Hey folks,

It has been about umpteen years since I have done a post on sales and the technologies of marketing and psychology.

One thing I think a lot of companies neglect for when it comes to training sales agents and top prospects is Conversion Theory.

I have been to a couple of sales trainings from various companies, and it seems that just about all companies on the corporate level are hugely into cheerleading and pushing a loud and obnoxious message that really puts a bad taste in my mouth. Businesses especially in the retail sector just tell people to close close and close, but that is really not enough. The real question we pose is, how much traffic and exposure is your business currently experiencing? Does your business actually expect to make sales and have a performing sales team if there is a few people coming through the door?

There message never really bolts into the pure marketing and obtaining business: In other words, salespeople could be way more productive if they realize HOW MUCH traffic and impressions would have to be made in order to make that sale.

The business also has to realize that traffic is not purely the only factor involved here: You need to have TARGETED traffic. You can just for the heck of it bring 100 joe schmoes to your store and have them view your inventory selection, but if they are not pre-qualified through advertising and marketing campaign initiatives, then your sales people are basically prostituting themselves for uninterested buyers.

Here’s an idea, and all you need to do is contact past clients… If Cellular bumfuck incorporated actually brought in past clients and contacted them, there could be a front end sale made through renewing their contracts and giving them a new phone. They could also make a push for more backend sales through accessory purchases such as bluetooth headsets, phone cases and car charging kits.

Conversion Theory… the theory that takes impressions, to sales contact, to making a sale and starting a relationship with your client, is not a new art. It is quite actually an old one, but I do not see much professionals taking this into account.

On average campaigns with internet marketing, we look to convert 2-4% and tweak until we reach that level. At 4%, I consider a marketing campaign not broke, therefore not needing to be fixed, because the conversion rate will drop if I mess up the campaign.

If you want to be in sales and succeed at sales, plan to talk to at least 100 motivated, targeted prospects a day if you want 2-4 at the least, strong prospective leads. If you are really good and have a passion for your product with a compelling sales game, expect to close half. Maybe you will be lucky and close all of them, but expect 2-4% kill rate out of your efforts.

Also what you need to figure out as well, is the amount of money that each lead or phone contact costs to you. Just figure out what your average commission is and then divide down to leads and then contacted prospects.

For example, real estate properties in Philadelphia cost on average of $223K courtesy of phillybizjournals.com. with the average commission (not set of course) pushing about $3,300 after splits and per side transaction divies, the real estate professional would have to sell 10 units to make $33K a year before taxes and marketing costs.

In order to get to that single commission of $3,300, you would had to speak to at least 25-50 prospects about their goals about real estate and if they knew anybody looking for a real estate agent. I happen to speak with a few agents that try to contact 100 prospects a day about their motivation to sell or buy real estate. Some days, they get no strong leads, sometimes they will get a ton of strong lead to offset the no lead days.

So, let’s divide the $3,300 by 50 in a worse case scenario. Each prospect that you contact would cost you $66.00. Imagine every single time you connect with a weak lead or network with someone, you just made $66.00 even though they flat out declined your business.

Now when I say 50 prospects, do I mean just any 50 people off the street or with random calling? FUCK NO! I mean actually having to speak with those motivated to do take an action in the next 90-120 days from now. You might speak with 100 people a day, and so you don’t have to waste more time, filter them out with two questions so you do not waste any more of your time.

Screw giving them long spiels and what not. Just give them a short introduction, and ask them a filtering question, such as their intentions in the next 90-120 days. If they give you an answer that is opposite of what an ideal targeted customer is, politely thank them for their time and “click!” go to the next prospect.

Conversion theory is not rocket science. It should be placed religiously as a concern and factor in your marketing plan. If you know how many people are buying out of how many people you are trying to reach, then you will be right on the money and know how to tweak your campaigns.

Go make some money folks! Have a great day and peace out
Thomas Howell

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