All the best sales teams run on data.
Unfortunately, almost all of them make the same mistake: they track too much data and get lost in the weeds.
Unlike revenue, more isn’t always better when it comes to sales data. Once you start tracking every move your team makes, you will hit analysis paralysis. Instead of empowering your team to sell more, all those numbers and charts can slow you down.
So, you need to understand the right sales performance metrics to track—why they matter to your company and how to use them to drive performance.
What are KPIs in Sales?
These metrics will tell if things are headed in the right direction—or if you need to change course. But while sales KPIs are also sales metrics, not all sales metrics are KPIs.
Psst...you want to learn what total contract value is? Check out our article!
Sales Metrics vs. Sales KPIs: What are the Differences?
While many teams use sales metrics and KPIs interchangeably, a few key differences exist.
Sales metrics are data points that track sales performance of an individual, team, or organization, essential for effective sales performance management.
Sales KPIs—or Key Performance Indicators—are specific sales metrics connected to one or more company-wide goals, priorities, or objectives.
A sales metric is just a data point that states a fact. For example: "Our upsells increased from $200 per month to $2,000 per month from December to March."
A sales KPI tells a story. It’s a metric attached to a goal—and it’s more actionable.
For example, you might track sales by region if you’ve entered a new market and want to measure performance. On its own, sales by region is a sales metric. But when used to track and optimize your performance in a new market, it becomes a sales KPI.
It indicates progress toward your company’s goal.
22 Essential Sales KPIs For High-Performing Sales Teams
With sales KPIs, no one can tell you which are “best” for your company.
The best sales KPIs are the ones that empower your sales reps to do their best work—depending on your specific goals.
That said, here are the top sales KPIs for growing sales teams to consider when tracking performance.
1. Monthly Sales Growth
Monthly sales growth measures the increase (or decrease) of your sales revenue month-over-month. It’s one of the most important KPIs you can measure—because if your business isn’t growing, it’s dying.
Why it’s important: This sales KPI gives you actionable insights to further optimize your sales processes, strategies, and product priorities, by tracking the results of your efforts.
Who can use this KPI: Everyone. But sales teams at startups and small businesses will find it particularly useful, as it’s a short-term projection that helps you course-correct your sales process early. Reps can also use it for inspiration.
How to track it: To calculate monthly sales growth, use this formula:
A user-friendly, sales-focused CRM (like Close) can present this information right on your dashboard.
2. Calls and Emails Per Rep (Daily, Weekly, Monthly)
You need to know what your reps are doing to connect with new leads, including the volume of sales calls and emails. If they’re not up to par, use powerful automation features like Close’s built-in Predictive Dialer to maximize rep reach rates.
Why it’s important: Tracking sales activities can indicate when something’s going wrong in your sales funnel—and where you need to adjust.
Who can use this KPI: Sales teams looking to track productivity and progress toward activity-based sales goals.
How to track it: To track this sales KPI, look to your calling software or a CRM (like Close) that provides robust reporting metrics, including the breakdown of rep activity levels.
If you need to revamp your B2B sales funnel, our article on B2B CRMs offers indispensable guidance to help you excel.
3. Sales Opportunities Created
This KPI tracks the sales opportunities your reps are creating—so you can forecast future sales and determine which opportunities are most worth pursuing.
Why it’s important: Opportunities are the lifeblood of your sales team. Use this sales KPI to gain valuable insights into the sales process and answer: Is outreach working? Are we reaching the right people? Is our pitch effective?
Who can use this KPI: This KPI covers your sales pipeline and process, making it a valuable metric for most sales teams.
How to track it: Create a clear pipeline that you can track and manage—all from the comfort of your CRM.
4. Monthly Onboarding and Demo Calls Booked
Not every customer will go directly from opportunity to customer. For SaaS companies especially, your product will do some of the selling for you.
So, this sales KPI tracks how many trial starts or demo calls your team makes.
Why it’s important: Leads who make it this far in your sales process are more likely to convert. This KPI demonstrates the month-over-month health of your sales funnel, and often correlates with closing rates.
Who can use this KPI: Clearly, not every business or industry offers demos and product trials. But for SaaS and others, the insights from this metric will elevate their sales processes.
How to track it: This data point is easily tracked via your CRM.
5. Lead Conversion Rate
One of the most important questions for sales teams is this: How many leads convert to sales?
While there are many ways to segment this data further, a high-level overview of your lead conversion rate is an important performance indicator for your entire team.
Why it’s important: Tracking the number of leads that convert to customers provides a proven plan for gaining future customers. You can use this KPI to learn where current customers came from, understand why (and where) you lost others, and determine whether your leads are properly qualified—then adjust sales pitches and outreach accordingly.
