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Use this contract report to focus hunters on sales volume in addition to weekly goals

How and what to track, worksheet included

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A culture of growth means tracking behavior that will result in real accumulative growth over time.

That's why standards of performance (SOP's) are changing from mere revenue goals to number of contract sales and total contract volume.

Let's face it, by the time the team misses a revenue goal, it is too late to do anything about it, especially if sales are truly consultative. So managers need simple data to let them see whether the right things are happening months earlier.

One basic solution is dirt simple: Shift SOP's to track contracts, not just revenue to goal snapshots, every week and month.

For companies starting out, attached is a basic worksheet you will need. The document itself  can be basic, but is often the first tool that consulting groups bring to a sales organizations that have huge growth targets - such as new digital-only teams.

What's on the sheet? All about the new contracts!

• The name of each rep, and new accounts closed that month.

• The length of each contract

• Whether they are new, renew or upsell

• The total dollar volume of each contract

• Summary of total contract dollar by rep and for the team

Here's a view of a basic tracking sheet, also attached:



Use this sheet to shift your team's focus towards meeting your new contract SOP's:

• First create SOP's for number of contracts. A typical standard SOP for number of sales per month with a minimum length, is one per week or 5 to 10 a month  for teams selling $1500 + per month averages.   10 to 15 a week is the range for higher volume sales teams with a lower average monthly sale - say $400 to $1000.

• The administrator who signs off or inputs the new contracts can log contracts on to this single document as they come in, and add to the list all month.

• Allow upsold contracts to count the same as a new contract for the purpose of bonuses and contests. For example, a contract renewal with a minimum dollar volume increase (10% and at least $2000, for example) counts. This creates a level playing field for new reps and reps with larger account lists.

• You can post all new sales - even ones that are short campaigns, but set some minimum length (four weeks or three months are typical minimum units) for individual bonuses on contracts and for contract contests. This keeps reps from gaming the system and rewards reps who have built long term programs and trust in the company.

• Bonus reps on the SOP for new/upsold contracts of minimum length, every month (include this in the individual rep development plan worksheet).

• Pass out the contract tracking work-sheet for discussion at the weekly sales meeting along with the sales to goal sheet.

• Acknowledge reps with new contract sales and ask them to tell the story.

• Spiff reps with the most new or upsold contracts, or which are the largest or longest.

• Play "poker for appointments" deal a card for every appointment the rep turned in, and give a spiff for the best five card poker hand composed out of the cards. Typically the rep with the most appointments wins - and also has the most contracts on the worksheet. So the reps get the "aha" moment underscored.

• Create  a standing monthly contract contest in which both new and upsold contracts count. This is fair to both new reps and reps with large account lists.

• Consider recognizing the largest contracts of the quarter or year.

• Use the worksheets to look at the baselines for total volume sold each month by the team. This can be used for management bonuses and to compare markets, as well as year over year and month over month performance.  For new teams, you can also use this total to establish the size of the revenue opportunity you are creating - if the monthly new and renewed contract business averages $500,000 for example, your team is on track to bill $6 million.

• Create team goals for contests in addition to individual goals. The extra bonus can be awarded to the whole team if the team hits the overall contract goal. This can be a dinner out or cash bonus based on percentage contribution to the overall revenue number.

• Tie the contract SOP's into annual sales development plans created for reps (see this worksheet).  Check the monthly pipeline worksheet to see if enough business is lined up to make the SOP's and how many new accounts are needed.

Other useful Articles, and links for assembling and optimizing the performance of your digital sales team:

Ten Best Resources to Find Digital Hunters

No Pipeline in Your CRM? Use this worksheet

Managing a Dream Team of Digital Hunters

Sales Development Plan for First Year Reps