The success of any sales initiative depends on the periodic analysis of performance indicators in inbound sales. If you do not adequately measure a series of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), you will not be able to draw appropriate conclusions or make necessary adjustments.
In fact, your educational institution may be making the wrong decisions without realizing it. And what's worse, you will hardly be able to defend a decision made based on faulty analysis. Firstly, because it probably won't produce results, secondly, because a careful analysis will show that this is not the path.
What lies ahead in this post will surely pique your interest:
Some considerations about inbound sales KPIs
A fundamental decision before thinking about results in inbound sales is not wanting to analyze the multitude of existing performance indicators. The person responsible for analyzing your team must understand what information is in your database and separate only what is essential.
Next, you will have to decide whether or not you will differentiate the results of Inbound Marketing initiatives from those involving Outbound factors. This may seem obvious.
It is also important to consider the Churn Rate, which indicates the percentage of customers who stopped using the company's services or products in a given period. A high churn rate can indicate problems with customer retention, service quality or product adaptation to market needs. Monitoring this indicator allows you to implement corrective actions to improve customer loyalty and satisfaction.
However, a brief check of the number of interactions a visitor makes before converting into a customer can show that different marketing efforts tend to overlap.
In other words, it is possible that a visitor will discover your company for the first time thanks to a Google AdWords campaign dedicated to giving more visibility to your services.
However, many times, the visitor will not convert into a Lead until, after several visits, they decide to download some free material on your blog or website. Depending on the model for defining performance indicators in inbound sales that you follow, your conclusions will be different.
Exactly for this reason, in today's article, we will explain which KPIs, in our opinion, are the most relevant and representative.
KPIs to measure results in inbound sales
Number of qualified leads generated
The more leads a business attracts, the more sales it will make. Right? Not necessarily. Segmenting our database appropriately will allow us to identify real potential customers who are attracted by our proposal, but who still need a maturation process to complete a purchase, as well as those who already consider it the ideal solution for their specific needs.
This distinction is crucial when determining the personalized nurturing strategy for each lead. Other information that cannot be lost is the percentage of Leads that actually make a purchase (Leads to close ratio) and the average time that this transformation process takes from potential to actual.
That is, a qualified lead is a prospect or customer that has been researched and reviewed, first by the company's marketing department and then by the sales team, and is ready for the next step in the business process.
It is a contact that meets sufficient characteristics to be a potential customer, both in terms of the qualities of their profile and the purchasing process they are in.
In addition to segmentation, it is essential to monitor the Sales Cycle, which indicates the average time needed to convert a lead into a customer. This indicator helps identify bottlenecks in the sales process and optimize the stages of the funnel, ensuring a more efficient journey for the customer. Companies that closely monitor the sales cycle can adjust their strategies more quickly, increasing conversion rates and improving the customer experience.
With the advancement of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a powerful ally in inbound sales. AI-based tools allow you to analyze large volumes of data in real time, identify lead behavior patterns, and customize sales approaches more effectively. Integrating AI into inbound sales strategies can result in more agile processes and more informed decisions.
READ THESE ARTICLES TOO:
- How to capture leads with inbound sales in the education sector;
- How to capture qualified leads in a digital marketing campaign?
- What is CRM and how can you use it to boost your student’s capture?
Number of conversions
The conversion rate illustrates the number of people who perform a certain action. In other words, they become frequent customers, respond to a certain CTA (Call to Action), or buy a product, hire a service or reach a certain place on the website.
The most common conversion rate is sales, as generally the actions to be measured are linked to a particular benefit, but they can be any of the objectives just mentioned. To calculate the conversion rate, you need to perform the following calculation:
Conversion rate = 100 x Number of sales / traffic
As you can see, the conversion rate is quite simple to calculate, it is a division between the number of actions taken within a certain period of time and page traffic during the same interval, multiplied by 100 if you want a percentage.
The result of this inbound sales performance indicator offers basic information for making decisions. For example, if you have a high number of visitors, it means you are on the right track to attract customers. But if the conversion rate is low, you need to think about whether sales opportunities are being wasted.