Who can use this KPI: For most companies in most industries, lead conversion is a top concern. Lead conversion depends on both sales and marketing—so it’s a multi-team-use KPI.
How to track it: To calculate lead conversion rate, use this formula:
Or just review your CRM reports.
6. Sales by Contact Method
A closed deal is one of the best sources of sales data. And this KPI measures which contact methods are most successful for generating those closed deals.
Beyond this metric, however, you need to consider your salespeople's strengths (and weaknesses), as well as the costs associated with each contact method. Don’t immediately change your outreach approach based on this KPI alone.
Why it’s important: Your reps need to understand which outreach methods are more likely to generate deals—and which tools they’ll need to master to do so. You want to avoid low-yield, high-cost contact methods.
Who can use this KPI: Everyone, but B2B especially, as they’re poignantly interested in their customers' behaviors, trends, and buying practices.
How to track it: This one’s especially difficult to track manually. Use sales analytics software or a CRM that supports this metric.
7. Average Conversion Time
How long does it take for a lead to convert? This sales KPI provides insight into the productivity of your sales pipeline, allowing you to make better decisions about the effort you put into closing prospects.
Why it’s important: Time is money—and you don’t want to waste it either. When reviewed with other sales metrics (like lead conversion rate and sales by contact method), this KPI provides a clear picture of your sales pipeline and whether you’re on track to reach your sales goals.
Who can use this KPI: B2B (with longer-than-average sales cycles) and SaaS sales leaders need this KPI. It helps forecast revenue, gain funnel insights, and decide how to approach follow-ups with qualified leads.
How to track it: To calculate average conversion time:
The data can be found in your analytics tool of choice.
Seeking to revolutionize your sales techniques? Uncover the top sales productivity tools that experts recommend.
8. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
How much does it cost to acquire a new customer?
This sales KPI tracks all associated costs (both sales and marketing) of gaining a new customer, from rep salaries to online ads to overhead to the cash spent on tools and outreach. Monitoring this metric will help you turn a profit—while continuing to grow your customer base.
Why it’s important: Reducing costs is one of the best ways to increase sales revenue. By understanding this sales KPI, you can determine which customer segments are worthwhile while critically analyzing the costs involved.
Who can use this KPI: CAC is an important KPI for every business type (small, large, B2B, SaaS, dropshipping, etc.) that wants to create a profitable and scalable sales process.
How to track it: To calculate CAC, use this formula:
9. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV or CLV)
On the other end of the CAC equation is knowing how much each customer is worth.
How much revenue do you get, on average, from when they start paying to when they stop? CLV measures this per customer, while LTV measures the collective lifetime spend of your entire customer base.
Why it’s important: Customer lifetime value teaches sales teams to spend more time acquiring, converting, and nurturing high-value customers. It provides a better understanding of ROI and future revenue predictions, as well as the real impact of customer churn.
Who can use this KPI: Especially useful for SaaS and companies with long sales cycles (like B2B), sales leaders use this KPI to monitor the overall sales health of the company.
How to track it: The CLV formula is relatively complex, with multiple components, including annual customer revenue, relationship duration, and the costs of acquisition. Ideally, use your software analytics tool to calculate.
10. New and Expansion MRR
Where did your revenue come from this month? For SaaS companies, there are few sales KPIs that are more critical than monthly recurring revenue (MRR), which refers to the number of paying customers multiplied by the average amount paid.
Be aware of the two sources of MRR: New MRR is the additional recurring revenue added this month (through new customer acquisition or lowering CAC), while expansion MRR is the additional recurring revenue added from existing customers who upgraded their plans, bought new products, etc.
Why it’s important: Sales teams need to know which way their MRR is trending in order to make decisions about their sales process. For example, If you implemented a new sales strategy and your MRR is declining, you’ll need to figure out why.
Who can use this KPI: SaaS teams use MRR to track growth and make key company decisions.
How to track it: Most analytics platforms track this or use this formula for new MRR:
Expansion MRR is a bit trickier. You can use this formula:
11. Pipeline Value
What’s the total value of all the deals in your sales pipeline?
The pipeline value KPI tracks the expected revenue from all active sales opportunities in a given timeframe. It gives you a “best case scenario” look at negotiated deals so you can see if you’re on track to hit your sales targets.
Why it’s important: You won’t hit your sales targets if you don’t have any deals in progress. You can predict revenue and track goal headway by getting a quick read on your pipeline and deal status.
Who can use this KPI: Sales managers and reps alike (especially in SaaS) use this KPI.
