Looking Beyond the Numbers

Numbers matter. In reaching corporate sales and revenue projections, in dating, in football-watching parties, in job hunting, in political events and elections. You want to have as many as you can in those numbers.

However, it seems executives, social networkers, job hunters, campaign chairmen, and everyone else is finding out there needs to be some depth beyond the numbers. The results of efforts toward the ultimate objectives depend on who you have in the room - or in your network.

I'm happy to see that there seems to be a trend toward deeper relationships - in all the areas that I work and play. Young parents are getting more involved with their young children and, as important, with each other. Online social and business groups are increasingly including a face-to-face component, like my Meetup groups and business associations, like DallasBlue and the DFWIMA. Text-messaging and emailing are being measured against the productivity of a quick phone call or stepping over to talk to the other person. Nonprofit and business organizations alike are finding that as people work together for a common objective, they are more likely to stay involved, regardless of how much information or how many people they have access to online. People are seeing the value of online networking, but also understanding that there is something missing over the long term if it is just a bunch of names that they have no real connection to.

Lisa Barone describes her discoveries about social network numbers on Bruce Clay, Inc - It’s the Quality of the Network, not the Quantity of Faces. Is it really “social networking” if you are just after numbers and can’t remember who or why people are in your network? Are you able to “brand” yourself, your product, or your company, or have any distinctive message or image if you make no choices in who you relate to? Most importantly, are you able to give your relationships and networks the time and commitment to make any real impact if there is no real depth or purpose?

This matters in sales and marketing as well. If sales and marketing don’t work together to define and approach the ideal customer targets, and say “no” to processes and activities that simply take time and resources just to build numbers, then the process is not cost effective. The cost per conversion from sales call or online visitor to a loyal customer over time will be very high. Roy Williams talks about this very issue in his Monday Morning Memo - The Gravity of the Edge, saying, "You can't improve what you don't measure."

As you can read in the comments to the Future Now post by Bryan Eisenberg Why Your Conversion Rate Matters More Tomorrow it is clear that Bryan has some passionate sales people following his blog. I believe the message is important that performance over time matters as much as today's sales call or visitor numbers, and relationships - with other departments as well as customers - will help us get there.

In BNET's "Sales Machine" by Geoffrey James, there has been a great discussion going on regarding how sales and marketing can work together to find mutual objectives and tactics that work toward meaningful numbers and ultimately positive return for the organization. Geoffrey James has a great description of "marketing vs sales" on BNET January 2008 - or rather, how marketing and sales can find mutually positive intersections.

In your life, wherever you are at, how do you make the numbers in your relationships – those in your address data and social networks – matter, and what really matters to you?