That's a good question. I'm glad you asked. :) Without analytics, you just can't see what is working for you.

In terms of projects, that means concentrating on the tasks that build the required outcome. You need to estimate in order to quote, and then you should track how you go against your estimations.

Sales are sort of like a long running project. We need to know the effort we chosse to put in is bringing us results. If a particiular strategy, media or channel is working best for us, we should pour more effort into that in order to maximise our return on investment.

At Business Geeks, we use SugarCRM. Steve has used it for several years now, and has done lots of configuration and customisation work. One of the advantages of Sugar is that you can extend the gathering of metrics to gain more intelligence froma  specific channel.

Most peope relate very strongly to visual portrayal of information and statistics. Charts and diagrams are important. Mixing SugarCRM's capabilities with charts and configuring it well empowers business to do some very serious naval gazing! It's a good thing that, when provided this facility, management can optimise their sales processes and strategies.

Here's a sample of a SugarCRM dashboard. We have loaded Sales Opportunities in this SugarCRM instance across multiple lead sources and outcome stages.

You can see here that "door to door" has generated the most activity, with "Walk In" a close second.

Existing Customers and Networking Groups come close after that.

Notice "door to door" has a more staggered progression in the sales opportunities. This is because when going dooe to door, you are presenting your value to an unqualified lead, whereas a "Walk In" has a specified need and is alreadyalead looking for a service. Walk-Ins thus tend to close more quickly provided you have good sales staff in your shopfront.

If you would like to understand more about your business, and have some experienced heads to assist you along the way, talk to Business Geeks.

Lastly, harking back to the subjectof project management for a moment, see our Instant Business Platform : Project Portal for help with running projects efficiently.