Quota questions

angola

I have some questions about setting quota for my first salesperson. In this thread, I`d like to just focus on whether or not the plan below is achievable without being too far over/under the bar.Assumptions: I can afford to hire someone who has some experience in sales but not a ton of experience. I will, in all likelihood, be this person`s 2nd or 3rd sales job in a 2-3 year time period. This will be someone who has sold software or tech-related products in the past.   1. Market: small to mid-size companies   2. Average sales price of $2500   3. 6-week sales cycle   4. Happy customers will re-purchase 1x per year   5. I will support the salesperson with conferences and advertising but much of the lead generation will be their responsibility.Here is my estimation of my first sales-person for talking to new people:A salesperson making contact with 25 new people per day (email/phone) should be able to book 5 follow-up calls in a week. Five follow-up calls should produce one sale for $2500.Given the scenario above, I have specific questions that I`m trying to work through:   1. Is my plan just right? too low? too high?   2. What about expecting a salesperson to talk to 25 new people per day?   3. Talking to 125 people per week, is getting 5 follow-up calls unrealistic or too low?   4. Closing 1 sale for every 5 follow-up calls (20%) - too high? Go with 10%? 15%?I know that you know nothing about my product/company/market so this makes it impossible to tell whether my assumptions are correct but I appreciate any general feedback/advice. Thank you for any help!angola2007-10-28 7:5:55