It can be hard to judge tangible progress at your startups without key performance indicators for sales. Sales KPIs are a helpful way of measuring success with your team, but you need to choose the right ones to have a positive impact. With that in mind, we’ve put this guide together, looking at how to determine sales KPIs and set a benchmark for your team’s success.
Sales KPIs in a snapshot
- Sales opportunities
- Trial periods
- Sales per rep
- Onboarding
- Average cost per lead
- Lifetime value
- Sales cycle length
1) Sales opportunities
How many leads is your sales team bringing through the door each month? A sales opportunity indicates potential business, pending the outcome of the action to turn them from a lead to a customer. Many sales setups use sales opportunities as a KPI to see the number of opportunities team members generate each month.
2) Trial periods
While a trail might not equate to a paid customer, it is a sign of progress. A trial counts the number of accounts started for a specific amount of time, and it’s often an excellent way to judge progress for both sales and marketing while setting sales goals. As the two often work together, this can be especially helpful to see how the departments collaborate and to see how it impacts your holistic sales analytics.
3) Sales per rep
Business leaders can see how many sales were made per rep, making this sales KPI helpful for establishing a sales baseline. It also helps determine the strengths and areas of improvement for each rep. There are plenty of factors to take into account here, though. A sales deal might take longer, but the outcome is a higher volume, for example.
4) Number of onboarding and sales demos
How many times per month is your sales team onboarding and demoing? This particular step is vital for closing deals and can be an essential indicator of how well the team is doing. It helps track individual employee performance as well as the entire team.
5) Average cost per lead
The cost per lead is a smart way to look at the overall output of the marketing and sales departments. It can tell you how much it costs to generate a single lead and whether the figure is sustainable for business. Ultimately, this sales KPI determines your customer acquisition cost.
6) Customer lifetime value
Every sale is a win, but some take on more importance than others. Your team shouldn’t look solely at the instant value of a conversion and instead factor in other aspects, such as the lifetime value. Calculating the customer lifetime value involves gross margin % X ( 1 / monthly churn ) X avg. monthly subscription revenue per customer.
7) Sales cycle length
At times, sales can be complicated – which is why it’s important to be cognizant of efficient sales measurement techniques. It might not be as simple as looking at conversion rates – or, at least, they might not tell the entire story. That’s why it’s important to consider other elements, such as the sales cycle length. How much does the average sale generate, and what is the length of time it takes? Using the sales cycle as the KPI helps teams see how long it takes to close a deal on average.
Winning with your sales KPIs
Putting the right sales KPIs in place gives your team more clarity and can help you track performance. Every successful sales team needs a set of KPIs to measure success, and the ones on this list can help put a process in place that gets your sales team performing to the highest level.