Are Your Leads No Better than Lottery Tickets?

What does the top of your sales funnel look like? More importantly, how does the top look like compared to the bottom?

It's time to get real. It's the bottom of the funnel where we make our money. I know what you're going to say, "You can't get anything out of the bottom until you put something in the top." Agree, but just what are you putting in the top?

In my consulting work, I talk to a lot sales managers and many are proud to show me their sales process. They like to brag about the number of touch points and the methodology they've created to turn a lead into a customer.

It all looks great on a chart, but when I challenge them as to their ability to follow through, I'm typically met with an excuse.

The excuse I hear always centers around a lack of time. I'll challenge the issue is not a lack of time, but rather what is going into the top of the funnel.

What is the % of your leads you close and how much time and cost does it take to close one?

When I start digging into the cost of sales spent on converting leads to customers, I'll argue the money might be better spent on lottery tickets. Ok, maybe lottery tickets might be a little harsh, so hey let’s just play roulette instead.

Don't sit there and say how this situation can't possibly be your situation. I'll say it is for one simple reason -- all of us in sales are far too optimistic about what we can achieve. I know I am, but hey, that's what we salespeople do.

We're optimistic and always chasing the positive outcome. Once again, it looks great as a motivational quote plastered on a picture of somebody scaling a cliff. Last I looked, I'm not scaling a cliff and I doubt you are either.

You see our challenge is to be working to segment our leads better by understanding better who our ideal customer is and then taking that profile to allow us to screen leads better.

The best way for me to be able to improve my closing ratio is by having more time to spend with better prospects. To achieve this I need to stop spending time with leads that are no better than a lottery ticket.

Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

Mark Hunter, your next keynote speaker: 

Mark Hunter, CSP, “The Sales Hunter” is recognized globally as one of the top sales speakers, known for his challenging insights, high-energy, and passion to create change that he delivers each time he speaks, whether it be a sales kick-off meeting, corporate function or association event. Mark Hunter is the author of the best selling book, High-Profit Prospecting. Here’s what others are saying:

Mark presented "Accelerate Your Sales Prospecting" at the February 2015 Institute for Excellence in Sales program in Northern Virginia. He nailed it and gave the 150 selling professionals and business owners in attendance amazing tips, strategies and tactics they could implement that day. The sales leaders at our program universally acknowledged Mark as one of the top speakers we've ever had.

• Fred Diamond, Executive Director, IES Washington DC

At our annual company sales meeting we' ve never seen a speaker work so hard, with advance preparation, with such genuine style of delivery, and with such hunger for results. If you weren't on the edge of your seat....you were in a coma. Period! 

• Mark Allen, Regional Manager, Marlin Companies

Mark’s strategies are innovative, easy to follow and easy to use in the "real world." He customized his strategies to directly speak to the issues and challenges facing our unique business, and he helped us encompass specific selling examples. This training was very applicable to our sales staff, both at a senior and junior level, as it reinforced important sales techniques.”

• Danielle Pakradooni, Blue Man Group

Copyright 2017, Mark Hunter "The Sales Hunter." Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.