Sales Metrics & KPIs

Modern sales teams play a vital role in driving business success. Sales representatives are out there constantly creating leads and driving revenue, which is something the CEO, the board, shareholders, and even employees care a lot about. This makes sales metrics a big deal for everyone involved. 

But what makes a top-performing sales team truly successful? The answer is data. 

Everything in sales is measurable. And the benefit of measuring your sales performance is that you can identify areas of improvement in all parts of the sales pipeline. Think of sales metrics as a compass that keeps you on course to achieving the results you and your business are after.

The following business tips are designed to help your sales team identify and track the best metrics on your dashboards, reports, and other tools. Learn how to use the right sales metrics and KPIs to grow your business.

Why Do You Need to Track Sales Metrics?

Understanding your business's performance is crucial for growth and success. Sales metrics give you a clear picture of how well your sales strategies are working. Here's why tracking them is essential:

Clear performance overview

If you monitor sales metrics, you can see how your team is performing. Are they meeting targets? Are certain products selling better than others? This data offers a snapshot of where things stand.

Identifying strengths and weaknesses

Sales metrics can also highlight areas where your sales team excels and where they might need additional training or resources. For example, if one product is selling much better than others, it might be worth investing more in its promotion.

Informed decision-making

With accurate sales data at your fingertips, you can make better decisions. Whether it's setting future sales targets, allocating budgets, or launching new products, sales metrics provide the insights needed to choose the best course of action for your leads.

Spotting trends

Sales metrics can help you identify patterns over time. Maybe sales dip during certain months or spike during specific seasons. Recognizing these trends allows you to plan and strategize for healthy company growth.

Ensuring business growth

Ultimately, tracking sales metrics ensures that your business continues to grow. By understanding where you're succeeding and where there's room for improvement, you can adapt and evolve, ensuring long-term success.

20 Sales Metrics Your Sales Teams Should Be Tracking

Here are some of the most important sales metrics to ensure your processes are all on track. This will help you identify areas of opportunity in your revenue operations and drive more sales for the business. 

Best financial sales metrics

Financial sales metrics offer a clear picture of a company's financial health and performance. Tracking these metrics lets you gauge your profitability and understand revenue streams. Let's delve into the key financial metrics that can offer valuable insights into your sales operations.

Total Sales Revenue

One of many good indicators of your sales performance is your company’s total revenue. Total revenue, also known as gross sales, refers to all the income your business generates from every activity. This metric encompasses all your products and services over a set length of time. This sales revenue metric can be calculated by multiplying the quantity of all products or services sold by the price. 

Gross revenue gives you a big-picture baseline of how your business is performing, shows you where you are, and how you generate sales in the first place. This revenue metric is also important because sales teams can’t come up with or track goals if you don’t know the bottom line of how you’re doing. 

Revenue by Product or Service

Revenue by product or service are sales metrics that show you how much revenue each one generates. This metric identifies the products or services that earn the most sales, proving their value and importance to the company. It will also point out which products or services aren’t getting much revenue. 

With this information, you can decide if any of your services or products must be discontinued, marketed, or upsold more effectively. Revenue by product or service metrics show how many products you rely on for income vs. how many you offer as well.

Monthly Recurring Revenue Growth

The Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) Growth Rate measures the rate by which your MRR increases or decreases over a given sales period. It’s calculated by comparing the MRR at the end of a defined period with the MRR at the beginning of that same period. 

This revenue sales benchmark will allow your company to get a clearer picture of how well it's doing in two key areas: acquiring new customers and holding onto the ones you already have. 

Year-Over-Year Growth

Year-over-year growth compares the total revenue generated by your company one year to the following or over several years. This is one of the few sales metrics that can show your business’s overall growth and performance. 

For example, after figuring out how much your total revenue is for the two years you’re comparing, subtract the amount of the previous year’s revenue from the current year’s income, then multiply that number by 100. You can compare this number to your goals and use it to project and set new ones for future years. It gives you a good idea of your business’s sales strategies’ effectiveness and makes room for growth.

