Vital Sales Statistics That Everyone Should Know [Guest Post]

Guest Post by Reuben Yonatan

While a percentage of sales will always be personal, instinctual and individualized, putting your team in the best position to make a sale is all about understanding the numbers, set statistics and the evolving methods available when delivering conversions.

GetCRM put together these metrics to help outline some of the key findings in 2017. These are numbers that every salesperson should know in order to lessen the challenges that are inherent in sales and inspire teams to work smarter.

It’s Not What You Know

As sales concepts evolve the most important truisms stay the same. Adages like “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” are just as much a part of the sales toolbox as they ever were, but with email and social media this concept has achieved a digital renaissance.

We all understand that referrals are powerful, and some even realize that referral is their most effective tool, but just how effective takes the right numbers to clarify the impact.

• Customers who have received referrals are 4x more likely to buy.
• Referrals also have power for retention as referred customers have 16% more lifetime value than non-referred.
• When courting executives a vast majority (73%) are more inclined to work with someone who they already know or has been referred by someone they know.
• According to a survey, most people land at least 70% of their customers due to referrals.

This article in Forbes, claims to challenge the general assertion, but actually deepens the argument. The author maintains that it’s not just who you know but also WHEN you contact them that’s of primary importance.

Focusing not only on connections, but adding timing can make all the difference.

For example, when there are changes in executive structure it is the best time to make a sales pitch. By understanding not just the people but the evolution the companies that make up your best leads, you have a better chance of landing a new account.

How Many Calls Does It Take?

It’s time consuming and filled with layers of rejection. It feels like a waste of time. But according to the statistics, cold calling can be an effective use of team resources – as long as you continue to follow up. For some it may be past the place of comfortability, but the results will eventually take shape.

No one wants to be a pest, but there is a difference between pestering and persistence. You may think a couple of calls puts your team on the verge of becoming an annoyance, but the statistics say otherwise.

• 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call, however, the metrics say it takes an average of 8 calls to reach a single prospect.
• Even after getting a meeting, the 80% of sales require 5 additional follow up calls

That’s a total of 13 calls before the sale is finalized – and that’s just the average.

Another source claims a good number of calls to make is 18, recognizing that the amount of return is less than 1% out of all the calls made. In fact it takes between 100 – 500 cold calls for each qualified lead. While this can get disheartening, it is a crucial part of the process. This is particularly true when trying to get meetings with C level position holders, 75% of executives say that they decided to attend an event or meeting due to a cold call or email.

But again, timing is everything. The sheer volume of touch points, just by phone, that it takes to land a cold call sale demonstrates that it is important to stretch out your phone correspondence over a few months.

Learning to organize these calls properly can be a kind of “sales hack” for your team. Make it a priority every day to make a few follow up calls as waiting until the end of the quarter just will not produce the best results.

E-mail Sales Still Crucial

Sales emails sometimes feel as though they do not have the ROI that one would want.

Percentage click-through rates tend to be low (around 2%) and conversions even lower. In the modern landscape, it is tempting to skip the sales email and focus on social media, which can often feel like it’s achieving more immediate measurable results.

However, it’s important to remember that email is still a crucial touch point in the sales landscape. In fact, campaigns including email marketing have been shown to be 40 times more effective when it comes to reaching new customers, than Facebook and twitter.

But email marketing can only be effective if it is customized for the clients that it means to reach. Tailoring emails to specific customer classes is crucial, but just as important is to make sure that your pieces work across devices.

• 40% of emails are opened on mobile devices initially. If you are not customizing your advertising for that platform, you are missing out on a significant percentage of potential sales.
• Getting personal works – targeted and personal emails show a 14% bump in click-through and 10% rise in conversions.
• Just using the word “new” in your email improves open rates by close to 25%.
• 70% of email openers are searching for a deal, discount, or coupon.

Being Mindful of Timing

It’s difficult to respond instantly to requests, but unfortunately instant gratification is beginning to be an overarching expectation.  Customers expect responsiveness no matter what time of day or night they are sending correspondence.

The statistics say that there is 10x less of a chance of picking up a lead if you do not respond within the first 5 minutes after being contacted.

Setting up automated ways to respond to clients then is imperative. If possible, making these customized to specific requests is a great way to give potential clients a connection to your company while buying you the time you need to put together a more organized response.

Buy In For Influencers

While phone calls are important and emails are key, your social media savvy should increasingly be one of the most highly used tools in your sales arsenal.

The world of social media advertising is constantly evolving, and it might be useful to look into connecting with social media influencers to see if they can improve your exposure. Influencers are becoming gatekeepers when it comes to building traction online and you are hamstringing yourself if you do not take advantage of this resource.

The people who do this properly treat it very seriously – it’s not a lark or just a hobby for them. Treat contacting these organizations as you would any other advertising avenue. It’s not just a trick or added flash, it is an integrated part of the current sales landscape.

Why is this so important?

43% of your customers are more likely to buy a product if they hear about it from a friend or family member on social media. Get more likes and show your brand more with social media influencers.

While sales methodology continues to change, the basic rules boil down to hard work and persistence. There’s no panacea that will allow you to begin converting regularly without that diligent drive. The hope is, however, to use statistics and intelligent strategies in phone calls, email and social media that put you in the best possible position to succeed.

Author Bio

Reuben Yonatan is the founder and CEO of GetCRM. As a tech enthusiast and entrepreneur, Reuben brings a wealth of cloud computing and hands-on telecom experience, backed by his 10-year track record in strategically shaping operational functionality in all his ventures.