How to track it: Close offers a powerful Pipeline View, where you can see actual and expected values at every stage of your pipeline as one-time, monthly, or annual totals.
12. Sales Quota Attainment (Sales Targets Met)
What is your sales team working towards?
This sales KPI compares closed deals (or other targets) over certain periods. It’s a great way to motivate your sales reps and rally your team. However, remember that pushing your sales team to hit unrealistic sales targets is a quick path to burnout.
Why it’s important: Instead of setting sales targets that your team won’t hit, this sales KPI provides historical data you can use to set attainable future goals that properly motivate your team.
Who can use this KPI: Virtually every type of sales team needs sales targets. Leadership uses this KPI to set goals, and reps use it to track productivity and monthly progress.
How to track it: Use this formula to see what percentage of targets or quotas were met.
Most sales targets can be tracked via analytics software or your CRM.
13. Sales by Region
Ready for a unique KPI? Consider: Where in the world did your sales come from?
This sales KPI tracks sales by region to determine which markets are most valuable.
Why it’s important: Do you understand your ideal customer? Where they live can greatly affect their behavior and receptiveness to your product. Use this KPI to craft an effective sales plan, optimize targeting, and measure the success of campaigns.
Who can use this KPI: B2B, B2C, and SaaS sales teams are large enough to operate in multiple markets.
How to track it: Use an analytics tool or CRM that lets you tag customer location with each deal.
14. Average Purchase Value
There are lots of ways to increase revenue. One of the most effective is to sell more to each customer—such as via upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
This KPI tracks how much (on average) each customer spends. By incorporating this information with your other sales strategies, you can find actionable ways to increase revenue with each transaction.
Why it’s important: Smart sales teams focus on getting more revenue with less effort. By increasing the value of each purchase, you’re multiplying the results of your sales efforts. Plus, a higher purchase value can offset a high CAC—so you can justify spending more time acquiring high-value customers.
Who can use this KPI: Small businesses typically have a smaller sales volume, which makes this KPI especially important to track and maximize. B2Bs also track this metric regularly.
How to track it: To calculate:
Sales analytics tools can do this for you easily.
15. Average Profit Margin
While sales reps often look at revenue, profit matters the most for company growth. Track this KPI to learn the average profit made across all products, services, bundles, and sales channels.
Why it’s important: Tracking and understanding your average profit margin helps you identify which products and offerings are best for your bottom line. This is an especially important KPI when you sell multiple products, offer dynamic pricing, or your reps can give discounts (which we don’t recommend).
For SaaS companies, this metric also helps you see growth potential and determine if your pricing is sustainable.
Who can use this KPI: B2B and small companies will benefit most from this KPI—but really, just about every business should understand the true value of their offerings.
How to track it: To get this average:
Once again, your trusty CRM or other analytics tool can help.
16. Churn Rates
In SaaS, sales isn’t just about bringing in new customers—but keeping them around.
This sales KPI tracks lost customers and revenue—those who tried your product and later decided it wasn’t worth paying for (or paying that much for).
There are many ways to measure churn, but a few important areas are:
- Revenue Churn: Percentage of MRR lost from canceled services.
- Customer Churn: Percentage of customers who churn in a given timeframe.
- Passive Churn: Percentage of churned customers due to failed payments or expired payment methods.
Why it’s important: Healthy businesses require a strong customer base. Acquiring new customers costs more than retaining current ones (five to 25 times more), and long-term customers spend more than their newbie counterparts.
Who can use this KPI: Primarily useful in SaaS, customer retention and churn rates provide leadership with a damn good indicator of the overall sales health and growth projection of the company—and can direct sales managers toward better customer management.
How to track it: You can just use a tool, or do the calculations yourself:
17. Product Performance by Revenue
When you offer more than one product/service, some will perform better than others.
This sales KPI ranks your products by revenue performance so your sales team can see which ones are selling well (or missing the mark). But remember: Judging a product solely by revenue performance can be deceptive (a low-price, high-volume offering might sell well—without leading your revenue).
Why it’s important: Tracking product performance over time provides insight into your sales strategies, market changes, and the health (and desirability) of your offering. Variations in this KPI may be due to your competitor releasing a similar product, changes to your sales strategies or customer profiles, or industry-wide trends that impact sales.
Who can use this KPI: SaaS and SMBs will keep an eye on this important metric in order to redirect focus and sales strategies toward their most profitable offerings.
How to track it: Ideally, set your analytics tool to track product performance by revenue or the number of sales you get per product in a certain period.
18. Sales Rep Productivity and Leaderboard
At Close, we’ve always believed that the success of your sales team comes down to the success of your sales reps. So, provide the tools that empower them to do their best work.
