Is your sales team spending time and effort on the right initiatives?
Key Takeaways
  • Track sales KPIs over time, not only by quarter or year. Without ongoing monitoring you can't tell whether your effort is improving results.
  • Break number of sales down by region, organization type and product. The split shows which sales channels are your strongest and weakest.
  • Watch the proposals-to-deals conversion rate. A large number of proposals that never get signed is a red flag.
  • Set revenue targets against your time to fill a sales position. You can't raise revenue 20 percent next quarter if filling a seat takes 60 days.
  • Pick the right set for your team from these KPI examples. Sales KPIs are never one-size-fits-all, and they change as goals shift.
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There’s no getting around it—it’s really important to track your sales key performance indicators (or KPIs). Not just for the quarter or year, but over time.

What happens when you don’t? When you’re not monitoring sales performance metrics, you’re in a blind spot. You don’t know if what you’re spending time on is actually helping you improve results and reach your goals. Being able to strategically allocate your efforts is key to improving your sales KPIs.

Pull quote: When you're not monitoring sales performance metrics, you're in a blind spot

Plus, in a typical five-year strategic plan, it’s almost inevitable that things will change. It’s up to you to stay on top of your sales KPIs and targets so you can skillfully adapt when needed. As your goals shift, your KPIs will change as well, and tracking them over time is the only way to ensure you’re making smart decisions for your sales organization.

As you read through the list below, keep in mind these KPIs are never one-size-fits-all—you’ll have to define the right ones for your sales team. Here are some of the most common performance metrics, grouped by category.

17 Sales KPIs That Are Critical To Track

Overall Sales

These are general sales KPIs rooted in a company’s financial goals. These are all crucial to the growth of an organization.

Sales Revenue

LaggingBetter when higherThe total dollar amount of sales you’re making—from an accounting perspective, this is money from business transactions with customers only.
Formula
Units sold × average selling price.
Example
4,000 units × $250 = $1,000,000.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — judge it by growth against your own prior periods and plan, and watch it alongside margin so growth is not bought with discounts
Weak → strong
"Increase sales" → "Grow quarterly sales revenue from $1,000,000 to $1,150,000 within one year, owned by the Chief Revenue Officer".

Sales revenue should be tracked by month, by quarter, and annually.

Number Of Sales

LaggingThe number of deals closed based on official signed contracts.
Formula
Count of signed contracts closed in the period.
Example
90 signed contracts in the quarter = 90 sales.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — set it from your revenue target and average deal size, and read it alongside deal size so volume is not won through discounting
Weak → strong
"Close more deals" → "Close 105 signed contracts per quarter, up from 90, owned by the VP of Sales and reviewed weekly".

We advise that you track the number of sales by accounting periods and by category, such as number of sales by region, by organization type, by product, etc. This will help you determine which sales channels are your strongest and weakest.

Average Sale Amount

LaggingThe average dollar amount of a closed deal, which is obtained by dividing #2 (number of sales) by #1 (gross revenue).
Formula
Total closed-won revenue ÷ number of won deals.
Example
$900,000 ÷ 90 = $10,000.
What good looks like
a widely cited SaaS sales benchmark found a median annual contract value of $25K, but deal size depends on market and price point, so track it against your own baseline
Weak → strong
"Win bigger deals" → "Grow average deal size from $10,000 to $12,000 within one year, owned by the VP of Sales via multi-product packaging".

This KPI can be refined for specific timeframes—for example, calculate your average daily sales for January by dividing the number of sales for that month by 31.

Show all 5 Overall Sales KPIs

Sales Expenses

LaggingAny costs related to the activities of marketing or selling a product or service.
Formula
Sales salaries + commissions + travel + other selling costs.
Example
$400,000 + $150,000 + $50,000 + $100,000 = $700,000.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — track it as a share of revenue and against new revenue won, so spend rises only when it brings in more sales
Weak → strong
"Spend less to sell more" → "Hold sales expenses at $700,000 this fiscal year while growing new bookings 10%, owned by the VP of Sales."

These costs must be direct expenses, such as a sales representative's salary and commission, or an advertising campaign. Some organizations include all marketing expenses and some do not, so choose your formula wisely.

Net Income

LaggingBetter when higherThis is your profit, pure and simple.
Formula
Revenue − expenses
Example
$1,000,000 − $880,000 = $120,000.
What good looks like
U.S. public companies keep ~10% of revenue as net income on average, though it swings widely by sector, so judge it as a margin against your peers
Weak → strong
"Be more profitable" → "Grow net income from $120,000 to $150,000 within the fiscal year by reducing overhead, owned by the CFO."

