5 sales department metrics that tripled our revenue in just two months

In this article, I will show you how implementing five clear and measurable solutions in the sales system can boost your revenue, using a real-life example.

My client, Ingvart, is a manufacturer of children’s cribs and related products. Their main sales channels are retail and wholesale. The cornerstone of their business is the high quality of their products and service.

We managed to increase turnover by 218% in two months through systematic sales processes without increasing the advertising budget, expanding the sales team, offering discounts, or using SMS and registration promotions.

Before implementing any changes, a diagnosis is essential. During this phase, we identified five key issues in the existing sales department:

1. Lack of reporting on metrics directly affecting sales.
2. Absence of mandatory cross-selling (selling different services to one client).
3. No checklist for closing sales – mandatory sales plans impacting the financial results of salespeople.
4. No sales plans to guide the entire team towards results.
5. Inefficient sales team management – from candidate profiling to the financial motivation system.

Let’s break down how we addressed each of these problems and the outcomes.

When starting with a client, I always request key numbers for each stage of the sales funnel. Here, the first problem was apparent: client work was managed by salespeople in “notebooks,” with no unified reporting and sales analytics system.

Transparent daily reporting is the foundation for making the right decisions. By focusing on specific numbers and indicators, you shift from management based on gut feeling to systematic and effective sales management. Here’s what we did at this stage:

1. Identified metrics that impact turnover and built a daily report based on them.
2. Implemented daily reporting and calculation of planned values. Salespeople started reporting to their manager every morning from 9:00 to 9:20.
3. Established weekly sales report analysis by the sales department manager, using a template for making managerial decisions.

Example of Daily Sales Report Metrics:

• Total turnover for the day;
• Turnover from confirmed orders;
• Turnover from cross-sales;
• Number of confirmed orders;
• Number of confirmed orders with cross-sales;
• Conversion rate of confirmed orders;
• Percentage of orders with cross-sales;
• Planned vs. actual number of processed potential client contacts;
• Number of processed clients in the “thinking” status;
• Number of processed clients who made a purchase six months ago, aimed at offering additional children’s furniture suitable for the child’s age (e.g., high chairs).

Weekly Sales Manager Report Metrics by Salesperson:

• Actual turnover plan;
• Actual conversion plan;
• Actual cross-sales plan;
• Deviation from the plan;
• Actual average check plan;
• Actual sales funnel metrics (from marketing indicators to logistics).

Benefits of Implementing Reporting:

1. Broke down monthly sales plans by day and now control their daily execution. With a measurable system of indicators, we immediately see weak points and work on addressing them.
2. Salespeople realized they are being monitored. The “I’ll push hard at the end of the month” mentality became less frequent.

Since my client’s business has related products, we scripted cross-selling offers to customers during online order processing. Additionally, we introduced temporary promotions for related products, targeting both new and “thinking” clients who hadn’t made a transaction in the past month.

Example: offering a mattress and waterproof sheet is essential when purchasing a crib. Such a cross-sale doesn’t require heavy objections handling or a loud presentation but increased the average check by 36%.

Benefits of Implementing Cross-Sales:

1. Quickly increased turnover by selling to already ordering clients.
2. Increased ROI of advertising campaigns.
3. Products offered in cross-sales have higher margins, boosting overall business profitability.
4. Customers received more value and became more loyal to the company.

A significant problem in the Ukrainian market is that salespeople are afraid to sell. They consult, present, but do not close deals. This company had the same issue.

My client’s salespeople enthusiastically consulted clients and answered all questions about sizes, configurations, etc., but were afraid to “close the client” for a sale and move them to the next funnel stage. We scripted closing phrases and order processing and trained the salespeople on them.

Example: we applied the closing technique not only at the end of the conversation but at the very beginning. We also monitored calls with a checklist for using closing phrases:

“Confirming the order?”
“Are you ready to arrange delivery with the promotion?”
“Let’s proceed to order processing!”
“Are we processing the order with a 30% or 100% prepayment?”

Starting with an offer to confirm the order instead of a product consultation reduced the sales cycle by 30%. Every third client confirmed the order without objections and a lengthy presentation simply because they were asked.

Benefits of Emphasizing Deal Closure:

1. Reduced the sales cycle.
2. Saved clients from unnecessary talk and solved their problem faster.
3. Reduced the sales department workload, allowing more orders to be processed with fewer staff.

Most companies still operate without sales plans, and this client was no exception. Besides classic financial planning, we set planned sales funnel metrics. One key indicator was the planned conversion rate from leads to sales. This is crucial as the client gets leads from advertising, and this indicator directly impacts advertising campaign ROI.

Example: previously, salespeople sold as much as they “could” and earned a percentage. By changing motivation and setting plans, we achieved a 1.5-fold increase in turnover. Salespeople always “could” do more; they just needed a target. Once sales plans (higher than previous actual plans) were introduced, the new plans were met at a minimum of 102%.

Benefits of Implementing Sales Plans:

1. Salespeople received clear and measurable goals.
2. We can objectively evaluate employees and their performance.
3. Started forecasting company growth and key financial indicators based on data.

No matter how strong and well-thought-out your scripts and processes are, without the right sales team, the likelihood of exceeding plans and achieving high results is close to zero. My client’s company, unfortunately, had a suboptimal team, and we immediately implemented changes to improve the situation.

1. Created sales profiles, including soft and hard skills, and evaluated the current staff.
2. Revised financial motivation, linking each salesperson’s income to their real results against the plan.

Example: now, employees are hired according to profiles with at least 80% match. The new financial motivation includes plans for effectiveness criteria: sales turnover, conversion rate of confirmed orders, and percentage of orders with cross-sales.

Benefits of These Changes:

1. The owner now pays those who bring real money to the company.
2. No longer sitting on a “powder keg” – working with employees who meet expectations and systematically fulfill plans.
3. Salespeople have clear financial motivation. The best earn significantly more, and those who preferred salaries and excuses left the company.

In business, losing a few thousand in a casino is at least foolish. Sales is a precise system any entrepreneur can build. Implement at least a few recommendations in your sales department, and you’ll see real growth in key indicators within two weeks.

And don’t forget to check our blog, where we share secrets of successfully hiring a sales department head. This is your chance to find the perfect leader for your team!