Let’s compare your sales velocity to riding a bike. It’s a lot of fun. However, your acceleration rate determines how fast you get to your destination. Say two bikers are racing to a finish line. Undoubtedly, both of them will get to the finish line – eventually. But, the person who gets there in the least amount of time is pronounced the winner.
The same applies to the business world. Your sales velocity determines whether or not you are hitting the required quota to sustain the business. Sadly, quite a number of sales teams still focus on ‘less relevant’ sales metrics such as the number of calls made, the number of leads in the pipeline, expected revenue, etc.
I’m sorry to break this to you, but 80% of leads never convert into sales (Source: www.smallbizgenius.net). So, while you are focused on the number of leads in your pipeline, smart sales teams are busy calculating how quickly these leads convert into sales. With the market gradually turning into buyers’ market and leads spending more time in the sales funnel, it is highly critical for marketers and sales teams to spend more time tracking sales velocity.
It is not about closing a $40 million lead. What matters is the time it took to close the deal.
Here, we discuss what sales velocity is and changes you can make to ensure you are hitting your quota this quarter.
What is Sales Velocity?
Simply put, sales velocity is a measure of the rate at which your sales team generates revenue. This depends completely on how quickly leads complete the sales cycle.
Time, they say, is money. And if you know your onion in the industry, you will testify this is true. This is why your sales velocity is one of the critical sales metrics you should keep an eye on.
Sales Velocity Formula
Sales velocity is calculated by multiplying the number of sales opportunities by the average deal value and average win rate. And dividing the result by the length of the sales cycle.
Here is what I mean.
# x $ x %
V = ______________
L
Where # represents the number of opportunities gained
$ represents the average deal value
% represents your conversion rate
L represents the length of your sales cycle
The resultant figure depicts the overall performance of the business. From your sales velocity, you can tell whether or not the business is healthy, your sales team is effective, and where you need to increase productivity. This clearly shows why your sales team should start paying attention to this sales metric.
Tested Tips to Help Improve Your Sales Velocity
Stuck? Here are a few foolproof tips to help you improve your sales velocity.
1. Boost Your Sales Opportunities
One of the factors that affect sales velocity is the number of leads that enters your pipeline. While it feels like a great idea to get as many leads as you can, I will advise you to stick with leads that are likely to convert at the end of the day. Else, you will end up with a high value for Sales Opportunities and a low value for Win Rate, which ultimately drags the overall result down.
You will be shocked to know that 50% of prospects are not a good fit. Therefore, experts advise you qualify your prospects before pushing them down the pipeline.
2. Scale Up Your Average Deal Size
This particular factor is a bit tricky. How do you scale up your average deal size when the business operates on fixed prices. Say you need an average deal size of $200/month to hit your quota but the highest possible deal size from the fixed price is $100. What do you do? I am sure most sales teams are stuck in this dilemma.
Well, it is pretty simple actually. You can totally achieve a large deal size if you focus more on big deals instead of small deals. Big deals bring in more revenue. Consequently increasing the average deal size in no time.
3. Focus on Conversion
As basic as this may sound, you will be surprised that only 22% of businesses consider their conversion rate, a success. No wonder we have more struggling businesses out there. How do you expect to grow with a poor conversion rate? This is the major reason I tell sales teams they are the heart of any business. The minute they stop working, that business is as good as dead.
Instead of wasting your time in filling your pipeline, why not spend more time in ensuring this leads actually convert. Another reason why every business should align the sales and marketing team. Because at the end of the day, the number of leads attracted is not as important as the number of deals closed. Redirect your energy this quarter!
4. Lastly, Shorten Your Sales Cycle
Marketers and sales teams are lamenting on how long the sales cycle is getting today. Prior to this buyers’ market, you could confidently tell when a lead will eventually make sales. But that is not the case anymore. The market is a lot tougher and buyers no longer want to be sold to. Instead, they take their time to research the business that can best handle their request. Which is the reason 80% of leads never convert to sales.
Even worse, the longer a lead spends in the pipeline, the lower its chances of making a deal with you. So, you can only imagine how much leads are likely to go without making a purchase at the end of the day.
With that in mind, the right pawn to move at this point is to bring the sales cycle to its lowest possible level.
And the best way to ensure you are not losing your leads to your competitors is to understand what they need and when they need it. Don’t force it. Don’t pressure them into buying. Just ensure they know you understand their needs and that you are capable of proving a lasting solution. That’s all buyers seek.
Conclusion
Your sales velocity is unarguably the most important sales metrics to track. Fortunately, tracking it is not as difficult as it seems. With a professional CRM such as the Leadsquared Sales CRM, you can totally track all the factors involved without sweating it. Therefore, giving you the opportunity to tell whether or not you are hitting your quota this quarter.
