After perusing some sales statistics the other day, I had the following conversation:

Me:  Compared to first quarter last year, you made 25% less sales call this year.
Seller:  Is that during the same time period, because you know I was sick last year.

Me:  You made more sales calls last year even though you were sick?
Seller:  What?  No, I. . .

Me:  I'm trying to help you figure out why you made less sales calls this year than last year.
Seller:  I didn't think that I made less.

Me:  Last year you made 100 sales calls January through March.  This year you made 75 sales calls January through March.  That is 25% less calls.  In addition, your revenue is down by 20%.
Seller:  Well, our ratings were down and that made it harder.

Me:  You don't have any control over the station's ratings but you do have control over the number of calls you make.  You told me that one of your goals was to make more money but your behavior tells me and you something different.
Seller:  What do you mean?  I still want to make more money!

Me:  Most sellers would assume that making more money would require one to make more sales calls.  Is that something you believe?
Seller:  Yes, but I'm not going to call on just any prospect regardless of their qualifications.

Me:  How many prospects did you attempt to qualify but then dismissed as unworthy of a sales call?
Seller:  How many?  I have no idea.

Me:  Are you saying that you made less sales calls this year compared to last because you are doing a better job of qualifying your prospects?
Seller:  Yes.  I have taken a different approach this year that calls for a more in-depth understanding of the prospect's business before making the initial call for an appointment.  Instead of doing a "needs analysis" with everyone - I only do it with those prospects that fit my ideal customer profile.

Me:  That makes sense.  Since you are seeing more qualified prospects, one would expect two things to happen:  1) Your closing ratio would go up and 2) Your average sale would go up.
Seller:  Yes, that is what I would expect.

Me:  Then you'll be interested to know that your closing ratio and average sale remained the same. 
Seller:  How can that be?

Me:  You made less sales than last year and your average sale stayed the same so your total revenue went down.
Seller:  Well, people are spending less money because of the economy. . .

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

When confronted with the cold, hard numbers that tell the story of their fading fortunes, sellers offer alternative stories.  Maybe that is just human nature.  If so, let me encourage you to fight the natural order!

I once had a manager that decided we should be "smiling through the phone" more often.  He installed mirrors in all of our cubicles so that we could see ourselves as we spoke on the phone.  Although I thought it was a good idea, I doubt if it changed too many faces.  Mostly, the mirrors just confirmed what we already thought of ourselves as we gazed lovingly at our smiling visages.

"You are a handsome devil!"
"Thank you, you're not so bad yourself."

Too bad that a mirror doesn't come with a self-correcting perspective.

While it is true that sales statistics do not tell the full story - or even an accurate one at times - the best sellers try to understand what is being reported by the numbers. 

If your sales calls are down, ask yourself if you really worked as hard as you could.  Ask yourself if your goals would be easier to achieve if you had made more calls.  Ask yourself , "If more calls are a good goal then how can I achieve that goal starting immediately."

And by all means, look deep into the mirror as part of your regular self-evaluation.  Just make sure it isn't a funhouse mirror.