In this article, Tony discusses the Sales Probability Scorecard, the second tool in our 9 Sales Productivity Tools series.
Comparative to the yard markers on a football field, the Probability Scorecard gives salespeople and sales managers a clear, definitive look at how much ground needs to be covered in a sale, and the overall likelihood a specific sales opportunity will close. Read more about this predictive sales productivity tool below!
As I stated in my initial blog about the top 9 Sales Productivity Tools, the Probability Scorecard is like the yard markers on a football field. The yard markers give you a clear, definitive look at how much ground has to be covered before you score points; or in the case of defense, how much ground you have left to defend.
An effective Sales Probability Scorecard tells you almost exactly how much ground you have to cover and the likelihood of closing a specific opportunity.
You may already use a tool or system like this in your sales environment that is meant to track, collect, manage, and create movement in your sales pipeline. It may provide forecasting, and (supposedly) increase sales. But if the sales enablement tool you are using isn’t built around specific criteria, activities and a milestone-centric sales process, your predictive capabilities and forecasting are no better than looking into a crystal ball.
The milestone-centric sales process breaks down the step-by-step accomplishments required to effectively create, qualify and close business. Normally, salespeople check off the major items on their checklists accomplished in the sales process—like uncovering a compelling reason or “pain”. An effective probability scorecard tool provides the salesperson with a list of secondary objectives that must be accomplished. Here is an example of the first step identified in our Effective Selling System and the required secondary objectives:
Uncovering Compelling Reasons (to move, change, buy)
- Compelling reasons are: “have to fix” problems, rather than “want to fix” problems.
- The result of not making a change has been monetized
- There is a “personal” reason why the problem has to be fixed
- The incumbent has been unable to solve the problem and the prospect can/is willing to change providers
Checking off those secondary items gives the salesperson, and the sales manager, a more complete picture of what was actually accomplished and what is left to be done. If those secondary items cannot be accomplished, everyone now has a much clearer view of the “real” opportunity, or lack thereof.
The salesperson now knows what they need to find out from the prospect to make it a more closeable deal. This also allows for more intentional coaching on the part of the sales manager to help their salesperson develop into a more consultative seller.
In order to accomplish this, your Sales Probability Scorecard should:
- Establish the factors important to qualify the prospect (can be industry specific)
- Identify the most important or predictive factors
- Have a baseline for what a "closeable opportunity" is (i.e. 70% score is considered closeable)
To find out more about the Sales Probability Scorecard and other tools we offer, visit our Sales Productivity Tools resource below:
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