Work Your Number to Predict Success

When sales director Mia saw her team struggling to hit quotas, she scrapped vague targets and forced a hard number: “We need 20 new clients this month.” To everyone’s alarm, she demanded her team calculate their call-to-close rates. At an 8 percent close rate, they realized they had to dial 250 prospects—every last one—just to get 20 customers. Panic set in. But then Mia led by example, sitting with reps to refine their pitch and process. The team embraced the clarity: they knew exactly what to do and how many times to do it.

Within weeks, the office buzzed with purpose. Instead of wondering if anyone would buy, they tracked each attempt. One rep added morning and afternoon prospect hours, another personalized voicemails. Their combined efforts doubled their success rate to 16 percent, meaning they needed only 125 calls. By month’s end, they landed 25 new accounts—five over goal. More important, they discovered the power of numbers: no more wild guesses, just predictable progress.

Economists say success is almost always a numbers game. When you know your personal conversion rate, you demystify success and remove emotional guesswork. Each attempt becomes data, and each data point answers your most pressing question: “How many times do I have to try to win?”

Calculate your current success rate, set your activity target based on that rate, and track every attempt on a single chart. Notice how controlling your inputs—rather than hoping for vague wins—gives you power over the outcome. Try one of these experiments tomorrow.