Rethinking Closing Ratio Reporting
Rethinking Closing Ratio Reports in the Motorcoach Industry with TBN
In the ever-evolving motorcoach industry, traditional metrics like closing ratio reports are increasingly becoming less effective in providing a complete picture of sales performance. At TBN, we are pioneering new ways to offer motorcoach operators innovative tools that revolutionize the way they present quotes and itineraries to their customers.
Why Traditional Closing Ratios Fall Short
Traditional closing ratio reports, which measure the percentage of quotes that convert into bookings, can be misleading. This is particularly true in the motorcoach industry, where complex itineraries and diverse customer needs require a more nuanced approach. For instance, when a customer is presented with multiple vehicle options and itinerary variations, the traditional method of calculating closing ratios fails to capture the true value of the sales process. In other cases when we talk to operators who report incredibly high closing ratio numbers, the reality of those numbers comes into question. It is a statistical impossibility to so precisely align demand with your ability to deliver month over month to maintain a closing ratio in the 90%s. What drives these kinds of false data points is sales teams who are doing primary quoting outside the system (giving people a general idea of what a trip may cost) and then only moving people into official "quotes" once the general price is agreed on and the person has already checked availability to ensure that the company can do the trip.
Introducing TBN’s Variations and Options
TBN stands out from other software solutions with our groundbreaking features: Variations and Options. These tools have been specifically designed to enhance communication with customers by offering them multiple ways to run their trips. This means that sales people have the abiltiy to, with very little effort, deliver robust and accurate quotes from the very start to ensure that you are capturing a full picture of what is being requested, even if you can't close the quote.
Imagine a bride planning her wedding transportation. She might want to compare quotes for different vehicles and timeframes, such as:
- A 4-hour trip in a cutaway vehicle
- An 8-hour trip in a motorcoach
- An 8-hour trip in a cutaway vehicle
- An 8-hour trip in a motorcoach
In this scenario, the customer would ultimately choose only one of these options. The traditional closing ratio would mark the unselected options as unbooked, misrepresenting the success of the sales effort.
Catering to Complex Itineraries
Consider another example: a comprehensive wedding transportation plan. A single quote could include:
- An airport shuttle the day before the wedding in a cutaway vehicle
- A bridal party VIP transfer in a limo bus
- A wedding venue shuttle in a motorcoach
- A wedding reception transfer and subsequent hotel shuttle in a motorcoach
Here, the customer might book several of these services, aiming to cover all their transportation needs. If three out of the four options are booked, the closing ratio should reflect a 75% success rate. Traditional metrics would struggle to provide this level of insight.
Beyond the Numbers: Enhancing Sales Management
At TBN, we emphasize that sales activity and strategy are key. It's not just about closing deals but understanding the broader picture of how quotes are being crafted and presented. Our features allow operators to:
- Upsell with options and variations, moving demand to more feasible days or vehicles
- Utilize suggested pricing that can be measured against presented prices
- Track booking totals and revenue per trip to ensure gross profitability
The next generation start with better data
One of the questions often asked by Salespeople new to TBN is "why would a company want to see all of this data in the system, its so much easier to just give general information over the phone?" The answer is that the future depends on it. The world is talking about the power of AI and how it can help make companies more money. In the motorcoach space this is clearly an opportunity. But AI is a learned model, which means it needs data to digest to provide you insights that you need to harness its power. In this case, having data like quotes that came in that we couldn't book because we were sold out or what vehicles someone was choosing between to do a trip, can all be used later to make data driven decisions. What should we be charging next October based on historical demand patterns including quotes which we didn't book? What types of vehicles should we add to the fleet that would allow us to book the most work that is lost to unavailability?
The future is bright and the ability to leverage data starts with more data in the system.
Conclusion: The Future of Sales Reporting
Sales reporting has long needed an overhaul. It has needed visibility of not just gross numbers but also financial performance. How well does a sales person sell value over price as is highlighted in our suggested vs. actuals reports. There also has long needed to be a shift towards metrics that could be used to offer performance based compensation plans. In the case of traditional closing ratio reporting, the very act of tracking the percentage of quotes entered vs. closed disincentivized team members from loading early stage quotes into the system, a behavior that is in the best interest of the company for future marketing efforts and for historical demand patterns. TBN offers a number of key ways to better manage sales.
- Quote Activity reporting by salesperson (on the quotes dashboard)
- Booking Totals Reporting by salesperson (booking dashboard, Booking totals report, dispatch prices)
- Prices (dispatch prices rev per hour/mile, suggested vs. displayed)
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