Salesperson Trading Cards? 

This past weekend I came across an old baseball card. What I found most interesting was the impressive range of statistical data on the back of the card. There was information related to runs batted in, total times at bat, home runs, singles, doubles, triples, etc. 

Rather than simply keeping track of final points, most sports utilize a multi-dimensional perspective on keeping statistics. Unfortunately, in sales we typically only view one dimension, "total sales generated". What if we created trading cards for sales people? What type of annual statistics could we keep? 

TSO - Total Sales Opportunities
TPG - Total Proposals Generated
PCS - Proposals converted to sales
TCCM – Total Cold Calls Made
AFCC - Appointments from Cold Calls
SFCC - Sales from Cold Calls
TRR – Total Referrals Received
RCG - Referrals Converted to sales
ASC - Average Sales Cycle 

The above stats are just a few of the examples we could utilize in developing a multi-dimensional performance perspective. This data would be extremely helpful when assessing even the most proficient and experienced salesperson's areas of improvement. It's one thing to say, "I need my people to sell more." It's another to take a deep look at statistical data to pinpoint the problem areas.    

These trading cards could even out the playing field for potential employers who want to objectively evaluate potential sales hires.  The cards would enable an HR person or a sales manager to get past the embellishments historically presented in self written resumes and cut to the truth… 

How much would a 1929 financial salesperson's trading card be worth today? 

© 2005 Jay Spielvogel. All rights reserved. 

Jay D. Spielvogel
S&R Associates
(914) 584.2282
www.salesandrevenue.net