Marketing Strategy for Small- to Medium-Sized Manufacturers

Using Quote Production and Hit Rate to Strengthen Sales Management

Where a firm knows the number of customers and prospects in the markets it wants to target, the number of quotes generated (by customer, prospect, market, market segment, etc.) will indicate the business’ success in attaining desired sales coverage and market penetration. The hit rate tells the firm its success in converting inquiries into orders both at the company level and at the individual sales person level. If a sales territory possesses good sales potential but the assigned sales person does not generate a sufficient number of quotes, his ability to develop leads and generate quotes will become suspect. Similarly, if quotes are not won the salesperson’s ability to “close ...