I recently read an article in Fast Company magazine (a must-read for anyone looking to succeed). In the September, 2006, issue, there is a great article by David Lidsky. He quotes a study stating that more than 87% of all company executives do not know what the value of a customer is to their company. Wow, totally scary but so true! I was pleased to find in writing what I’ve been hearing from companies for a long time. Even worse is a number in the article stating that 91% of executives do not know the true cost of acquiring a new customer.
For sales people, these are powerful numbers because it helps to reinforce both the importance of sales and of having competent sales people. Many times, I’m asked to evaluate a company’s sales and marketing efforts and in the vast majority of cases, I find there are no benchmarks to measure these numbers against. No wonder so many sales managers feel they’re fighting an uphill battle with senior management! However, they can only blame themselves for not taking the time to put into place benchmarking procedures to measure the true cost of sales.
Thanks to Fast Company magazine and to David Lidsky for both his article and his research with The Strativity Group.