Subtract expenses from revenue to obtain your net income. A net loss occurs when your expenses are higher than your revenue, while a net gain is when revenue is higher than expenses. As with the other sales KPIs in this section, you can track net income by time periods and category types. You want to make sure your new sales are making you more profitable, rather than less.

Productivity

How much work is being done to generate sales? Your productivity KPIs quantify the effort behind each sale. Tracking these KPIs by team and by individual sales representative reveals strengths and weaknesses of each phase of the sales cycle, with the ability to drill down to each person involved.

Calls Made

LeadingThe number of phone calls a sales representative makes.
Formula
Sum of sales calls logged in the period.
Example
1,200 logged calls in the month = 1,200 calls made.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — call volume is an activity input, so pair it with connect and meeting rates and raise it only where it lifts meetings booked
Weak → strong
"Make more calls" → "Hold 1,400 logged calls per month, up from 1,200, while keeping the call-to-meeting rate steady, owned by the inside sales manager".

This includes both cold-calling and calls to inbound leads.

Meetings Booked

LeadingThe number of meetings—in person or virtual—a sales representative books and attends.
Formula
Sum of sales meetings booked and held in the period.
Example
60 held meetings in the month = 60 meetings booked.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — set it from the pipeline your revenue target needs, and count only meetings that are actually held with qualified buyers
Weak → strong
"Book more meetings" → "Hold 75 qualified meetings per month, up from 60, owned by the sales development lead and reviewed weekly".

Demos Given

LeadingThe number of product demonstrations a sales representative gives a potential client.
Formula
Sum of product demos completed in the period.
Example
250 completed demos in the quarter = 250 demos given.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — set the target backward from your revenue goal and conversion rates, and watch demo-to-proposal conversion so volume does not replace quality
Weak → strong
"Give more demos" → "Complete 300 qualified demos per quarter, up from 250, owned by the sales development manager and reviewed weekly".

For example, a demo could be an online tour of a software’s features and functionality.

Days To Close

LaggingBetter when lowerThe amount of time between when someone first becomes a sales lead to when the deal closes.
Formula
Total days to close across won deals ÷ number of won deals.
Example
5,400 days ÷ 90 deals = 60 days.
What good looks like
a widely cited SaaS sales benchmark found a median sales cycle of 60 days; compare against deals of similar size and segment (lower is better)
Weak → strong
"Close deals faster" → "Cut the average sales cycle from 60 to 50 days within two quarters, owned by the VP of Sales via mutual close plans".

This is a KPI for sales managers to use when determining the length of a sales cycle, which will influence sales goals.

Conversion Rates

While productivity KPIs are straightforward numbers quantifying activities, conversion KPIs are more about the quality and effectiveness of those activities and are typically shown as a percentage figure.

Marketing Qualified Lead → Sales Qualified Lead

LaggingBetter when higherThe percentage of leads generated by marketing that have been accepted as valid opportunities by the sales team.
Formula
(SQLs ÷ MQLs) × 100.
Example
180 SQLs ÷ 600 MQLs = 30%.
What good looks like
there is no reliable universal number — published figures disagree widely because each company defines an MQL differently, so agree the definition with sales and improve against your own baseline
Weak → strong
"Send sales better leads" → "Raise the MQL-to-SQL rate from 30% to 36% by Q4, owned by the marketing ops manager via a revised lead-scoring model".

This KPI indicates how many people have successfully moved “down” the sales funnel, closer to a closed deal.

Demos Given → Proposals Sent

LeadingHow many demos are conducted before a sales proposal is sent to a potential client.
Formula
(Proposals sent ÷ demos given) × 100.
Example
150 ÷ 250 = 60%.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — judge it against your own baseline; a falling rate often points to poorly qualified demos or demos that miss the buyer's needs
Weak → strong
"Turn more demos into proposals" → "Raise the demo-to-proposal rate from 60% to 68% within two quarters, owned by the sales enablement manager via a revised demo script".

Since demos can be time intensive and are typically the lead’s first glimpse of a product’s inner workings, this KPI is particularly important for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of a sales representative. If your organization doesn’t give demos, think about the equivalent—maybe it’s “samples distributed.”

Proposals Sent → Deals Closed

LaggingBetter when higherThe number of sales proposals that convert into signed, completed deals.
Formula
(Deals closed ÷ proposals sent) × 100.
Example
45 ÷ 150 = 30%.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — it depends on how qualified a deal must be before a proposal goes out, so track it against your own baseline and by segment
Weak → strong
"Close more of our proposals" → "Lift the proposal-to-close rate from 30% to 36% by Q3, owned by the VP of Sales via stricter qualification before proposals".

If your organization is sending out a large number of proposals that never get signed, a red flag should pop up.

