By Dr. Billy R. Williams

This is a question I am asked every day!

There is a very simple formula that you can use with any campaign to correctly determine the number of prospects you need in order to reach your sales goals for a prospecting campaign.

You will need three pieces of information from any prospecting campaign:

The total number of prospects you started with,

Your sales goals, and,

The total number of sales from a currently operating campaign or a completed campaign.

Active Inspire a Nation Members: Click here to go to a spreadsheet in the video and document library that you can use to input your numbers and see not only your sales goals numbers but quote/contact and ROI per campaign

Of course you could also use the historical information from a completed campaign to help you determine the most effective lead sources and prospecting variables to use on a future prospecting campaign.

The simple formula is Prospects X (Sales Goals/Actual Sales)

This formula applies regardless of the type of prospecting campaign you are currently using since it is based on the results of a currently operating prospecting campaign or a completed campaign.

You must always consider that several variables will impact your prospecting results, these include:

• Lead sources,
• Technology you use to prospect,
• The time of day you prospect,
• The method of prospecting – phone, email, mailing, conference calls, etc.
• The sales ability of the person or team that is prospecting.

Don’t over think the formula. Let the numbers tell you the real story, don’t try to skew the numbers to match what you want to happen, let them honestly show you what is really happening.

Let’s apply the formula to 4 different prospecting scenarios:

1. You purchased a telemarketing list of 1000 names

2. You bought 100 real time internet leads for one of your producers

3. You mailed out 500 postcards (The postcards all had the Inspire a Nation

recommended wording and the 5 key items that dramatically increases response rates)

4.  You bought 1000 aged internet leads

Scenario 1 - You provided your telemarketer with 1000 names from a purchased list: Your telemarketer called between 10 AM – 3 PM (The absolute worst times for  telemarketing!), the campaign produced 5 new sales; you wanted the telemarketing campaign to produce 20 sales. Based on the formula you will need to provide your telemarketer with 4000 names to reach your sales goals. 1000 X (20/5)

Mentoring suggestion: Change your prospecting times and you will get better results

Scenario 2 - You bought 100 real time internet leads for a sales rep: You used a lead management tool to immediately reply to the internet leads, and you followed the Inspire a Nation recommended internet lead follow-up schedule. You closed 10 new sales; you wanted 20 new sales. Based on the formula you will need to provide the sales rep with 200 leads to reach your sales goals. 100 X (20/10)

Btw, don’t forget to sign up for our current web series “All things Internet Leads” The remaining sessions are 10/5/2015, 10/8/2015, and 10/15/2015

Mentoring suggestion: Though this percentage is actually pretty good, make sure you are purchasing the highest quality (Prospects provide real information and wanted a quote) real time leads available

Scenario 3 - You mailed out 500 postcards: You received 100 call-ins, had 20 people download information from your website, and had 12 people show up for a conference call; All this activity produced 7 sales. You wanted 10 new sales. Based on the formula you will need to mail 714 postcards on your next mailing campaign. 500 X (10/7)

Mentoring suggestion: Make sure you are mailing to areas that match the demographics of your target prospects.

Scenario 4 – You bought 1000 aged internet leads: Your team emailed, called, and mailed postcards to the aged internet leads over a 60 day period and you followed the Inspire a Nation recommended follow-up schedule for aged leads. All the activity associated with the prospecting produced 14 sales. You wanted 25 sales. Based on the formula you will need to purchase 1785 leads to meet your sales goals. 1000 X (25/14)

Mentoring suggestion: You did everything right the first time through. Make sure your x-date follow-up and re-quote process are just as thorough so you get the maximum return on investment

Btw, don’t forget to sign up for our current web series “All things Internet Leads” The remaining sessions are 10/5/2015, 10/8/2015, and 10/15/2015

Of course if you are using Inspire a Nation recommended prospecting templates, following the Inspire a Nation recommended follow-up schedules, utilizing Inspire a Nation recommended technology, and utilizing all of the prospecting options we teach you to offer a prospect, your results will be far superior to the average agent.

Want more awesome mentoring information? Here are some options:

1.  Join the Inspire a Nation Mentoring Program. The program has an amazing step by step video and document library as well as biweekly, live, mentoring web meetings. http://inspireanation.org/membershipinformation

2.  Purchase the “How to Build a $10 Million Insurance Agency in 5 Years” e-book: http://inspireanation.org/10millioninsuranceagency

3.  Subscribe to our blog: http://inspireanation.org/contact