Sales is all about numbers – hitting the numbers or missing them. Did you know that about 13% of all jobs in the US are full time sales positions? It may sound like a lot, but what’s intriguing is that 8% of them close about 80% of sales. That’s because being a world class seller requires some skills like negotiation and relationship building. Only 2% of sales happen during the first meeting.
If you want to be a great seller that differentiates from the others, you have to know what’s working best and what isn’t. Learn from other people’s experiences and understand the techniques that can help you sell products online or offline.
In this article, I’ll share with you 27 sales stats that will make you rethink some of the things you are doing and some things that you should be doing.
Calling is Essential, Cold Calling is Not
“In 2007 an average of 3.68 cold call attempts were necessary to reach a prospect. Today it takes about 8 attempts.” (Source: TeleNet and Ovation Sales Group)
Comment: People have a much lower tolerance to irrelevant communication today and there are much better ways to get your message across.
“A mere 2% of cold calls result in scheduled appointments.” (Source: Leap Job).
Comment: You should find more effective ways to reach your prospects.
“The optimal length of a voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds.” (Source: The Sales Hunter)
Comment: “Short and sweet” works but it has to be informative too.
“The average SDR makes 52 calls every day.” (Source: Gtmhub Sales Analytics)
Comment: With this volume it’s essential to master voice mails and good introductions.
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
“Following up with web leads within 5 minutes makes you 9 times more likely to engage them.” (Source: InsideSales.com)
Comment: Switching context is exhausting so try to engage prospects before they move onto the next thing.
“The first sales rep to contact the lead gets 50% of deals.” (Source: InsideSales.com)
Comment: If your win rate is under 50% you should try to be the first to engage.
“The first viable vendor to reach a decision maker has a 74% chance to win the deal if they manage to set the buying vision.” (Source: Forrester)
Comment: Being the first to engage with the buyer puts you in a unique position – you can help identify new pains and give less weight to perceived issues.
“The chance of successfully qualifying a lead drops 4 times after waiting just 10 minutes to respond.” (Source: Leadresponsemanagement.org)
Comment: This is a big part of increasing your chances to win the deal. If you fail or delay to engage your competitor will close the deal.
“At the same time over 75% of organizations who receive a web lead will NOT respond by phone.” (Source: InsideSales.com)
Comment: Engaging over email could also be very effective as long as it’s done within the window of opportunity.
Connections and Referrals Still Work Best
“Referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value than non-referred customers.: (Source: Journal of Marketing)
Comment: Delivering more than expected always pays off in the long run.
“91% of clients say they are open to provide referrals. Yet, only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals.” (Source: Dale Carnegie)
Comment: Sometimes there’s a gap between what people say and what they do. Nonetheless, referrals are untapped potential for most companies.
“On average, referrals amount to 65% of a company’s new business.” (Source: New York Times).
Comment: If your referral revenue is much less than that you’re either not tracking it well or not serving your customers well.
“B2B buyers are 5 times more likely to engage when introduced” (Source: LinkedIn)
Comment: Relationships are essential in B2B. It’s no surprise that this metric comes from LinkedIn
“84% of B2B decision makers begin the buying journey with a referral” (Source: Salesbenchmark Index)
Comment: Something to think about the next time you ignore a customer request.
“Referral leads convert 30% better than leads from other marketing channels.” (Source: R&G Technologies)
Comment: Awareness is so much more powerful when it comes with a recommendation.
Your Content Speaks for You – Make it Count
“Buyers complete 57% their journey before the talking to sales.” (Source: Corporate Executive Board)
Comment: This is where great content and effective nurturing comes into play. If you’re not creating enough sales opportunities, it’s likely because people give up on you before they even talk to you.
“95% of buyers go with a vendor that “Provided them with ample content to help navigate through each stage of the buying process”. (Source: DemandGen Report)
Comment: The rest probably bought what was cheaper so if you “only” got the 95% you’re not missing out on much ;)
“Companies that nurture leads make 50% more sales at a cost 33% lower than non-nurtured leads.” (Source: Forrester Research)
Comment: If you are not educating prospects through nurturing, it’s probably your sales team that’s doing it one on one (hence the higher cost).
“By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their interaction with the brand without interacting with a human.” (Source: Gartner)
Comment: Today 57% of the buyers’ journey happens before the first sales conversation so we’re more than half way there.
Persistence Pays Off
“80% of deals require 5 follow-up calls after a meeting. 44% of salespeople give up after 1 follow up” (Source: The Marketing Donut)
Comment: If you give up easy, a career in sales is not a good choice.
“The average salesperson only makes 2 attempts to reach a prospect.” (Source: Sirius Decisions)
Comment: You should probably make it a rule to do at least 5 follow up calls and emails to make sure you pick what your competitors leave on the table.
Social Selling Works
“You are up to 70% more likely to get an appointment on an unexpected sale if you join LinkedIn Groups.” (Source: Vorsight)
Comment: You’re more likely to be on the high end of that 70% range if you are active in the groups you join ;)
“Top salespeople use LinkedIn at least 6 hours per week. “(Source: The Sales Management Association)
Comment: LinkedIn is one of the best prospecting tools sales people have. If you’re not using it, you’re missing out.
Bonus Stats
“71% of sales reps say they spend too much time on data entry.” (Source: ToutApp)
Comment: Any amount of time spent entering data that doesn’t help you is too much time. The entered data must help the rep sell more or they will never buy in the process.
“46% of high-growth tech companies are growing via inside sales.” (Source: Harvard Business Review)
Comment: High growth is usually on a smaller scale and inside sales reps cost much less than field sales reps.
“Nearly 57% of B2B prospects and customers feel that their sales teams are not prepared for the first meeting.” (Source: IDC)
Comment: This is the feeling you get when you’ve spent more time researching the market than the sales rep “consulting” you.
“After a presentation, 63% of attendees remember stories. Only 5% remember statistics.” (Source: Chip and Dan Heath)
Comment: Telling a story of how you helped a client is much more likely to be remembered than anything else. If the statistics are important you can always send them as a reference after the meeting