✌️ Underrated Sales Metric

This week, let’s cover an underrated sales metric that not enough sellers, nor leaders use to measure the momentum of their deals, pipelines, and forecasts.

When it comes to pipelines - it’s always better to be realistic than optimistic.

The problem is most rely ONLY on using the stages and “weighted” values in their CRM.

So let’s break down another metric you shouldn’t be sleeping on.

If you’d rather watch a 2-min. video of me whiteboarding it - click the image below.

Engagement Ratio

Engagement ratio is by far the most effective metric in determining if your deal is going anywhere.

And it’s simple.

It’s the number of seller activities compared to the number of buyer activities over a period of time.

Let’s walk through an example.

Below are two deals - both in the stage of “negotiating”

Which in our CRM = a “75%” chance of closed-won.

But let’s take a closer look.

*Images from Salesloft which is a great Sales Engagement Platform.

Deal #1

Over the last 30 days, this rep has had 2 meetings - and an engagement ratio of 13:7.

Not bad - however, there seems to be a bit of ‘chasing’ going on.

At this stage in the deal, you should be seeing closer to a 1:1 ratio of seller-to-buyer activities.

This allows the rep or leader to diagnose what’s actually happening.

Are there gaps we need to close?

Do we feel the deal is at risk of slipping or being lost altogether?

Now let’s look at deal #2.

Deal #2

This deal has had a “weekly” meeting over the last month and an engagement ratio of 18:26!

Now this could mean one of two things.

1. The prospect is pushing hard to get this deal done - good.

2. The prospect has a ton of concerns and the rep is struggling to address them all.

Without considering the engagement ratio - you’d think they both had a similar chance of closing.

However, it’s obvious that deal #2 has significantly more momentum.

But not so fast.

There are 2 other important elements to understanding the engagement ratio of your deal.

They are:

1. Are the conversations happening above or below the powerline?

   Above TPL = increased weight on the deal moving forward

2. Is the engagement growing or declining over time?

   Sure, deal #2’s ratio looks great, but what if it’s significantly less than what it was in the previous month?

   The engagement should be increasing, while the time between each action is decreasing.

So the next time you’re reviewing your deals, pipeline, or forecast - take a look at the engagement ratio of your deals, spot gaps, and create plays to create momentum.

That’s all for this week. Hope this was helpful.

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