Six Numeric Elements of Selling for Top Professionals

As markets and economies begin to reopen after the pandemic the future looks bright for well-trained professionals. Your clients and prospective clients will need your products and services, and your help and advice.

Top professionals have continued to do well because they understand an important concept: products do not sell themselves; salespeople sell them. And, to be effective, salespeople must have training so they can communicate the benefits of the products to the clients.

Professionals need to be well trained to profit from opportunities in their markets.

Two reasons prevent professionals from becoming top producers:

They don’t understand the dynamics of low percentage and high payoff.

They develop bad habits that limit growth.

Below I have outlined briefly how someone just starting out can become a top producer within three to five years; or how experienced professionals can revitalise their careers within 18-24 months.

To begin, you must understand the six numeric elements of selling.

Element 1: Maintain at least 100 qualified relationships

Develop and maintain 100-150 names in your prospect pipeline, if you are a new professional (with 3 years’ experience or less) and 50-100 names, if you are a professional with 3 or more years of experience.

Element 2: Maintain 10 non-client referral sources

Develop and maintain 10 centres of influences (COI) and obtain three referrals and introductions each quarter. This will produce 30 leads per quarter (120 per year). This might be the only marketing you’ll need to do.

Element 3: Retain 100% of your top 20% clients

Retain 100% of your top 20%. These are the clients that produce 80% of your revenue. Retention includes client numbers and associated revenue. If you achieve 100% retention, 80% of your annual revenue is already assured.

Element 4: Generate 80% of new business from referral and introduction

Engage in referral-only selling. This means 80% of your business comes from referrals and introductions from existing clients and centres of influence.

Element 5: Continually increase your minimum account size

As your business and capabilities grow, increase your minimum account size. Every year, remove the bottom 10-15% of your clients and replace relationships and targets in your sales pipeline.

Element 6: Aim for 100% wallet share of your top 20%

Have 100% wallet share of your top 20% of clients who account for 80-90% of your business. Begin by conducting regular reviews to educate and upgrade your existing clients.

Selling products and services is the responsibility of sales professionals. They need to be trained, however, in the features of their products and how to sell them. When any link in this chain is broken, nothing is sold, the market goes unserved, and your business doesn’t earn a single dollar.

Becoming a top professional starts with understanding and applying these six numeric elements.