Sales 101 · Free Tool
The gap between a target and the activity it needs is arithmetic, not effort.
Most sales targets are set as a number of deals, and most reps are then told to “work harder”. But the gap between a target and the activity it needs is arithmetic, not effort. This calculator does the arithmetic: enter how many new clients you want and your conversion ratio at each stage, and it works backwards to the calls, conversations, appointments, presentations and proposals required.
Sales Activity Calculator
Your conversion ratios (1 in X — defaults from Chapter 3; change any)
| To win 2 clients you need | This month | Per working day |
|---|---|---|
| Proposals delivered | 4 | 0.2 |
| First presentations | 10 | 0.5 |
| First appointments | 30 | 1.5 |
| First conversations | 90 | 4.5 |
| Call attempts | 900 | 45 |
Two new clients this month. At the default ratios that is 4 proposals, 10 presentations, 30 appointments, 90 conversations and 900 call attempts — 45 a day across 20 working days. The rep who wants two clients and is making twenty calls a day is not behind on effort. They are behind on math. Those are different conversations, and only one of them is useful.
If the daily number is not achievable in a normal week, one of three things has to change: the goal, a ratio through coaching, or where the leads come from. Try improving the close ratio in the calculator and watch the call attempts fall — a better close rate reduces the activity needed at every stage above it, which is why coaching to one specific ratio is the highest-leverage move a manager has. How to coach to a ratio →
Chapter 3 of Sales Leadership Made Simple — the full activity equation, with the KPI sheet behind these numbers — is free to read.
It depends on your ratios. At typical ratios — 1 conversation per 10 calls, 1 appointment per 3 conversations, 1 presentation per 3 appointments, 1 proposal per 2.5 presentations, 1 client per 2 proposals — one new client takes about 450 call attempts.
A typical cold-calling ratio is about 1 live conversation for every 10 call attempts.
Improve a conversion ratio through coaching, or change where your leads come from. Improving the close rate has the biggest effect, because it reduces the activity needed at every stage above it.
Go Deeper
Sales Leadership Made Simple
The activity equation, coaching to ratios, pipeline clarity and forecasting — for the manager who was promoted because they could sell.
About the Author
Christopher Brooks has spent over three decades building and leading sales teams in the technology sector. He is the author of the Sales 101 series.