You’re no stranger to numbers when working in sales. Monthly quotas, pricing negotiations, commission structures — these are all areas that require regular analysis and careful calculation.
And sure, some days it’s the pressure around earning potential and sales goals that can make even top performers want to throw in the towel. But for the most part, it all plays into the motivation to sell more and make more.
The good news is you don’t have to play a guessing game when it comes to cracking the code around more frequent, higher quality sales. You just have to do the math and revisit the numbers, starting with this list of insightful sales statistics.
Sales Prospecting Statistics
Half of the time, prospects don’t align well with what they’re being sold. It’s on you as a salesperson to do the research and focus on deals with higher potential by disqualifying prospects early on in the process.
95% of B2B buyers research companies online before making a purchase. Keep in mind that your prospects may already be well-versed in what your service has to offer before ever picking up the phone. Don’t lose their attention by reciting information they could otherwise find on your website.
The type of content you lead with when reaching out to prospects goes a long way. For example, 69% of buyers prefer being solicited with primary research data relevant to their business. Personalization is key.
Nine out of ten companies use two or more lead enrichment tools to learn more about prospects. Side Panel, powered by InsideView, offers a treasure trove of insight into who your potential customers are and how to reach them.
Lead Nurturing Sales Statistics
Survey analysis has shown that there’s a 10x decrease in your odds of making contact with a lead after the first 5 minutes. If you’re not creating processes around fast response turnaround, you’re likely missing on easy opportunities to boost sales.
Pair this with the fact that 78% of customers buy from the first responder. It literally doesn’t pay to wait on a lead, especially when up against the potential readiness of your competition.
Follow-Up Emails
Customers receive an average of 200 emails per day. They do not have the time or attention span to invest in messages with no clear value.
On average, only 23.9% of sales emails are opened. If you don’t put thought into the contents of what you’re sending, you should expect it to end up in the trash.
Most customers will check their email throughout the day but the height of activity happens during those early morning hours. Using Enterprise Scheduling functionality allows you to schedule drip campaigns to deliver at predetermined times for optimal engagement.
47% of email recipients open based on subject line alone. So whether you cater to vanity or curiosity, the words you use matter.
Highly personalized emails result in a 17% reply rate. Give your leads reason to believe you’ve done your research and have a solution to offer that’s relevant to their pain points.
Sales Calls
It takes upwards of 18 calls to connect with a buyer. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Did you know that only 2% of sales close at the first meeting? That means that you need to follow up with them, have additional sales conversations, and be tenacious!
The most effective discovery calls uncover three to four business problems. Get to the bottom of why a lead is on the hunt in the first place and what you have to offer them that another service can’t.
Make sure you schedule your calls at the right time. Leads are 30% more likely to show up for a call in the afternoon than one at 8 a.m.
While you may think it’s unwise to dominate the conversation, in a cold-calling situation, you’re likely better off doing most of the talking. But while you’re in discovery mode, be mindful to maintain a healthy talk-to-listen ratio.
Social Selling
62% of top sales performers attribute their ability to close more deals to social selling. This is in addition to connecting with the right buyers, creating a stronger professional brand, and building better relationships.
85% of decision makers never pick up cold calls but they do regularly use LinkedIn. Stay flexible with your approach knowing that not every lead operates under the same preferences.
The best times for posting to LinkedIn generally fall during normal working hours, Monday through Friday. Be mindful of audience behavior for the sake of connecting with leads when they’re most likely to engage.
Leads from social media networking take an average of 40 days to close — compared to 75 days for website leads and the 97 for referrals. Exploring social channels as an avenue for connecting with potential customers is worthwhile for the sake of efficiency and your bottom line.
Sales Productivity Statistics
Only 35.2% of reps spend their time selling. The rest of their time at work goes towards everything else they have to do to stay organized and on track.
This takes into account the average 94.4 activities performed daily, which include email, phone calls, voicemails, and social media touches. With no shortage of things to do, you need to create systems around both selling smarter and all of the administrative work that goes with it.
Referrals
As a starting point, keep in mind that 47% of top sales performers ask for referrals. Why?
Because peer recommendations influence more than 90% of all buying decisions. There’s established trust upfront that proves invaluable when compared to the uncertainty of a cold call.
73% of buyers prefer to work with salespeople they know. And this is why it’s more important than ever to network — building relationships for the sake of long-term potential over short-term gains. Not to mention the fact that the lifetime value of a referral is higher than that of a non-referred customer.
Sales Tech and Tools
50% of sales teams report increased productivity when using a CRM. The more you can automate and streamline daily activities outside of selling, the more time you have to close.
Most sales teams use an average of six tools at various stages of the funnel. It makes sense to account for integrations when and where possible.
70% of reps are not using any tool to help in managing their time — but those that do spend 18.9% more time selling. Do an analysis of daily activities and present barriers getting in the way of you staying focused at work.
Sales Meeting and Proposal Statistics
Opening a cold call with “Did I catch you at a bad time?” makes you 40% less likely to book a meeting. Don’t underestimate the power of phrasing when working towards a proposal.
Outside of internal hold-ups and policies, 14% of a reps’ time is often dominated by meetings — followed by conducting research (12%). The two go hand in hand, so make sure you’re optimizing for both with the sales tools at your disposal.
Look at the volume of sales calls across most months in a year and you’ll see inconsistencies develop in sales calls made. The trick is to stay consistent in your approach. You don’t want to rush prospects and lose a deal just to make quota.
Sales Closing Statistics
Always remember that it costs more to acquire new customers than it does to retain or upsell current ones. Having a good post-purchase process in place helps ensure that any contracts sold stay that way.
26% of forecasted deals turn into “no decisions” when salespeople fail to account for customer needs prior to closing. Learn from your sales metrics — taking into account content that has proven to resonate with buyers going in for the close.
48% of salespeople say their biggest challenge when closing deals is going up against low-priced competitors. You can’t control a buyer’s final decision but you can make the best case possible for why cost is sometimes worth the reward.
Final Thoughts: 40+ Insightful Sales Statistics That’ll Help You Boost Productivity and Close More Deals
When it comes to exceeding in sales, most of the information you need to do so is right at your fingertips. Dig into the data and throw complacency aside. The only sales process worth investing in is the one with proven results.
Put the above statistical insights to the test with a tool that will maximize the selling power of your inbox and calendar. Get started with your free 14-day trial of Cirrus Insight today.
