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What sales performance measures
Sales performance concerns the ability to turn effort into profitable, collected revenue. Effectiveness means directing effort towards the right customers and actions. Productivity concerns the result obtained from the resources used. Both depend on the wider organisation.
Revenue, conversion and cycle time measure results. Recruitment, training and incentives influence people. A complete assessment also examines how much time is available for selling.
Two factors to consider together
Available selling time and the value produced during that time are connected. Salesforce’s 2022–2023 findings reported that respondents spent 28% of their week selling. This historical survey result provides a reason to investigate your own team’s time, not a substitute for measuring it.
Training may improve the quality of a conversation. Removing unnecessary administration may create more time for those conversations. Compare the expected value and effort of both approaches using evidence from the business.
Where selling time goes
Common sources of workload include repeated data entry, requalification of leads, internal approvals and searches for the right information. Our article selling time lost to data entry describes one example.
Trace the source of each activity across the process. A more demanding target cannot, by itself, remove a broken handover or missing information. A lead-to-cash assessment helps identify who can change it.
Measure workload alongside outcomes
Add a small set of operational measures to the sales dashboard: selling time, corrections per case, preparation versus waiting time for quotations, internal contacts per opportunity and response time for incoming enquiries.
These measures can show rising effort before it becomes obvious in revenue or conversion. The article hidden costs in sales explains how teams can absorb problems while output indicators remain stable.
Organisation and assessments
Make organisational decisions with a clear assessment
Our assessments identify practical changes to help your teams and processes work together.
Sequence the improvements
First, recover useful capacity. Address the most costly problems: duplicate entry, inconsistent qualification or approval steps that no longer serve a clear purpose.
Then decide how to use that capacity. More customer meetings, better preparation of strategic opportunities or renewed attention to neglected accounts require an explicit plan. Check that the time is actually redirected.
Improve the value of selling time. Use training linked to real opportunities, coaching grounded in observed work and incentives consistent with commercial and financial objectives. These activities may run alongside process changes; the point is to address both constraints.
Consider the employee experience
Repeated internal chasing and administrative rework can affect job satisfaction. Reducing those demands may improve the working experience as well as capacity. Treat any effect on retention as something to measure, not an automatic saving.
Review progress regularly
A short weekly review can compare a few workload measures with a few outcome measures, then assign a concrete action. Track whether changes actually reduce work and improve delivery.
As a starting exercise, ask several salespeople to reconstruct a typical week. Use their accounts to identify questions for a broader time-use assessment.
Our industrial equipment example turns findings into workstreams, resources and estimated gains. Explore the example lead-to-cash action plan. It is a composite case based on engagements; the gains shown are estimates.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
How can we improve sales performance?
How can we improve sales performance?
Identify constraints on selling time, address the most costly ones and decide how to use the capacity released. Combine that work with relevant training, coaching and incentives. Measure the effect on both workload and business results.
Which sales performance indicators should we track?
Which sales performance indicators should we track?
Combine outcomes such as revenue, conversion, average order value and cycle time with workload measures such as selling time, rework, quotation waiting time and first-response time. Choose a small set linked to decisions you can make.
How does sales effectiveness differ from sales performance?
How does sales effectiveness differ from sales performance?
Effectiveness concerns choosing the right targets and actions. Productivity concerns output per unit of resource. Sales performance brings them together with profitability and payment collection.
Does training improve sales performance?
Does training improve sales performance?
It can, especially when tied to actual tasks and opportunities. Check whether sellers also have the time, information and support needed to apply what they learn. Training and process improvement address different constraints.
Sources
Salesforce, State of Sales, fifth-edition findings, 2022–2023. Salesforce summary.
Savall H., Zardet V., Maîtriser les coûts et les performances cachés, Economica. ISEOR.
