What's Your Top-Line Indicator?

A thoroughly enjoyable meeting at a client the other day uncovered a remarkably simple approach to funnel management.

Selling a combination of fairly big-ticket items (mixing ‘hardware’ & ‘software’), the typical account manager monthly revenue target is 50k.

Whilst obviously the main figure, there are two other numbers of prominence. How they watch them illuminate what appears a particularly effective approach to pipeline focus.

The first regards new additions to the funnel, and the second genuine progression through a specific gateway. This latter amount features when a deal has moved from general prospect to one where the buyer has acknowledged a purchase decision is officially being pursued.

The amounts are 100k in new additions, with a further 160k progressed.

In all, the trio of KPIs are:

50k – monthly sales achieved
160k – deal value genuinely progressed
100k – new forecast additions

They are easy to both understand and measure, which I reckon is the secret of their success. The company concerned weathered the downturn and are now on the up once more.

It is undoubtedly a worthwhile exercise to either revisit, or assess afresh, how our own success stacks up along similar lines. How enlightening is it to know how much need be added to your funnel to guarantee sustainable business, and what must be moved forward each month to a specific stage to support the same?