“Sorry, we don’t carry that item.” Or perhaps, “No, that’s not
part of our service package.” How many times a year do your salespeople utter
these words or ones like them? The specific number is critical because, if you
don’t know it, you could be losing out on profit potential.
Although you have to focus on your strengths and not get too far
afield, your customers may be crying out for a new product or service. And
among the best ways to hear them is to track lost sales data and decipher the
message.
3 steps to success
A successful lost sales tracking effort generally involves three
steps:
1. Get the data. Ask your
sales associates to log every customer request and to question customers
further to get at the heart of what they need. Train sales associates to record
information such as the date of request, item requested and the reason the item
was unavailable.
2. Crunch the numbers.
Calculate how much you could sell if you had the new items in stock or offered
the additional service. Naturally, you’ll need to bear in mind that meeting
customer demand might involve spending money on equipment or personnel to
expand your product or service line. Key data points to examine include:
- Estimated potential purchases,
- Potential sales losses, and
- Estimated gross profit losses.
Develop a report that lays out this and other information, so
you can see it in black and white.
3. Talk about it. Run a
lost sales report monthly and discuss the results with your management team.
Seek to establish consensus on where your best strategic opportunities lie.
Sometimes you’ll want to be patient and let trends develop before acting. Other
times, you might want to strike early to seize an underdeveloped market.
A better grip
Lost sales are lost opportunities. By getting a better grip on
your customers’ needs, you can build a stronger bottom line. Please contact us
for help creating and maintaining a lost sales tracking system that best suits
your company’s distinctive needs.
© 2017
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