It’s a question as old as time: how many of my leads should I be converting? The sales business is a hard slog, and salespeople need to develop a very thick skin. Few people are ever going to be rejected as much as the average salesperson is. It’s simply the nature of the beast. Potential customers are hesitant to trust sales pitches, and they are wary of products that sound too good to be true.
I don’t want to mislead you, so let’s go ahead and get the answer out of the way now. On average, you’re only going to convert about 2.35 percent of your leads. If you’re doing an exemplary job at conversions, that rate will rise to 5 percent. And if you’re in the top 10 percent of businesses, with silver-tongued devils working your phones, then you can expect a conversion rate of about 11.35 percent.
So what do these numbers tell you? Two things:
–Don’t sweat the rejections: The difference between a great salesperson and an average salesperson is basically nine rejections. For every 100 leads, an average salesperson will be rejected 97 times, while an amazing salesperson will be rejected 88 times. When you look at it that way, it doesn’t really make sense to fret over every “no” you hear, does it?
–Your conversion rate should be between 2-5 percent: If you’re in that range, then you’re doing just fine with your sales conversions. It also means that improving that rate isn’t going to require too many more sales. It’s definitely a reachable goal.
And if you need some ideas for how to improve your conversion rate, here’s a few tips we’ve found to be pretty helpful:
–Send emails regularly: “Lead nurturing” is a critical part of sales best practices, and that can be accomplished by sending emails to your leads at regular intervals. They should automatically receive an email immediately after they become a lead, and then follow-up emails at regular intervals after that. This keeps your business fresh in the lead’s mind.
–Do your homework for that sales call: The sales call is a turning point in the sales process, because it’s your chance to lay it all out there for the lead. Make sure you’ve researched the lead (their job title and function, years on the job, past experience, etc.) and be prepared to show off your knowledge. You want the lead to be impressed.
–Always follow up: Whether it’s via email or phone, you must follow up with every lead. Keep pressing. This is your final opportunity to convert the sale – the longer a lead waits to purchase, the less likely a purchase becomes. You don’t want to overwhelm or irritate the lead, but be politely aggressive.
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