One of best ways to do something your competition isn’t is to use a Track-It sheet that records you and/or your sales teams activities.  Here are some activities I recommend you start keeping track of:

  • Goals review – at least once a day
  • SalesMind – 8 minute affirmations to reduce negative scripts (call reluctance, money tolerance, etc.) – at least once a day – contact me to learn more about SalesMind
  • Dials – how many times you just dial the phone
  • Contacts – how many times you talk to the decision maker
  • Appointments
  • New opportunity
  • Referrals given – a great way to get referrals is to give them!
  • Referrals received
  • Yes/Close – agreement to do business, a sign up, a free trial.
  • No- no’s aren’t bad. Get through them!
  • Blog post – make the world better and market yourself at the same time
  • Email opt-in – get people on your ‘touch’ list

Advantages to Tracking Activities

Setting up Track-It sheets allows you to design you and/or your sales team’s time for success.  Then, you use it for accountability. If you notice you’re not getting the results you wanted, just look at the Track-It sheet.  Did the necessary amount of effort go into closing more business?

Another reason why tracking activities can be a benefit is that it can show you the problems of why more new business isn’t closing.  For instance, if the dials to contact ratio is solid, i.e. 10% for cold calling, but appointments are way low, you know there is a problem with asking for the appointment.  Then, by recording the sales calls, you’ll be able to determine what you and/or your sales reps are saying that may be affecting the prospect negatively.

For Sales Managers – Tying Salary to Activities

Are you paying your salespeople a base salary?  I hope that the Track-It sheet is tied directly to the base compensation.  For instance, whenever I pay a base salary to a salesperson, the expectations are set right up front that the salesperson is expected to keep their Track-It sheet on their desk at all times and they need to mark all activities and results.  Furthermore, in order to get their base compensation, they’re required to turn their Track-It sheets in as proof of their activities.  If the salesperson only does 75% of the agree upon activities required for success, in many cases dials, the salesperson only get 75% of the base.  No muss, no fuss.