This sales KPI measures the effectiveness of each individual sales rep based on their activity and conversion rates and relates it to the rest of your team.
Why it’s important: Sales reps need to know what they’re doing right—and wrong—in order to improve. Transparency (and some friendly competition) can drive your reps toward success.
Who can use this KPI: This KPI is most useful for larger sales teams, including those in B2B and SaaS.
How to track it: Close offers built-in rep productivity tracking—and a leaderboard.
19. Average Sales Cycle Length
This KPI helps you understand the typical amount of time that passes from initial prospect contact to the sale.
Why it’s important: Knowing the length of your sales cycle guides you toward establishing attainable sales goals, estimating revenue and sales forecasting, and developing sales plans.
Who can use this KPI: B2B and enterprise sales are known for extensive sales cycles. But other SaaS and SMBs also will be able to better manage targets and pipelines with this KPI.
How to track it: To calculate:
As usual, data software can help.
20. Number of Deals in the Pipeline
Monitor the total number of deals in a sales rep’s pipeline, as well as across the team, to make informed decisions about new sales cycles and budgeting.
Why it’s important: This KPI gauges the overall quality and health of the pipeline and assesses whether more deals are needed.
Who can use this KPI: Any sales team with a pipeline (so, everyone?).
How to track it: Close’s Pipeline View gives you real-time information about the deal count. If you use another CRM or sales pipeline tool, this metric should be available there as well.
21. MQL to SQL Conversion Rates
This KPI measures which leads make it from marketing-qualified leads to sales-qualified leads to actual conversions.
Why it’s important: Sales and marketing teams need to be aligned to determine the ideal customer base, how to engage with them, and what the outcome will be. Marketing leads ought to transition smoothly to SQLs—and ultimately, convert.
Who can use this KPI: Both marketing and sales teams, as it highlights their cooperation and communication.
How to track it: Because this crosses team lines, you will want to make sure your tech is integrated (integrated tech is really the best option here.)
Hey, have you seen our article on MQL vs. SQL? It's a game-changer for lead converters.
22. Customer Retention Rate
Customer retention measures a company's ability to keep its customers and the income they generate over time.
Why it’s important: Customer acquisition is expensive, making customer retention essential to a company’s reputation and long-term growth. It’s also evidence of your customer relationship and management skills.
Who can use this KPI: Sales managers in any industry should track the number of customers that stick around, but this is especially valuable for SaaS.
How to track it: Use this formula:
You can get the data from your CRM.
How to Track Important Sales KPIs Effectively
So now that you know what to track, how can you make sure you're tracking these KPIs in a way that gives you actionable data? Here are some best practices you can follow to get the most out of your sales KPI data.
- Keep your data clean: Remember, it's easy to overcomplicate things. Focus on tracking the sales KPIs that matter most to your team and understanding them within your company's context.
- Set sales benchmarks: Sales KPIs are useless unless you can compare results with other campaigns, competitors, or industries. If you don’t have historical data to pull from, consider external standards, such as the 30/30/50 rule (minimum 30 percent open rate, 30 percent response rate, 50 percent conversion rate) for cold emailing.
- Use the right tools to track essential KPIs: Your CRM should function as a sales dashboard, giving you all the right metrics in a way that makes sense. With Close, you can see your Sales Pipeline, Sales Funnel reporting, and easily track sales activities and team performance. Metrics like win rate, sales velocity, average revenue per sale, and conversion rate are right at your fingertips.
- Understand that customers aren’t numbers: Each data point in your sales KPI dashboard represents a real customer. Don’t get so blinded by the reports that you miss the value and personalization opportunities on the other end.
- Define KPIs for each stage of the funnel: Sales KPIs help you dissect and optimize your sales funnel—but only if you’ve defined specific KPIs for each stage, tracking how and why customers move from stage to stage to conversion.
The Right Sales KPIs Drive Growth
You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Cliché but true.
To be competitive, you need to understand data. Sales metrics and KPIs help you make informed decisions, track team activity, optimize your process, and close more deals. But they only work if you use them correctly.
As you set the best sales KPIs for your team, remember to:
- Choose actionable sales KPIs that reflect your company’s goals, objectives, and priorities
- Pick the right sales KPIs given your business type, team size, role, and industry
- Track sales KPIs using a simple and actionable tool
Tracking KPIs isn’t a guaranteed path to success. But without them, you’re going it blind.
Ready to get tracking? Start your 14-day free trial of Close CRM and gain immediately actionable, user-friendly insights to drive your sales efforts toward success.
