Measuring The Stuff That Matters
The biggest problem in sales isn't effort. It's knowing when your effort is actually enough.
I've thought about this for a long time, discussed it with friends, and even brainstormed it with ChatGPT. Two things have become clear:
It's the source of the biggest problems we have in sales
It's a never-ending bottomless pit of debate that will not be solved in a blog post or even a bottle of whiskey with the right folks sitting around a campfire
But if we just focus on that first point, I have some thoughts that'll help you, whether you're a front line rep or a front line leader. This system has worked for me as a seller in the field, and is helping my sales manager clients lead their teams.
I wrote the original version of this post back in 2018, and I'm adding some color to it here since this training has been landing with a few of my clients lately.
The Book I Almost Ignored
Sometime in 2005 or 2006, I picked up a book by Jeffrey J Fox called How To Become A Rainmaker. It was an afterthought on a rack in the middle of the aisle at an office supply store. The average chapter length is less than 2 pages. Perfect.
I came across the chapter called "Use The Point System Every Week."
The premise, from the book:
"There are four steps that are a part of every sale. Here they are:
1. Getting a lead
2. Getting an appointment
3. Meeting face-to-face
4. Getting a commitmentAssign one point to step 1, two points to step 2, three points to step 3, and four points to step 4. Work every day to get a total of four points, in any combination of steps. If you tally four points per day, you will never run out of prospects, your pipeline will always be full, you will never have a slow period, and you will always be making rain."
My inner monologue: "That's pretty cool. No way it'll work."
I dismissed it, finished the book a few weeks later, and didn't think about it again for a few years. The other half of that truth was that I was stubborn and stuck, and not very open to new ideas.
The Moment I Actually Tried It
In 2008, I had a new job, which presented a new opportunity, and I needed to make sure I didn't repeat some of my previous patterns that led to dissatisfaction. Primary among them: I felt like I was working a lot without moving the revenue needle. In short, it was a priority issue.
For one reason or another, I remembered that chapter, and I put the system into play. Under these new circumstances, I had a different frame of reference for priorities, and thought this measurement system might be valid after all.
Of course, I had to tweak it a bit. 20 points wasn't going to be enough for me, so I set my bar at 25. I also set some more stringent criteria for what earned me points:
1 point - Identify who you can help. This meant making a first call to a new prospect or referral. I only got this point once per prospect, for the initial outreach. Leaving a business card at the front desk every week is not selling.
2 points - Get their attention. Scheduling meetings became the number one priority for me on a weekly basis. It was about attention more than anything else, and the number one counterintuitive thing I did was passing on the impromptu selling opportunities to come back later for time and attention that was scheduled.
3 points - Communicate your value. More simply stated, have a sales conversation, which I referred to as a "meaningful exchange." What's important here is what counted and what didn't. Sometimes I could have productive conversations through text messages/emails, given weird schedules. Other times, I'd speak with people face to face, but not really move a deal or the relationship forward. Those didn't count, even when the calls resulted in orders!
4 points - Take a next step. I qualified this as moving a sale forward or getting a commitment to buy. The orders themselves were an outcome, not a KPI. I didn't need points for those because they came with commission checks.
Note: There were no seven-point meetings. A meeting was worth either 3 or 4 points, so that commitment for another step was really a bonus point on the meeting.
Here's What Happened
Over the course of the next 17 months, I tripled revenue in a stagnant, mature territory. Compared to my previous calendar, where I was putting in 55-60 hour weeks, I was now actively selling for about 20-25.
If you're scoring at home, tripling the revenue on a third of the time is a 9x return.
Pretty good.
The difference was my focus on the things that really move the needle. I focused on the amount of new opportunities I was creating, scheduling meetings to discuss those opportunities, and making sure there was a clear call to action during those meetings.
Voila! The basic blocking and tackling of selling.
Why It Actually Worked (And Why "Enough" Matters)
You want to pay attention to the leading indicators of success. Unfortunately, with sales being a results-oriented game, most companies only tend to measure the lagging indicators such as revenue. By then, it's too late.
What this system did for me was put into focus the activities that would lead to revenue, not the revenue alone. So once it was validated, this became incredibly powerful.
I knew when what I was doing was enough or not.
If the number at the end of the month was a little short, I knew it was a blip, not a trend, because my proven system was showing the right underlying meaningful activity levels.
When revenues were well beyond expectations (and they often were), I knew to stay focused on those KPIs. Sometimes the rewards are outsized for the effort, but consistency is key.
Stated differently, it helped me to never get too high with the highs or too low with the lows.
It also helped me plan my week better, and more importantly, leverage the real freedom you have in a sales career.
If I was ahead of my point total for the week, and that Friday afternoon meeting canceled, I had no qualms about hanging 'em up early and maybe going to hit a few golf balls. If I had a big conference or trade show coming up that weekend, then I gave myself the opportunity to hang with my young family earlier in the week, knowing I was going to be away later.
More than anything, it gave me peace of mind because I was controlling what I could (my efforts) and not worrying so much about what I couldn't (timing and size of orders).
What This Means If You're Leading A Team
Think about this from a leadership perspective. How often do your pipe review meetings end with the "sales rep filibuster" where they don't have the information you want to hear, so they talk about what they do have going, with all the optimism in the world, until you miraculously run out of time and have another meeting to go to?
What if their measurable sales activity was just another result you could look at in black and white? How much easier would that be?
Here's the bonus: you can diagnose what kind of help a seller needs by the way these numbers break down.
If someone's crushing it on 1-point activities, but there aren’t any 2-point activities behind them, they need help setting appointments. If there are lots of 3-point meetings but no 4’s, then they’re not advancing/closing deals for some reason or another. It enables your coaching in a way pipeline reviews never will.
The System Is Personal
These metrics are inherently personal. I've had clients who need to score 40 points a week. I've had others who need to score 6. The point is that you create for yourself a repeatable system for prioritizing and executing on your most important sales activities.
It increases your revenue while also supporting peace of mind (sanity!) during the inevitable peaks and valleys of a sales career.
Want to build this system for your role or your team? Let's talk about what "enough" looks like in your world.
*Photo credit: me in 2016. I’m still chasing the dragon on the score from the round of my life…
