Sales-Estimating Strategy Analysis

Lean Six Sigma Tools
Cause & Effect Diagram
Performance Scorecards
Scatter Diagram

1. We started the project with a Cause & Effect Diagram of everything that impacts sales and close rate. Download Estimator Inside Sales Analysis March 2011 PowerPoint Presentation.
2. This e-newsletter will focus on estimator effectiveness, which the team felt could be a significant area for improvement.
3. The next step was to create the key performance metrics of the inside sales / estimator group.  They had many of the same measures as the outside sales force, which meant they were in alignment.  Companies talk about culture and alignment, but without aligned performance measures, it won’t happen.
4. The remainder of the project used simple correlation analysis to understand the effectiveness of the inside sales / estimating team.  We discovered high performers, which was not apparent to management before this analysis.
5. Slide 3 is $ quoted versus $ close rate.  Slide 4 is the number of quotes versus unit close rate.
6. At this company, estimating involved design and engineering calculations. Slide 5 summarizes our findings.  We used Jordan as a benchmark for training other estimators how to be effective.  In this case copying the methods of one estimator, who was out-performing without anyone knowing it, was the secret to improving estimating performance.