Let’s face it: you KILLED your 2013. Under your stewardship as a Sales VP, your sales team performed like gangbusters, generating opportunities and closing deals left and right. Your new sales coaching initiative was extremely well-received and led to substantial improvements in your reps across the board. You and your marketing counterpart were more aligned than ever before.

You were a badass in 2013. Now, let us help you realize it – and more importantly, help your CEO and board realize it – by showing you the numbers and sales metrics that matter.

How did your bookings trend over 2013?

Every Sales VP wants to see their bookings trending up and to the right, ideally month-over-month. While this is not always guaranteed to happen, when it does, you want to be sure to present those end-of-the-year numbers visually, to pack a more powerful punch. Take a look at this example below:

Other than a couple of down months in the doldrums of the summer, this Sales VP and sales team killed it this year. The number of deals booked each month – represented by the blue line – largely traveled on an upward trajectory, as did the total value of deals each month, represented by the vertical green bars. When your CEO and board members see the sales metrics of your yearly bookings represented in this visual manner, they will be blown away.

Did sales coaching work?

If one of your big commitments in 2013 – and it should have been – was to improve sales coaching, you’ll want to present relevant sales performance metrics to show that your training program actually worked. To show this, consider using a before-and-after comparison. In this first example, this rep’s sales funnel conversion rate at the present solution stage was only 56%, far below the company’s average of 75%.

Three months after the sales coaching program was implemented, take a look at how things have changed. This rep has upped his conversion rate at that stage all the way up to 74%, right in line with the company’s average. If this isn’t an indicator that concerted, focus sales coaching works, I’m not sure what is.

Are sales and marketing more aligned than they were last year?

Sales and marketing alignment is critical, and was one of your main priorities last year. You wanted to ensure a smoother hand-off process of marketing-generated leads to the sales team, while also doing more marketing in general. In short, you were hoping that marketing would contribute more to the pipeline as their team and available resources grows.

Well, according to the numbers, you both succeeded! Again, while month-over-month growth of pipeline contribution from leads is ideal, it is not always realistic. To be able to demonstrate generally up-and-to-the-right growth like in the example above and finishing out December with more than 3X the marketing-contributed pipeline in January is an impressive feat. Show this sales report to get the plaudits that you and your Marketing VP deserve.

 
Whatever your focus was in 2013 – expanding into new markets, shifting your sales process from a traditional one to an inside sales model, etc – you will be able to show the fruits of your labor with the right sales metrics. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to convey your successes. Don’t get caught in that boat again – a sales analytics product and sales report builder like InsightSquared can ensure you get the credit due to you.