Pull-through rate definition
/What is the Pull-Through Rate?
The pull-through rate measures the ability of a salesperson to close a sale transaction. The sales manager should use the pull-through rate on an ongoing basis to measure the closing capabilities of his or her sales staff. The outcome of the measurement may be additional sales training, or the termination of those salespeople who have not proven to be sufficiently capable. Every effort should be made to retain those employees generating a high pull-through rate.
How to Calculate the Pull-Through Rate
To calculate the pull-through rate, divide the total number of initial customer contacts into the total number of customers from this group that placed orders. The measurement can be further refined by excluding repeat orders from existing customers, and can also be broken down at the level of the business unit, region, or salesperson. The formula is:
Number of customers placing an order ÷ Number of initial customer contacts = Pull-through rate
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Example of the Pull-Through Rate
The sales manager of Colossal Furniture wants to determine the ability of his sales staff to sell the company's oversized furniture to the people entering its stores. The stores use automated counters to track the number of people entering each store, and order forms are used to track the number of orders placed by store. He compiles the information by store, which yields the following information for the preceding month:
| Store | Orders Placed | Initial Customer Contacts | Pull-Through Rate |
| Ann Arbor | 142 | 189 | 75% |
| Boston | 319 | 560 | 57% |
| Chicago | 241 | 636 | 38% |
| Denver | 417 | 952 | 44% |
The table reveals that the Ann Arbor store has an excellent pull-through rate. The sales manager decides to investigate the sales staff at this location, to see if any best practices or training methods can be copied from there to the other stores.
When to Use the Pull-Through Rate
The pull-through rate is best employed in high-volume environments where there are many customer interactions. It is least useful when multiple sales people may be involved in a customer contact, so that assigning a successful sale to a specific salesperson is more difficult.