The most common sales KPIs

1.Deviation from sales targets

Tracking goals through sales reports allows you to see if actual revenue aligns with forecasts. This makes it easier to quickly identify any inconsistencies or concerning trends, as well as revisit goals at regular intervals. The index also enables you to analyze the sales team’s performance and pinpoint salespeople who may need support.

2.Number of business opportunities

Monitoring the total number of sales opportunities is key to effectively managing the sales department. While marketing teams focus on unqualified leads, the sales department focuses on opportunities arising from qualified leads.

3.Score for each sales opportunity

Another useful KPI is adopting a scoring model to evaluate the probability of an individual sales opportunity’s success. In this case, a standardized number is assigned to each opportunity using a scale from one to five, for example. This allows sales resources, both human and budgetary, to be allocated most effectively.

4.Lead conversion rate

The lead conversion rate measures a company’s ability to turn prospects into customers. Therefore, it is strategic to establish a baseline to understand how many leads need to be converted into customers to maintain full capacity of the sales team.

5.Average cost per lead

In this case, we are talking about a key performance indicator (KPI) that highlights the cost to the company of generating a single lead. This extremely accurate average cost takes into account all expenses related to the marketing and sales departments, including the salaries of the teams involved.

6.Revenue per Sales Rep

This KPI enables management to analyze how many contracts each salesperson has concluded. It is a valid indicator for establishing a minimum quota and, consequently, personal objectives. The KPI also provides information on each salesperson’s strengths and weaknesses, which can be used to develop training initiatives.

7.Opportunity-to-Win Ratio

This metric measures the sales team’s and individual salespeople’s effectiveness in closing deals. While monitoring lead opportunities shows how initial contacts turn into negotiations, this sales performance KPI shows how many approaches result in contracts. It highlights weaknesses and areas for improvement. Some salespeople excel at maintaining relationships with potential customers, but struggle in the deal-closing phase.

8.Churn and Retention Rates

These KPIs refer to the percentage of customers (and revenue) gained or lost during a specific time period. Monitoring these values carefully provides more effective feedback on company revenues and the brand in general.

9.Average profit margin

The average profit margin enables managers to evaluate the overall profitability of their products and services, while also encouraging them to seek optimal profitability in each transaction.

10.Related product sales

This KPI is related to sales performance and allows you to compare how well each item sells compared to others. This KPI is particularly important for evaluating the effectiveness of specific product campaigns.

Conclusions

As we have seen, each KPI focuses on a key variable in the broader sales performance management process.

While each company may have more specific performance indicators, the ones presented here provide an excellent foundation for comparison among companies using data-driven approaches to sales management.