There is a big difference in the way large and small businesses manage and interpret their customer numbers. In most cases, corporates are able to define and analyse these numbers, but it’s an area where small businesses should take some lessons. For those that do, exceptional results are waiting.

What do we mean by numbers?

When it comes to marketing, sales volume is the number most businesses think about. But before you get to sales, there are plenty of other key numbers that need to be considered. These include:

The number of people who are aware of your business or brand.
The number of people who make the effort to research your business.
The number of people who contact you.
The number of sales opportunities you generate from those leads.

Then once you’ve made a sale, there’s potentially more to consider:

The number of people who were satisfied with your product or service
The number of people who would be happy to refer your business to others.
The number who actually do refer your business.
Making the numbers work for your business.

Tracking the numbers above will vary depending on your type of business. For example, a retailer will want to measure foot traffic, as well as the number of sales these people delivered. For more complex sales, there may be a need to measure enquiry numbers, then appointment numbers, then sales.

To determine the best numbers for you to monitor and manage, think about the process your customers go through when they engage with your business. Firstly, how many potential customers could you attract? How many are you currently communicating with? How many of them are researching you? Contacting you? And on it goes.

Why these numbers can build your business.

Having this information gives your business a good handle on where you’re losing potential sales. When you can pinpoint the biggest drops, you can adjust your business accordingly.

Are you attracting high website numbers, but not getting many enquiries? Do you have a lot of people coming through your doors, but aren’t converting many to sales? Are there simply not enough people aware of your business?

Understanding the exact point at which your customers drop off in the process is half the battle to converting more sales. Yes it takes time to gather this information, but if you do make the effort to gather and understand it, you’ll have a much clearer idea of where to wisely invest your money for a better return on investment.

And that is always good business.