Calculating selling success is important for everyone who earns a living selling products or services. One metric that measures selling efficiency is the sales hit ratio; it's based on the sales funnel, which measures the numbers of prospects you must have at different stages of the sales pipeline. From a general population, you identify prospects who are then qualified to become “hot” prospects. Actual sales come from this small qualified pool. Maximizing the closing rate and streamlining the sales process is every sales rep's objective.
The sales hit ratio is the number of sales you make as a percentage of the number of prospects you have identified. It can be expressed in this simple formula: (number of sales)/(number of prospects) x 100. The hit ratio will vary among sales reps in the same company based on their experience and selling ability, but this is a statistic that helps you plan your selling and prospecting activity. If you know how many sales you must have to make your quota, you can work backward to determine how many qualified prospects you must have in your pipeline to reach that objective. Taking the process one step further, you can see if your entire pool of prospects is sufficiently large to support your funnel. Whatever your hit rate, you must fill the pipeline sufficiently to make your quota.
