Performance Tracking

By tracking steps within the sales process, potential areas of improvement are more accurately diagnosed. Tracking Monthly Sales Activities can also provide a goal setting and forecasting tool.

Shaun Bailey
Senoia Motorsports

We noticed you viewed the new Sales Deptartment Quick Takes session called "Performance Tracking." Can you tell us a little bit about this?

Sure, I really like the Quick Takes Videos because they are very practical for our fast-paced dealership. Each session is less than four minutes, and I can view them in between walk-in customers. In this session in particular, I learned that it is hard to improve on something that you are not tracking. Professionals in business and sports track everything they do to identify the greatest return on their investment.

So what exactly are you supposed to be tracking with each of your sales customers?

Track the key steps within the sales process which lead to the sale. By tracking greets, presentations, write ups and closes, you can determine an accurate closing ratio. You can also track the number of sold units and the gross profit per unit. This will allow me to accurately forecast and set realistic goals.

What is the advantage of tracking the specific steps of the sale?

This will let me identify the progress I make with each customer and see where I have room for improvement. For example, if my closing ratio doubles when I make it to the write up step, but I’m struggling to get write ups, I can identify that this specific step is the area that I need to practice on.

Chalk Talk With Dr. Nikki

Monthly Performance
Tracking Analysis

Before:

Greets	110	Greets To Write Ups	18%
Write Ups	20	Write Ups To Closes	50%
Closes	10	Greets To Closes	9%

After:

Greets	110	Greets To Write Ups	47%
Write Ups	52	Write Ups To Closes	42%
Closes	22	Greets To Closes	20%

Can you see a trend in the data above? More write-ups will lead to more than double the closes with the same number of greeted customers!

You mentioned forecasting. How did the "Performance Tracking" session assist you with forecasting your unit sales?

I can’t manage my results, but I can manage the activities that lead to those results. Once I’ve learned how many greets I average per day, how many write ups I average per greet, and how many closes I average per write up, I can have a very accurate idea of how many units I’m projecting to sell for the month. Mix this with tracking my profit per unit, and I can have a really good idea of what my paycheck is going to look like.

How do you track all of this information?

I plan on using a paper planning and tracking system initially. They say it takes 21 days to develop a new habit, but once I get comfortable tracking and forecasting with a paper planning system, I hope to move to a digital CRM program. This stands for Customer Relationship Management program. Basically, this is a web- or software-based customer tracking tool designed specifically to manage all opportunities and activities with every customer. There are even several companies out now that have CRMs specifically tailored for the powersports industry.