As we wrap up 2019, how will you change your sales and marketing next year? Hopefully you have been gathering sales and marketing data for a period of time; maybe a year, or maybe even two or three. When you have historical data, you are in a good position to do some goals-based marketing. Your marketing efforts can be much more intentional, and your results will be somewhat predictable. In other words, your step-by-step system can predict a reliable ROI before you even start new advertising efforts.
If you have been tracking leads, sales and marketing effectively, you should have the numbers to help you know:
- The average closing ratios on paid advertising and unpaid advertising for each sales rep individually and for your company.
- The average dollar value of a sale.
- How much you will need to spend to get enough leads for your salespeople to reach a certain amount in revenues.
- How many leads you will need to allow your salespeople to close at their average rate to reach their sales goals at the ROI your company needs.
- What your investment for marketing will need to be in the coming year or given time period in order to attain the revenues you are pursuing.
- Whether you need to bring on additional talent to help you reach your goals.
How do you use this information to determine your marketing investment and lead goals?
For starters, determine your company goals. Where do you want your revenues to be a year from now? History is typically going to repeat itself unless some changes are made, so use your company history to predict your future. Taking into consideration inflation, you will want to raise your revenue targets approximately 3%. That means in order to remain the same with no growth, your revenues will still need to increase by 3%.
RELATED: Increase Remodeling Profits by Managing Leads Properly
Using the data you’ve been tracking, you should be able to identify how many qualified leads are required in order to meet these goals.
Questions for your business
- What is your goal for gross revenues in the coming year?
- Using past history, how many leads will you need to reach that goal?
- How many dollars do you expect to come from unpaid versus paid advertising?
- How many leads will you need from unpaid advertising? Paid?
- Do you have a system in place to make sure each sales rep is on track to get enough leads to reach the revenues they are aiming for?
You will need to have the tools to monitor this data, and the understanding to know whether or not certain advertising is working for you. When your systems are in place, if someone is in charge of making absolutely sure that there are the pre-determined number of leads each week, you will reach your goal.
