How Our Client Increased Her Close Rate by 40%
Episode 678: Show Notes
We’re in the final quarter of the year and it’s the perfect time to hunker down, focus, and refine. This is the season to investigate what’s working in your business and what’s not so you can make strategic and educated improvements going into the next year. In preparation, you’re going to need to start collecting data in order to identify your greatest areas of opportunity and gauge where to place your focus.
This past week, we walked through a quarterly optimization training with our clients, and today, we want to share some of the conversations we had there so you can learn from them and apply the takeaways to your own business. In this episode, you’ll find out how one of our clients increased her close rate by 40% and where she discovered she needed to place her focus once her sales process was in order.
Tune in to find out which metrics are worth analyzing, how to pitch up to a planning session, and much more, including some tangible tips for improving your sales strategy!
Listen on your favorite podcast player
Analyzing Metrics
Analyzing your metrics is essential, especially as you prepare for the next season of your business. Most people tend to focus solely on surface-level metrics, like social media followers, etc. but we prefer to hone in on the overall sales process. Surface-level traffic doesn’t necessarily equate to sales. When analyzing your metrics, it’s absolutely critical to look at how much traffic is leading to active follow-through and actual sales.
How To Pitch Up to a Planning Session
When you pitch up to a planning session, words like “I think”, “I feel”, and “I assume” are out of the question. You need to show up with have a good grip on your metrics. You need to calculate your conversion rate at different phases and evaluate why those particular clients took action. Once you’ve identified both the themes and rate of your traffic to sales conversion, only then are you ready to tackle strategy going into the next phase of your business.
How Our Client Increased Her Close Rate by 40%
One of our clients was experiencing a cashflow credit crunch, which had her making gross assumptions about their personal performance. First of all, it is absolutely critical to untie your personal self-worth from how your business is performing. Secondly, assumptions without metrics are by no means helpful. In this particular client’s case, her assumptions did not reflect the truth. A metrics evaluation showed that, although there were fewer leads, her close rate had dramatically improved.
Breaking Down the Capitalistic Ideal
In this game, self-reflection is everything. Expecting 2020 results (good or bad) to remain constant is, quite simply, inappropriate. Many service-based business owners are judging themselves against unrealistic (and unnecessary) metrics. Many of us have absorbed the capitalistic ideal of perpetual, exponential growth modeled by giant corporations which, again, is inappropriate. Chances are, you aren’t responsible to shareholders in the same way that big corporations are, so there is truly no need to publicize your growth (or lack thereof). You owe no explanations for your internal financial decisions. Furthermore, it’s virtually impossible for a company to grow exponentially each year. If your goal is sustainability and lifestyle, the trick is to look at sales strategies with a more timeless lens. There is nothing wrong with striving for more of the same while doing less work. In fact, we encourage you to do so.
What Our Client Learned From Increasing Her Close Rate!
Our client who increased her close rate by 40% now knows that she has a kickass sales process, but if she wants to make more money, she’s going to need more leads. Procuring those leads will be as simple as subtly turning up the dial, perhaps going to a single event or reaching out to a few people and having a couple of coffee notes; nothing drastic! She now knows where to place her attention because she is aware of her true metrics. More often than not, we are closer to the goal than we realize!
Tangible Takeaways for Improving Your Sales Strategies
First of all, start tracking every lead. Everyone who’s going through your sales process needs to be documented. It’s crucial to be aware of which parts of the sales process are working and which need improvement. And remember, these improvements can be made with no objective other than your convenience. Secondly, it’s important to keep in mind that the advice you’re likely to be getting online generally relates to digital sales conversions, not services. To succeed, you need to focus on real relationships and view your leads as the humans they are. Finally, we can’t emphasize enough how important it is not to make assumptions and to have the data to back your decisions moving forward. Once you have that data, start with refining just one area of opportunity.
Quote This
You don’t owe anyone any explanation for the financial decisions you make internally inside your company.
Highlights
Analyzing Metrics. [0:07:14]
How To Pitch Up to a Planning Session. [0:08:17]
How Our Client Increased Her Close Rate by 40%. [0:13:59]
Breaking Down the Capitalistic Ideal. [0:18:40]
What Our Client Learned From Increasing Her Close Rate! [0:28:03]
Tangible Takeaways for Improving Your Sales Strategies. [0:29:49]
Today’s Guest:
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
Key Topics:
Close rates, Sales strategy, Traffic to leads conversion, Metrics analysis, Sales process
