The What, Why and How of Sales Performance Analysis [Infographic]

One of the most critical yet often undervalued sales functions is sales performance analysis. By continually monitoring your sales performance in terms of what you are achieving vs what you are intended to realize, you will be able to gain a holistic view of your current situation.

For the novices, sales performance analysis is a method of knowing where your business currently stands compared to where it wants to be in the future. The process utilizes several industry standards, performance, and other elements for comparison. When done right, it should show the gaps between the current state of your business and how it should be performing, as well as the possible root causes for the gap in between.

Simply put that it addresses the questions “Where are we?” and “Where do we need to be?”. These questions have to be answered as an organization grows. But why? As sales operations mature, the tendency to lose footing from its initial goals objectives is extremely high.

When the gap that exists in business goals, people’s performance, and organizational capability are bridged, a business can enjoy a plethora of advantages. Although gaps in these areas can be differently prioritized with different approaches, conducting an analysis of them bears the following significance:

• Gain Comprehensive Overview of Business Goals
• Better Decision Making
• Increase Stakeholder Satisfaction
• Boost Employee Motivation
• Improve Customer Relations

One of the best merits that this tool can provide is the enhanced employee productivity. By analyzing the performance of your sales team on key metrics such as the number of calls made, a number of client meetings scheduled, and a number of proposals sent, you can make the necessary adjustments on sales tactics they use, which can ultimately help them achieve the desired performance expected from them.

For instance, you might find that your sales representatives may no longer focus their time on building relationships with existing customers and peers, but rather on winning new leads. By performing sales performance analysis, you will be able to identify why your sales representatives have lost their focus, and finally implement a new strategy which will help them get back on track to success.

Furthermore, a successful sales performance analysis should be able to enable you to further solidify your engagement with your stakeholders. When the stakeholders – employees, suppliers, customers, media partners, investors – know that your business is heading in the right direction sales-wise, they are more likely to put their trust and confidence in your brand in the long haul.

If you do not measure your sales performance yet, then you are missing the opportunity to identify where your strengths lie within your product, and which sales activities require more support, and which ones provide the greatest potential for future profitable growth.

To learn the more on how to perform sales performance analysis, as well as the benefits it can provide to your business, check out below infographic provided by KONA a training and consulting provider based on Australia.