Average Revenue (Customer, Product, or Account)

Knowing the average revenue generated by a single customer, account, or product will show how your business is weighted. After all, knowing if most of your sales come from a single customer or product is crucial. 

Relying too heavily on a single source of income is risky, and knowing your average revenue will help you strategize for your company’s benefit. The average revenue metric will give you a good idea of where to spend your attention and resources by allowing you to grow these relationships or products or learn from their success. 

Annual Contract Value (ACV)

ACV, or annual contract value, refers to a multi-year contract’s yearly revenue. To calculate your ACV, divide the total contract value by the number of years in the contract. This revenue metric allows you to see which accounts generate the most. It’s also helpful information to have when re-negotiating or re-signing contracts. 

Average Customer Lifetime Value

Average customer lifetime value measures the total sales expected to be generated from a single customer throughout their business relationship with you. Factors used to identify sales metrics of this kind include customer behavior, average order value, and frequency of purchase or patronage. 

Tracking Average Customer Lifetime Value lets you understand your level of customer retention and satisfaction. You can also use this number to strategize ways to diversify or increase your sales longevity with repeat customers. 

Sales Expense Ratio

While you have to spend money to make money, you must ensure you approach it in a balanced, profitable way and that you aren’t spending more than you stand to gain. The sales expense ratio will show how much you spend to acquire customers in relation to revenue. Find out this percentage by dividing net sales by operating expense, then multiplying the number by 100. 

Best customer relationship sales metrics

Building and maintaining strong relationships with customers helps you understand customer preferences, loyalty, and areas of improvement. With this, you can tailor your strategies to meet customer needs effectively. Here are the essential sales metrics to help you gauge the strength of your customer relationships.

Market Penetration

Your customer base, compared to the whole market potential, is your market penetration. This sales benchmark shows your company’s market potential and helps you identify where you are with your sales-related goals. If your percentage is low, it may indicate a need to go over your strategies. 

To calculate it, you first need to determine your target market size. From there, divide your total customers by your target market size and multiply by 100 for your percentage. 

Percentage of Business from New Customers

It’s helpful to know where or who your business is coming from; the percentage of business from new customers metric calculates how much of your money is coming from first-time or new customers. Simply divide sales earned from new customers by your total revenue and then multiply that number by 100. This percentage shows your growth from acquiring new customers. It helps you determine if your customer acquisition strategies are working and adding to revenue. 

Percentage of Revenue from Existing Customers

This metric determines how much of your total revenue comes from existing customers through repeat sales, cross-selling, or upselling. Following the above example, divide all sales earned from existing customers by your total revenue and multiply it by 100—that is your revenue from existing customers’ percentage. This percentage will show you your company’s performance at retaining customers.

Retaining customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. It's also an indicator of how fit your product or service is at attracting repeat sales or upgrades. 

Percentage of Revenue from New & Existing Customers

Once you’ve calculated your percentages of revenue from both new and existing customers, compare these percentages and see what they tell you. This revenue metric will point you in the direction of how good you are at attracting new customers versus keeping existing ones. Once you know this, you can figure out strategies for things like marketing or evaluating customer satisfaction. 

Net Promoter Score

This metric helps sales understand customer experiences, expectations, wants, and their overall satisfaction, impressions, and relationship with the business. Information like this can help you improve customer loyalty, driving growth. 

In short, with a net promoter score, you can understand how likely customers are to recommend your business to other consumers, clients, or patrons. 

Churn Metrics

If your company relies on a subscription model, you must ensure you’re not losing customers as fast as you’re gaining them. Churn rate refers to the number of customers who cancel or choose not to renew their subscription within a time period. To calculate it, find the number of “churned” customers and divide that by your total number of customers. This sales number lets you see your revenue and growth and will also point out problems with retaining subscribers. 

Best productivity sales metrics

Productivity metrics help you understand how well your sales teams are performing and where there might be bottlenecks or areas for improvement. With these metrics, you can streamline your processes and ensure that your sales teams are operating at peak performance. Let's explore the key sales metrics that can boost your sales team's productivity.

