Sometimes we may have the feeling that things in our business are not going as planned. But, in reality, it is just that: a feeling. To check whether this is true or not, we need to look at a series of indicators that will tell us specifically what we are doing well and what may be going wrong.
These parameters are known as sales indicators or KPIs, and they are essential for any company, but for those who sell their products through the Internet, they are even more so.
The pandemic marked a turning point, both in the way companies sell and in consumer preferences. Distance selling has exploded and with it, the number of e-commerce sites. In this sense, the world of e-commerce has become increasingly competitive, which means that businesses must measure their profitability through sales KPIs to keep up.
To set them, we must take into account that each company is different and, therefore, must also take into account different factors. Despite this, today we bring you some of the main remote sales KPIs, as well as some tools that we offer you in Fonvirtual to improve them.
But first… Can any data be considered a KPI?
Before you get to know the most important sales KPIs, one thing to keep in mind: not all the data you analyze is enough to be considered a performance indicator.
As mentioned above, each company is different and will define its own parameters according to its characteristics and needs. However, in order to obtain reliable information through KPIs, they must meet a series of requirements. They must be SMART, named after the acronym formed by the following words:
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- Specific: In order to make better decisions, it is necessary to focus on the specific objective that we want to measure with each indicator and avoid defining general targets. This is perhaps the most complicated, but the more specific the KPI, the easier it will be to monitor.
- Measurable: Ideally, your remote sales KPIs should be items to which you can assign a numerical value.
- Attainable: setting a goal that will set new challenges for the company can be interesting, but for an indicator to show reliable information, we must take into account the reality of our business and the obstacles that may arise. Otherwise, it can generate frustration and may never be achieved.
- Relevant: before setting our sales KPIs, we should consider whether they are related to the company’s strategy and whether we have the necessary resources to measure and improve them or whether we need to acquire new tools.
- Timely: Ideally, we should set a time limit for increasing these parameters. With this, we will optimize our efforts and prevent our actions from taking longer than desired.
4 examples of distance selling KPIs
Now it’s time for you to find out what we consider to be the most important KPIs for distance selling:
Conversion rate
This is one of the main sales KPIs and shows us the number of actions that have actually been completed on our website (purchase processes completed, forms filled in…).
Thus, we should be concerned about making this rate high, as this will imply that our site offers relevant information, that it is easy to navigate through it or that it offers sufficient means for the user to contact us. In short, it has a high web usability.
Acceptance rate
We must bear in mind that not all completed actions imply a sale. Therefore, although it may seem similar to the previous one, this indicator shows the number of users who have completed a specific action: the sales process. If this rate is low, the reasons are usually the lack of simple and fast payment methods, or even that we need to improve the usability of our website.
New and returning customers
In any business, it is essential to measure the number of customers who come to our company for the first time, as well as those who stay and continue to buy in the future. However, when it comes to distance selling, these can be good indicators of the degree of trust we offer consumers.
Thus, gestures such as helping them during a complex process or following up on a possible problem that may arise, will not only improve their user experience, but will also ensure their loyalty and make them come back to us.
Level of customer satisfaction
The last of the sales KPIs we want to highlight is the extent to which we have managed to accomplish what the customer expected from our company.
Typically, this information is obtained through surveys conducted after the interaction with the customer, and they are composed by a series of questions to which consumers are asked to answer with a number.
This is the simplest and most reliable way to check that the objectives are being met in the way we have set them, since, as mentioned above, an indicator needs to have a numerical value.
Tools to improve your remote sales KPIs
In Fonvirtual we offer you a wide variety of tools that you can include in your solutions to improve your remote sales KPIs: from web chat, to an instant messaging application such as WhatsApp API. However, today we want to highlight the following:
Collection solutions
With the cobrowsing tool, you can guide your customers through your website to learn about the products and services you offer, as well as accompany them while they perform certain actions. In this way, you will be able to offer users a comfortable website for their navigation, as well as increase your conversion and acceptance rates.
For example, you will prevent a potential customer from not completing the purchase process because they don’t know how to do it. The user will be able to share their computer screen online while the agent guides them in real time via voice, chat or video. All this without the need to install anything, from anywhere in the world and in a completely secure way.
Credit card charging by telephone
To improve your acceptance rate and avoid customers abandoning the purchase process by, as mentioned above, not offering convenient and easy payment methods (for example), giving them the option to pay with their credit card over the phone can be a good solution.
Customers may call your company to answer their questions and make their purchase decision. If they finally choose the product, directing them back to your website to complete the process may be uncomfortable for them and lead to abandonment.
However, this can change if during the course of the call an Artificial Intelligence system collects their data and charges them, transmitting this information directly to the bank in a totally secure way, as it is not stored and there is no human intervention.
Telemarketing software
With our mass calls software you will be able to acquire new customers and close remote sales quickly and easily. You will have the possibility to customize the different elements of the software according to the parameters you consider to make your campaign successful.
For example, our telemarketing software allows you to choose the right type of auto dialler for you based on customer data. The system will determine the best time to contact them and transfer only calls that have been answered to the agent to increase the efficiency of the campaign and the likelihood of success.
On the other hand, with this tool you will be able to carry out satisfaction surveys automatically to find out about the customer experience and what you can improve in your service.
Finally, it is advisable to complement this tool with other tools, such as a CRM. With this integration, you will be able to keep track of customers who have bought your products at some point in time to check that they are satisfied with them and thus ensure that they become repeat customers.
If you want us to help you improve your remote sales KPIs, contact us. Our team will advise and accompany you at all times so that you can get the most out of every interaction with your customers.
