Whatever happens during any calling activity, one thing is certain: You will generate results. While it's great that you're using the phone as part of your marketing communications and to stimulate the sales process, a lot of hard work could be going to waste if you have no clearly defined way of recording your results, sorting them into working groups and taking action on them.

If you're using a spreadsheet package for example, you'll want to ensure that the data is sorted in such a way you can take the appropriate actions in the future and avoid data becoming obsolete.

Whether you colour code or use the « sort » function to define results is up to you, you may prefer seperate worksheets for seperate results. Whatever you decide here are some of the results or outcomes that you will encounter. Feel free to word them as you see fit but you'll want to record:

• Maximum number of calls to each company/contact (TIP: More than 6 is good)

• Number of calls (total)

• Number of calls (to each contact or company)

• Number of callbacks to do

• Number of conversations with decision maker contacts

• Number of conversations with non-decision maker contacts

• Number of scheduled meetings

• Number of requests for information – (specific/tailored, not just a general request to get you off the phone)

• Number of future conversations booked (timed and dated)

• Number of not interested/no's (from decision makers preferably)

• Number of bad/incorrect record to either amend or discard

If you use a CRM (Customer response management) software like salesforce.com, Pivotal or highrise, you'll blessed with alarm and calender features as standard so there'll be no excuse for missing the next call to your prospects.

As a final note, compile your results each day, week, month and quarter, to see where you need to improve.

Record your mistakes on calls and learn from them, you may find that having friends, colleagues and current clients listening to your call opening helps you to increase the ratio of positive outcomes.

Hopefully, this post will help some of you reading it to shape your calling objectives and activities. Remember: If it can't be measured, it can't be managed.

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photo credit: stevenharris