Sales Team Metrics: "Is Talk Time a Relevant Metric?"

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By Mary Hendow, contributing blogger

Sales Team Metrics: "Is Talk Time a Relevant Metric?"

There’s an interesting debate about Talk Time on the LinkedIn group Telebusiness Alliance. I fall in the camp that believes Talk Time is a meaningful metric when used with other metrics.   

Setting a benchmark for Dials and Talk Time should be based on historical data for your organization.  Compare the last six months data for both metrics and graph them with sales revenue, for each rep and as a team average (by week or month, depending on your data).   Focus on your A players and you should find a meaningful benchmark. Remember that the Dials/Talk Time are leading indicators and revenue follows depending on your sales cycle.  This information can be used to set baseline goals for your team. 

I recommend coaching to this metric quarterly, at a minimum.  Typically there’s a “sweet spot” for reps, where the combination of dials/talk time leads to peak sales. Let me use Chatty Cathy and Frank, both top reps with similar sales results, as examples. Frank is quick to qualify, he has good intuition, and can quickly size up a candidate as either a prospect or a “no-po” (no power); his “sweet spot” is 2 hours and 65 dials.  Chatty Cathy is great with building rapport, her clients love her, and her “sweet spot” is 3 hours of talk time and 50 dials.  

If Chatty Cathy starts spending more time talking and less time dialing, her sales will fall. Conversely, if Frank’s dials go up and talk time goes down, he isn’t spending enough time probing and qualifying his clients.  In both cases, it's about meaningful conversations, probing and qualifying  There are other metrics (contact % and conversions) that identify similar weaknesses, however, when you focus on Dials and Talk Time metrics and coach to corresponding soft skill sets, these daily activities benchmarks can drive improved performance.