I recently wrote a column about metrics and how important it is to measure everything that goes on in your organization; particularly with sales (or as I always call it the “Black Art”).

Why “Black Art”? Because even though it would appear that there is a correlation between ‘calls initiated’ and ‘sales dollars received’ (and there is - I assure you, there is!) the key measurement of selling success might be something as simple as ‘time spent listening to the economic buyer’.

I once had a business where we sold a program generator that created a rather specific type of application program along with its source code. Our software not only increased the productivity of an existing DIBOL programmer by a factor of about twenty, but it could also insure that the source code in all their customer’s programs was clean, commented, and even structured. Our key measurement of success was what we ultimately and respectfully referred to as “AISes”, or *sses in seats.

You see, we offered a deal whereby we would refund the customer’s roundtrip airfare to Pittsburgh (our offices were directly across the street from Greater Pittsburgh International Airport) so long as they bought a ‘Use License’ for our software package on or before 30 days from the date of their demo/visit. (By the way, in 1980, the first year of the program, we closed all but four of some ninety-plus demos/visits. At about $25K a license, that was a very good year.)

So, AIS, baby … AIS! (We even had a logo for this - but it was then, and remains to this day, unpublished.)

What is the key metric in your business? Sometimes it can be as prosaic as, “Proposals Written” (although I’ll confess to issuing an order to my sales people that they would never, ever, ever, ever write a proposal. This mandate was made in early 1979 - after my seventh year in business. Someday I’ll be sure to write another column as to why I made this decision, although I suspect that a lot of you sharp people already know why). And sometimes this metric is as obscure as ‘time spent talking with the prospect’s engineering staff’.

In all cases, you first have got to find out how, why, and when each prospect’s buying decisions are made and then you must  make sure that a whole lot of “that thing” happens a whole lot of times!

Now get going!