New Customers

Your customer KPIs center on who is buying your products or services. These figures will help you refine your offerings and determine the best ways to build loyalty.

13. Customer Source

LaggingThe sales channels your customers originated from.
Formula
(Customers from one source ÷ total customers) × 100, for each source.
Example
60 referral customers ÷ 240 customers = 25%.

These sources include inbound, referral, outbound, and partner channels. Tally the number of customers from each source to determine your most and least valuable channels.

14. Customer Lifetime Value

LaggingBetter when higherThe profit prediction for a client.
Formula
Average order value × purchase frequency × customer lifespan × gross margin.
Example
$85 × 4 orders/yr × 3 yrs × 50% = $510.
What good looks like
there is no universal number — read it against customer acquisition cost, and grow it through repeat purchases and retention rather than discounts that cut margin
Weak → strong
"Make customers worth more" → "Raise CLV from $510 to $560 within a year, owned by the CRM lead via a loyalty program that lifts orders from 4 to 4.4 a year".

In other words, what a relationship with a client is worth to your company. These predictions are based on historical data.

Sales Team

This final category of KPIs for sales teams is focused on HR-related metrics. These are indicators of the strength of your division and internal culture.

Sales Representative Retention Rate

LaggingBetter when higherThe average tenure of your account executives.
Formula
(Reps retained through the period ÷ reps at start of period) × 100.
Example
34 ÷ 40 = 85%.
What good looks like
a widely cited SaaS sales benchmark found ~30% total annual rep turnover and average tenure of ~2.4 years, so beating that baseline protects costly ramped selling capacity
Weak → strong
"Keep our reps" → "Raise annual sales rep retention from 85% to 90% this fiscal year, owned by the VP of Sales with HR via a revised ramp and comp plan".

High turnover incurs additional operational costs and can be an indicator of poor management or internal issues.

Time To Fill Position

LaggingBetter when lowerThe length to time it takes to hire a sales representative.
Formula
Total days to fill ÷ number of roles filled.
Example
1,200 days ÷ 30 hires = 40 days.
What good looks like
HR recruiting benchmarks put the median time to fill at about a month and a half for both executive and nonexecutive roles in 2025, so set targets by role family and track the slowest stages (lower is better)
Weak → strong
"Fill jobs faster" → "Cut average time to fill from 40 to 35 days for non-executive roles by Q4, owned by the Talent Acquisition Manager".

This KPI is impacted by both internal and external factors, ranging from salary to depth of local talent, but should be used to set realistic financial targets for your sales team. For example, you won’t be able to increase sales revenue by 20 percent next quarter if the average time to fill a sales position is 60 days.

Quotas Attained

LaggingBetter when higherThe percent of quota reached by each sales representative.
Formula
(Actual bookings ÷ quota) × 100.
Example
$480,000 ÷ $600,000 = 80%.
What good looks like
in a 2024 global survey, 84% of sales reps missed quota the year before and 67% did not expect to hit it, so a team where most reps reach quota is a strong result
Weak → strong
"Hit our numbers" → "Lift average quota attainment from 80% to 95% this fiscal year, owned by the VP of Sales via territory rebalancing".

Managers sometimes use this metric to stack rank their team and it can also be helpful to forecast future revenue.

Tracking Sales KPIs With Software

It can seem daunting when you list all the sales performance metrics you want to track, but the good news is you don’t have to number crunch by hand with a pencil and paper. Strategy management software like ClearPoint does the number crunching for you.

ClearPoint allows you to easily track your overall goals, initiatives, and key performance indicators for sales in one place. You can see how the initiatives you’ve chosen to focus on are progressing and easily share information—including historical data—across your sales organization. Having up-to-date, accurate KPI numbers at your fingertips puts you in a position to be adaptive to change when needed, and helps you get everyone on the same page about why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Common questions

Ted Jackson
Ted Jackson
Co-Founder & Alabama Native

Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ClearPoint. Former VP at Kaplan and Norton's Balanced Scorecard Collaborative.

Ted Jackson is the co-founder of ClearPoint Strategy, a B2B SaaS platform that empowers organizations to execute strategic plans with precision. Before ClearPoint, he was Vice President at the Balanced Scorecard Collaborative — later the Palladium Group — the firm Drs. Robert Kaplan and David Norton founded to put their framework into practice, where he led global sales and support for its strategy management software and wrote three articles for the Balanced Scorecard Report. A Duke and Harvard Business School alumnus, he brings over 30 years' experience in strategy execution, including 15 years implementing the Balanced Scorecard in the field. Ted works closely with customers to ensure the software meets unique challenges, continually refining the platform with his global expertise.