Is there a difference? That’s the question that we’re asking today.

Sounds funny in my head. I hope it’s funny as you read it.

So, almost a week ago, I posted Critical Sales Ratios. What most of you may not have noticed is that I wrote it at 10 PM. I fell asleep on it and when I woke up, I couldn’t remember how I wanted to end it, so I asked, “So, what’s my point?” hoping that one of my readers would fill in the blanks for me.

Thank you, Lance. The phone does still work. As a matter of fact, some people make ALL THEIR SALES ON THE PHONE! They never meet any of their customers, face to face. More later…

Thank you, Rob. You’re right. #3 is that cowboy that talks, but can’t predict how he’ll walk. He works totally by his gut and can be a challenge for his manager when it comes to goal setting and accountability.

Thank you, Trish. Oh, the dichotomy! Do I want the forecastability of #1 or the apparent determination of #3? How can I get #1 to do whatever it takes on every contact, not just 6.31 of them and how can I get #3 to give me a feel for what he’s gonna do tomorrow, next week, or next month, so I can plan production, finance, etc?

Thank you, Mike. The problem with #2, the meeters and the greeters is that most of them wouldn’t recognize an opportunity unless they met someone with a dollar sign on their forehead with a flashing sign that said, “Today’s the day! Just ask!” Funny thing is that many networkers would ask, “Ask what?”

OK, so, now that I’m awake, I can finish. The point is that none of these is perfect. Does the statistician know how to use his numbers? Dave Kurlan will sometimes ask, “What if you could get a 10% improvement at every stage in your sell cycle? How much would you improve? I won’t show the math, but in the statistician’s case, it would mean a 61.05% increase in sales. Marginal improvements along the way lead to a huge increase in the bottom line. What if it would work on ALL of your salespeople?

As an example, Frank Belzer did an experiment a while back that we called 6 at 6. It had a marginal impact on the number of dials, but a HUGE impact on the number of contacts…….Interesting!

I have a lot of experience with the #2’s of the world. The networkers. I see them everywhere. Show up. Eat. Drink. Pass out cards. Take some cards. ZERO FOLLOW-UP. ZERO. Why? They can’t sell. They don’t know what to do and/or they wouldn’t do it if they did know. Remember this post? Last Thursday, I was one of about 300 people at G’vanni’s. One guy had a miserable time. Respectfully, he doesn’t like or trust people. He showed up at that event by himself with no training and no help because someone told him it would be a good idea. He was one of two people that sent me a follow-up email the next day and the only person that I asked to call me. He’s a lump of coal, Remove the impurities, apply a lot of pressure and a lot of heat for a long enough period of time and you’ll get a diamond. Question is, can he take the pressure? Can he deal with the heat?

Finally, #3…Who knows? Start holding him accountable on a daily basis. Who did you call? Be specific. Don’t take numbers, take names. Track the names. Ask him what ever happened to…He may not know his ratios because nobody ever cared. Show him that you care. Debrief. Strategize.

Where can #1 improve? How can #2 turn contacts into dollars? Is #3 a superstar or a dud? Click here.