As a sales manager or a business owner you can analyze various statistics.

For instance, if your crew prospects for appointments you can monitor and measure:

(1) The number of phone calls each rep makes;

(2) The number of appointments set; and

(3) The number of call backs that need to be made from todays activity.

Of this list, obviously, number (2) is critical. Thats the purpose of calling, to set appointments.

In a sense, then, this is the bottom line, the result of activity. If this were an experiment, we might call it the dependent variable.

Numbers (1) and (3) are our manipulations, the specific actions were taking to affect (2), and these activities can be seen as independent variables.

Improve tactics and youll improve results, right?

But what if were measuring the wrong tactics? What, then?

Let me be specific.

Rep A could make fifty calls during the course of three hours, and B could make 30. Who is doing the better job?

You cant tell from this statistic, alone. B could be having longer, deeper conversations with decision makers, while A cant seem to get past secretaries and voice mail.

Or, B is just not trying as hard, taking too many breaks, and submitting to too many distractions.

So, what additional things should we be tracking? Start with these two:

(1) The number of times sellers are screened out by secretaries, and

(2) The number of times sellers are put into voice mail.

These stats will tell you who is more effective at dealing with sentries, and who is being shot down or deterred. You might learn that everyone needs expert training in these areas.

After all, what good is it to call for X if you cant get past Y?

Further, lets say your callers are put into voice mail. That calls for a decision. Should they leave messages?

Have you established a policy on this? Leaving messages takes time, and messages should be scripted carefully and tracked for effectiveness. How often are your reps called back after having left voice mail messages?

Scripts for voice messages are just as important as the calling scripts that are used with live buyers.

Im just giving you a small sampling of track-able items that really make a difference.

Remember, youll get what you measure and you wont get what you dont measure, so you might want to take a fresh look at your metrics.