Practical Sales Training™ > How To Convert > Client Speed
What is it?
Whilst many of us know who we want to sell to and maybe even when they need us, not many could tell you how long it takes to “close” a buyer from the moment you come across them to the moment they buy. And yet this information can be incredibly useful when it comes to understanding your performance and forecasting.
Why does it work?
It works because it allows you to have a greater understanding as to how “quickly” you are able to sell which allows you to adjust course accordingly. It’s one thing to have a pipeline, it’s another to understand the timeframe of your transactions.
How can you use it?
For this to work you’ll need to decide upon and track three pieces of information:
1 – When you “meet” the buyer for the first time. What counts as you having “met” them, or them having “met” your business and how will you track it?
2 – When you “sell” to them. At what point have you “sold” to the client? Is it an invoice or receipt of funds? Being specific about what constitutes a sale will help the client speed figure be as useful as possible.
3 – The unit of time to measure. Is it minutes, days or months? Pick the most meaningful measurement of time for your business.
Hypothetical Example:
A B2B software company decides to measure how long it takes from the first interaction with a prospect to a completed sale. They define their metrics as:
-
First contact: When a lead downloads a free trial.
-
Sale: When the first payment is made for a subscription.
-
Time unit: Days.
After tracking data for three months, they find the average time to close is 45 days. With this insight, they identify key stages where prospects get stuck (e.g., during the demo stage) and introduce a faster follow-up process and onboarding call.
As a result, they reduce the average closing time to 30 days, improving cash flow and forecasting accuracy.
