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Outbound pipeline generation is what separates good reps from great ones.

The challenge is many sellers are never trained on how to improve efficiency.

So they're stuck playing the volume game.

Which eventually leads to:

• underwhelming results

• low confidence

• vanity metrics

A solution I use for developing reps is personalized benchmarking.

It starts by identifying what good looks like (WGGL).

Then creates a repeatable process for evaluating calls, providing clear feedback and improving conversion rates.

Here are the metrics I track for building outbound pipeline:

1. Call Connect Rate

Definition: percent calls where you actually speak to the intended contact

Formula: (number of conversations / total call attempts) × 100%

Benchmark = 8%

The outbound sellers generate > 50% of meetings via phone.

It’s VERY difficult to stand-out and overcome objections via email.

Prioritize calling first.

2. Activity Per Opp Created

Definition: How many outbound activities needed to generate one opportunity.

Formula: (total outbound activities / number of opportunities created)

Benchmark = 80 or less

Sales is a numbers game, you can win with efficiency (activity) or effort (conversions).

For most people - as efficiency increases, effort decreases.

If you maintain both, you will be unstoppable.

3. Conversation to Meeting

Definition: percent of conversations that successfully convert to meetings

Formula: (number of meetings scheduled / total conversations) × 100%

Benchmark = 15%

Cold calls should be short - less than 5 minutes

And most qualification can be done on the front end.

Sell the meeting, not the solution.

4. Meeting Show Rate

Definition: percent of scheduled meetings that prospects actually attend

Formula: (number of meetings attended / number of meetings scheduled) × 100%

Benchmark = 80%

The goldilocks zone for scheduling meetings is 2-5 days out.

Include personalized meeting agendas in your calendar invite.

And send a brief value reminder one day before.

5. Meeting to Qualified Opportunity

Definition: percent of meetings that move to the next stage in the sales cycle

Formula: (number of qualified opportunities / number of meetings attended) × 100%

Benchmark = 70%

Most outbound prospects are not actively looking for solutions.

So how do you get qualified prospects to show up to meetings?

Professional curiosity/education OR unrecognized pain points.

Until next Thursday,

TSG

P.S. I reply to all emails.