paper and a calculator.
With Excel, I am able to create a workbook that contains spreadsheets for each of my sales reps on individual tabs. Each of these tabs roll up in to a master sheet. This type of set up enables me to toggle views between individual sales-rep results versus cumulative team results. I track everything, from visits, to phone calls, to presentations, to “Yes’s”, to “No’s”, to call backs. I use the spread sheets to keep track of production revenue and even attendance.
The thing I like best about my Sales Tracking Spreadsheet is that I use the current date to extrapolate the required daily sales and revenue that I need to make in order to hit my sales goals. Like anything else this is just a management tool and its only as good as its operator. In order to benefit from this sort of tool the key is to update it daily. I spend at least a half hour per day (and some times even more) updating and reviewing my sales tracking spreadsheet. The information I learn helps me identify trends and important patterns. Some of these trends and patterns are good and serve as motivation for the team but some are not and they open my eyes to opportunities for improvement. When I identify low closing ratios or contact rates on particular days and times (or maybe with a particular sales rep) I can quickly “dive” in and address the issue with him (or her) before it becomes a downward spiral. Sometimes my tracker brings to light the need for a quick fix like changing a schedule or improving my material management. Often times it identifies that I should spend some more time role playing or training a particular sales rep. As I’ve said before the key to getting out of a sales slump is early detection, and I can’t think of a better tool to use in predicting problems with your sales force than a Sales Tracking Spreadsheet.
To Your Success
Omar
