Sales is one of the most measured jobs there is. Many sales adverts in Ghana mention targets, and interviewers often ask how you handle them. Understanding the numbers early means they help you instead of frightening you.
What sales teams measure
There are two kinds of number.
Activity numbers count what you do:
- calls made and calls answered
- WhatsApp or email messages sent to new leads
- meetings or demos booked
- quotes or proposals sent
Result numbers count what happened:
- deals won
- value sold, in cedis
- money actually collected
- customers kept or lost
You control activity directly. Results depend on activity plus skill plus some luck. Managers watch both because activity predicts results. If you make few calls, you will rarely close many deals.
Conversion rates
A conversion rate tells you how many people move from one step to the next. Suppose Issahaku makes 40 calls in a week, speaks to 20 people, books 5 meetings and wins 1 deal. You can describe that as 1 in 5 meetings becoming a sale, and 1 in 4 conversations becoming a meeting. Knowing your own rates lets you work backwards. If his target is 2 deals a week and nothing else changes, he needs roughly twice the activity, or he must improve one of the steps.
These example numbers are only for practice. Real rates differ a lot between products, customers and companies.