Sales Quota Attainment

Sales quota attainment focuses on the general, big picture to a more specific part of that picture. This revenue metric will tell you if a sales rep has made their quota and what percentage of that quota they’ve attained. It’s especially helpful when evaluating issues with the sales team, including poor training, coaching, and communication, among others.

In addition, just as it can be essential to know your best customers, it lets you identify your highest-earning salespeople, too.

Average Length of a Sales Cycle

The average length of a sales cycle is the time it takes for potential customers to start considering your product or service and then finally making a purchase. Typical stages of the sales cycle include:

• Prospect
• Connect
• Research
• Present
• Close

Knowing this average time helps you figure out how to make your sales process better and faster, especially when you're trying to meet specific goals, such as increased revenue and customer base.

Win Rate

Win rate refers to the number of successful sales out of the total number of deal opportunities in the pipeline. This can be calculated and evaluated at both the team and an individual sales rep level. Start by dividing the number of closed deals by the total number of opportunities. Then, multiply that number by 100. 

Knowing the win rate gives sales reps a way to figure out how likely they are to succeed in each deal. Win rate can also provide details about how your sales teams are performing as a whole and the efficiency of your overall sales process.

Deal Slippage

Your average deal slippage measures the number of sales that don’t close in the forecasted period. For example, a deal might be committed for Q1 but has to be pushed back to Q2 for some reason (like a delayed payment). It’s important to know what your annual deal slippage rate is so that you can track your performance more accurately and be prepared for potential delays in the pipeline.

Best pipeline sales metrics

The sales pipeline is a visual representation of where potential customers are in the buying process. Tracking pipeline metrics is essential for forecasting sales and understanding conversion rates. Using data from these sales metrics, you can refine your strategies and improve your bottom line. Here are the vital metrics to help you optimize your sales pipeline.

Pipeline Metrics

Every step, from discovering a prospective client to following leads and making sales, is vital to achieving quotas. A pipeline is a tool that gives you a visual representation and metaphor of all the stages of the sales process. Knowing your pipeline coverage means having your salespeople, at all levels, understand how the health of the pipeline affects their quota attainment health.

Weighted Value of Pipeline

Knowing the weighting value of the pipeline can help you project your generated sales revenue and cash flow. It also shows you which types of sales are most important and those that need more attention. The weighted value of the pipeline determines the average deal value as it moves through the sales pipeline. It’s calculated by multiplying the probability of a deal closing by the value amount. 

Other Essential Business Metrics

Outside of sales, there are many other important data points you need to keep an eye on to understand how your company is doing from start to finish. MetricHQ is a full library of sales metrics you can explore and get started with. 

Empowering Sales and Metrics with Technology

You should leverage technology to make sure your sales teams are at the top of their game. With the right tools and systems, you can track your business’ performance and predict future trends. Here are four tools and systems you can use to monitor your sales metrics:

CRM systems

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are more than just digital address books. They provide a comprehensive view of each customer's journey. 

Every interaction, be it a call, email, meeting, or even a social media comment, is logged and analyzed. This continuous tracking allows your sales teams to tailor their approaches to individual customer needs. As a result, your business can provide a more personalized experience. 

Moreover, with the ability to integrate with other tools, CRM systems can offer insights that go beyond sales, such as customer support interactions or feedback. This gives a 360-degree view of the customer.

Another advantage of CRM systems is their ability to automate repetitive tasks. This means less time spent on manual data entry and more time for actual selling. Automating processes makes sure that no lead is overlooked and every opportunity is maximized.

Top examples of CRMs are Salesforce, Hubspot, and Zoho. Each of these offers a unique set of features tailored to different business needs, such as lead tracking, automated marketing, customer segmentation, and sales forecasting.

Data analytics tools

Data analytics tools, like Klipfolio, help sales teams make sense of the numbers. When you present data in visual formats like charts and graphs, you pave the way for quicker and more accurate interpretations. This visual representation can highlight trends and show areas of concern for better decision-making.

