Are your metrics all wrong?

"Revenue is the only metric that matters" is a quote from an actual blog post. If that's how this person manages his team, I sure am glad I'm not one of his reps.

Sure, revenue is the goal in sales, but revenue is a lagging indicator. We can measure revenue, but we can't manage it. We can, however, manage the key sales activities and behaviors that drive revenue.

Everyone on your sales team must understand, live and breathe your sales and referral strategy. Once everyone is on board with referral selling, it's time to set key performance indicators for activities and behaviors that drive revenue. Those are the metrics that matter. Measure the right sales activities, manage those activities and coach your reps on the behaviors that turn those activities into revenue.

KPIs for referrals

Measuring referral activities is simple. Weekly metrics for each rep roll up into monthly and quarterly metrics.

Measure the number of:

1. People asked each week

2. Referrals received

3. Meetings scheduled

4. Meetings conducted

5. Deals closed through referrals

Keep your reps accountable and on track by asking specific questions, such as:

- Who will you ask for referrals? (Get names.)

- What are the outcomes you expect? (Get metrics.)

- What are your discussion topics? (Get these in writing.)

Before your reps meet with referred prospects, provide coaching tips and discuss the following:

1. What did you learn about the prospect from your referral source?

2. Have you checked out the prospect's LinkedIn profile? What did you learn?

3. What are your other connections to this prospect?

4. What interests do you have in common?

5. How will you use this information in your meeting with the prospect?

When you measure and coach referral activities and behaviors, you don't just meet your revenue goals, your sales process shortens, your cost of sales decreases and your competition disappears. Typically, these deal sizes are larger, and referred clients go on to refer you to their networks.

Revenue isn't the only metric that matters. Pin your metrics to sales activities you can measure and manage. Referral selling is your biggest competitive differentiation. Isn't that a metric worth measuring?

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