We talked a lot about accountability the last time we were together and the numbers you should use in order to hold people accountable. However, there is one number that is more important than any other number; the number being the closing ratio average or CRA. The CRA will give you a true measure of where you are and help you to reach higher levels of success. In other words, the CRA is as important in the field of sales as the win/loss record is in sports.

A football team does not know truly how it has done until the final score. Team A can have more yards and dominate field position but if team B scores more points, then it is team B that is viewed as successful. In selling terms, if a salesperson's CRA is 20%, then imagine the increase in revenue if that same salesperson increases their CRA to 30%. Can you think of any salesperson who would not want 50% more in sales and/or commissions?

Calculating CRA is fairly simple. Write a chicken scratch on a piece of paper for every opportunity that you have. At the end of the day, you will know how many opportunities you had. Then you divide the numbers of sales you had by the number of opportunities. For example, if you had 23 opportunities in a given day and made 9 sales, then your CRA would be 39.13%.

Accountability numbers like CRA must be tracked daily and totaled on a weekly and monthly basis. It is vital that you track numbers as you go. Waiting to do everything at the end of the day, week or at the end of the month with produce inaccuracies that will in turn produce false information. It will take you no more than five or ten minutes to tally and examine your numbers daily. Take the time; it will be worth it.

Individual salespeople must calculate their individual numbers. While the sales manager is capable of tracking everyone's numbers, the salesperson themselves should be tracking their own numbers. The sales manager has enough to do without having to track everyone's numbers. Plus, it gives the salesperson an idea of how they are doing, where they need to improve and what is working. In short, it gives the individual salespeople a tool to hold themselves accountable.

FINAO - Brad Huisken