Contact numbers show how active a sales team is, but not how much it can sell. If calls and emails increase while sales stand still, the problem is often the direction of the effort rather than its volume.

Contact numbers alone do not explain why customers are being called, how they respond or what is learned from conversations. Management needs to read this necessary metric alongside the quality of the communication.

Is there a reason for the call?

“We would like to introduce our company” is a clear purpose for the sales team. But it does not tell customers why they should give the conversation their time.

For a strong opening, representatives need a basic understanding of the company they are calling. Which customer group does it belong to? What need might make a conversation relevant? What questions will they ask about what they do not yet know?

This does not mean knowing the customer's need in advance. The representative starts from a possibility and learns during the conversation whether it is correct.

For example, using the same opening with a company expanding its sales team and one without a team may be inappropriate. One may be considering growth within an existing structure, while the other is considering building a new team. These are possibilities to confirm in the conversation, not assumptions to treat as facts.

Where does a script help, and where does it fall short?

A call script helps representatives know how to introduce themselves, explain why they are calling and ask the first question. It provides a shared starting point, particularly for new team members.

But once the customer responds, the conversation does not always follow the plan. One person is not interested, another asks about scope, and another says they are not the right contact. A representative who stays tied to a memorised script may miss the information the customer provides.

Training should therefore cover not only what to say, but also how to respond to the customer's answer. If the customer is not a suitable prospect, close politely. If they have a question, answer it. If the timing is wrong, ask whether a later call would be welcome.

The aim is not to secure a meeting from every conversation, but to establish the right relationship and assess the outcome accurately.

What does a negative response tell us?

Not every rejection means the same thing. A company saying “This is not suitable for us” may be outside the target audience. One saying “This is not a priority right now” may have a need later. An answer such as “I do not understand what you offer” suggests the explanation needs reviewing.

If all these responses are recorded as “not interested”, managers cannot see the differences. Yet those differences directly affect targeting and training decisions.

These questions can guide a weekly team meeting:

  • What reasons most often brought conversations to an end?
  • Which customer questions did the team struggle to answer?
  • Do the companies being called really fit the target customer profile?
  • Can representatives change direction in response to what the customer says?
  • Is there a clear follow-up record for customers who will be called again?

These questions add reasons and outcomes to the contact numbers.

How should activity targets and conversation quality be balanced?

Focusing only on quality without tracking activity volume is not enough either. If the team does not reach enough potential customers, a few well-prepared conversations will not meet the target.

Management must ask two questions together: is the team active enough? And does that activity lead to meaningful conversations with the right customers?

There is no single figure that suits everyone. The target customer profile, service offered and nature of the conversations differ between companies. Regularly reviewing the team's own records makes it easier to set a useful, realistic target.

Coorbiz's Perspective

Coorbiz builds dedicated sales teams for companies, bringing together recruitment, training, team management, performance tracking and reporting. In this approach, call numbers are only a starting point. The purpose of the conversation, the customer's response and the representative's next step are also part of management.

Representatives may be asked to reach more people. But first, make sure they are calling the right companies and can explain the reason for the call clearly.

“How many contacts did we make?” can remain in the month-end report. But to understand why sales did not increase, we believe another question belongs beside it: “What did these contacts teach us about our customers' needs?”