Beyond just visualization, data analytics tools can also offer recommendations. For example, if a particular product is showing a decline in sales, the tool might suggest strategies to boost its performance and average revenue based on historical data and market trends.

Sales automation platforms

Sales automation platforms, such as Pipedrive or Salesloft, streamline and automate sales tasks and workflows, which means less manual work and fewer errors. For instance, these platforms can automatically send follow-up emails to leads, schedule calls, or even rank leads based on their likelihood to convert. 

Having a system to take care of these routine tasks allows you and your sales team to focus on building relationships and closing deals. Like average revenue, it ultimately helps you easily track your business performance.

Cloud-based collaboration tools

Cloud-based collaboration tools ensure that distance isn't a barrier. These tools allow sales professionals to collaborate in real-time, share insights, update records, and even conduct virtual meetings.

With everything stored in the cloud, the data is accessible anytime, anywhere, ensuring that the entire team is always on the same page. Examples of such tools include Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and Slack. These platforms offer features like document sharing, instant messaging, video conferencing, and task management.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is helping sales teams in big ways. These tools can sift through vast amounts of data quickly. It can spot patterns and trends that might take humans much longer to notice.

For example, AI can predict customer behavior and provide intelligent suggestions on the next best action to take. This increases the efficiency of the sales process and further personalizes the customer experience.

Tools like Salesforce Einstein, Conversica, and Clara are examples of AI technologies being used in sales. These platforms leverage machine learning algorithms to enhance customer interactions, make accurate forecasts, and streamline the sales process.

8 Tips to Reach Your Goals Using Sales Metrics

Now that you've equipped your team with the right technology and tools, it's important to use those resources effectively to reach your sales goals. Here are eight tips to keep in mind:

1. Set clear sales objectives

Before diving into metrics, first, define what you want to achieve. Whether it's increasing sales by 20% or acquiring 50 new clients in a month, having a clear target will guide your efforts. This acts as an indicator for your revenue team to understand what's expected of them.

2. Check each metric for relevance

Not every metric will be useful for achieving your goals. Sales analytics can help you determine which metrics your sales teams should prioritize. For example, if you're looking to boost customer retention, focus on metrics like customer satisfaction scores and churn rates.

3. Monitor sales regularly

Don't just set and forget. Regularly check your metrics and sales to see if you're on track. This helps in making timely adjustments to your strategies. This helps in making timely adjustments to your strategies. Using a platform that provides real-time sales analytics can be beneficial in this aspect.

4. Act on product and sales insights

Sales metrics provide insights, but they're useless if not acted upon. If data shows a product isn't selling well, brainstorm ways to improve its marketing or consider discontinuing it. Remember, every metric is an indicator of some aspect of your business.

5. Train your sales team

Make sure your sales team understands the metrics and how they relate to the overall goals. Regular training sessions can keep everyone aligned and informed. Every rep should be familiar with sales performance metrics to ensure they're on the right track.

6. Stay flexible

If a strategy isn't working, be ready to pivot. Sales metrics will show trends over time, and it's essential to adapt based on what the data is telling you. For instance, if the average revenue is declining towards the end of a quarter, it's a sign to re-evaluate your strategies.

7. Seek feedback

Sometimes, the best insights come from your team on the ground. Regularly ask for feedback and incorporate it into your strategies. This helps in improving your sales strategies and ensures that teams feel valued and heard.

8. Review and adjust

At regular intervals, review your goals and the metrics you're using. Adjust based on what's working and what's not to ensure you're always moving in the right direction. If a rep is struggling to ramp up their sales, it might be time to offer additional training or resources.

Use The Right Metrics To Generate More Leads And Streamline Your Sales Process

Staying on top of your business’s sales performance becomes more manageable by tracking the right metrics. The data you gather can give you more insight into your customers’ buying behaviors and identify areas for improvement. These can then help you fine-tune your sales strategies to position your company for success.