This gives you an idea that you need to think about whether the page is functional, whether there are no navigation problems, whether the prices are attractive, whether the page is capable of keeping the visitor interested in your proposals.
For example, within the academic environment, your educational institution can consider the relationship between the number of enrollments x number of leads or even deepen this analysis within the commercial team and analyze the number of enrollments per consultant, as this may be responsible by establishing telephone contact, for example, and seeing which ones perform best.
Another essential indicator is the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), which represents the average investment required to acquire a new customer. By calculating CAC, companies can assess the effectiveness of their marketing and sales strategies, identifying opportunities to reduce costs and increase profitability. Keeping CAC in balance with the value generated by each customer is crucial to the sustainability of the business.
Caption: Person using a notebook at a table with graphs, tablet and performance indicators, symbolizing the analysis of metrics in inbound sales strategies.
Cost per lead
Cost per lead (CPL) is one of the most important inbound sales KPIs. It is used to calculate the cost of generating a potential customer (lead). We can define a potential customer as a person interested in a product or service who, for example, fills out a form, registers for a newsletter, etc. The formula is as follows:
Investment / Number of Leads = Cost per Lead
In other words, depending on the expenses incurred in some action, with clear and specific objectives, simply divide the number of leads achieved by the total investment made. Whether in adwords campaigns, paid advertising on social networks or creating landing pages and associated materials, everything can serve as a basis for calculating the CPL in your analysis of performance indicators in inbound sales.
To ensure effective analysis, it is recommended to focus on key indicators that are aligned with the company's strategic objectives. The main inbound sales KPIs include: MQL to SQL Conversion Rate, which measures the efficiency of qualifying leads; Lifetime Value (LTV), which estimates the total value that a customer generates during their relationship with the company; and Net Promoter Score (NPS), which assesses customer satisfaction and loyalty. Monitoring these indicators provides valuable insights to improve sales strategies.
Conclusion
Without measuring, it is impossible to know exactly what the performance of all the efforts made by your educational institution is. This is why inbound sales KPIs are so important. You can complement today's knowledge with other material, about the as data analysis in the educational market really work.
Summary: Measuring inbound sales KPIs is essential for evaluating and adjusting acquisition strategies. Indicators such as conversion rate, CPL, CAC, churn and LTV help educational institutions understand real performance, avoid wrong decisions and improve sales results.
The next post!
Which KPIs should you track to improve your inbound sales?
What are the main inbound sales KPIs in the education sector?
The most relevant indicators include conversion rate, cost per lead (CPL), customer acquisition cost (CAC), churn, lifetime value (LTV), lead scoring, and MQL to SQL conversion rate. These KPIs help you measure campaign performance and make more informed and strategic decisions.
How do you calculate the conversion rate in inbound sales?
Just divide the number of actions performed (such as enrollments or form completion) by the total number of visitors or leads in the same period, and multiply by 100.
Formula: Conversion rate = (Number of actions / Traffic) x 100.
Why is cost per lead (CPL) so important for educational institutions?
CPL shows how much it costs to generate each new lead. When monitored correctly, it allows you to assess whether the investment in campaigns is being efficient or whether there is waste in the student recruitment budget.
What is the difference between CPL and CAC in inbound sales?
CPL measures the cost to generate a lead. CAC, in turn, calculates the total amount invested to transform this lead into an enrolled student. The joint analysis of both allows you to assess the efficiency of the sales funnel.
What does churn mean in inbound sales strategies?
Churn is the dropout rate, that is, the percentage of students who stop studying at the institution in a given period. A high churn can signal failures in the student's journey or in the alignment between expectations and delivery.
How can artificial intelligence improve sales KPI analysis?
AI allows you to analyze large volumes of data in real time, identify lead behavior patterns and customize strategies based on accurate data. This makes processes more agile and decisions more informed.
Is it necessary to monitor all available KPIs?
No. The ideal is to focus on the indicators that are most aligned with the institution's strategic objectives. Analyzing a lot of irrelevant data can be confusing rather than helpful. Prioritize the KPIs that directly impact decision-making.
Portugal