Measuring Sales Performance Metrics

There are two metrics that not enough SDR teams are tracking. It’s crazy to think about, but the reality is that most SDR teams are still largely ONLY tracked on volume, meetings and pipeline. Don’t get me wrong ALL of those are still important. But you MUST be tracking SDR efficiency to really unlock and ultimately improve an outbound program. Two metrics that are still extremely overlooked and tell you A LOT about your reps and business: → Contacts touched per qualified opp (S2) Most teams (including ours) are not going wide enough into accounts...depending on who your ICP is. As an example: we sell to 4 Personas…. Sales, SDR, Marketing & Rev Ops. Yet in our growth segment, our average contacts touched per account is 3. That needs to be fixed. → Penetration Rate: How many accounts to S2? It quite literally tells you how many accounts you need to touch or assign to your reps in order to hit your number. Let’s say you have an S2 quota of 24 per quarter. If each rep has 300 accounts and your avg. penetration rate is 6%, all else the same… your avg. rep will be hitting 18. You either need to increase the accounts they own/touch or need to figure out how to increase efficiency. Otherwise you don't even stand a chance. This is a great way to counter a top-down approach to quotas that are often unrealistic.

When I removed targets from my team, the first question every sales leader asked was... “How did you stop everything turning into chaos?” The answer was simple but not easy. We replaced top down targets with something far more powerful… A personal success blueprint for every rep. If you’ve never used one, here’s exactly what it is and how it works. It's a structured, data informed plan the rep co creates with their manager. It defines the inputs, activity levels & funnel metrics they need to achieve THEIR definition of success. It becomes the foundation for coaching, accountability & weekly 1:1s. Here’s how we built it. Step 1️⃣: Start with what top performers actually do... We pulled the data from our best reps. Things like... Discovery calls per week Discovery to qualified Opps created per month Opps to close Average deal size Sales cycle Etc....you get my point. This became our baseline blueprint. Not a rule, more like a map of effective execution inside our reality. Step 2️⃣: Understand the rep's intrinsic motivators... Because a blueprint only works if the rep is building toward something they care about. But first we needed to model the openness we sought from them. I shared my personal manual for working with me; a meaty guide that included lots of personal info, including my drivers & motivations. Then we found out what drove them... Some wanted a promotion. Some had a clear earning goal. Some wanted to rebuild confidence. Some wanted to be at the top of the leaderboard. Once you uncover the driver, you can build a plan that actually means something. Step 3️⃣: Build their personalised blueprint grounded in data... This is the coaching conversation where real change happens. It sounds like… “If your goal is £X and your deal size is £Y you will need around Z deals…” “Your win rate is X%, top performers sit at Y% percent…where could you realistically get it to?” “With your discovery to qualified at X%, how many discovery calls per week do you need?” The manager questions. The rep thinks. Together they build something ambitious but believable. And everything is rooted in their personal motivator...e.g. a clear path to promotion. The rep signs off. The manager commits to coaching to it. Step 4️⃣: Contract for accountability... This is where most leaders fall. We asked every rep… “When you fall behind, how do you want me to respond?” Some wanted a Slack nudge. Some wanted a short problem solving session. Some wanted it raised in weekly 1:1s Different reps need different triggers. Agreeing this upfront turns accountability into partnership. Step 5️⃣: Use the blueprint every week... Every 1:1 followed the GROW model. Goal, Reality, Options, Will. What’s working, what's not, what options do you see and what will you commit to this week? It keeps the conversation grounded in reality and solution focussed. 5 simple steps but success is driven by the quality of the coaching. That'll be my next post...

70% of business owners find it hard to boost their conversion rate beyond a certain number. Most have tried: - improving their copy - improving their product images - different offers and FOMO strategies Yet they struggle to move the conversion needle. That's when I suggest looking at something more fundamental. The information hierarchy. It's the order in which you arrange content. The most important, relevant information/sections being shown first. Ignoring information hierarchy can make your users feel confused, uninformed, or even miss crucial steps. Ultimately making them bounce or not convert. In this example, using daily objects product page, I've implemented changes that can increase the conversion rate by improving the information hierarchy. Below are the 6 changes I recommend a/b testing - 1. Adding an announcement bar highlighting a sale, an offer you're running, or your free shipping threshold. 2. Moving the product name, reviews, and price above the image. This way, the space b/w the image and add-to-cart is reduced. Making it appear closer than it is. 3. Adding image thumbnails. This is critical if your images contain information like product features. 4. Showing product benefits before the add-to-cart CTA in an easy-to-consume format (like bullet points). 5. Optimizing the area around the add-to-cart by highlighting the shipping and return policies. 6. Highlighting offers close to add-to-cart as that's when the user is considering taking an action. Other changes I made: 1. Adding the logo bar with hamburger, search, and cart icon. This is important to maintain if you're driving ad traffic directly to product pages. 2. Adding the in-line / within-the-page add to cart. I'm seeing more brands removing the within-the-page add to cart CTA and replacing it with a sticky one. Make sure you a/b test this before implementing. 3. In the options section, adding an action verb like 'Choose' or 'Select' next to 'Color', 'Size'. This prompts the user to take an action. Found this useful? Let me know in the comments! P.S. The best way to identify gaps in your information hierarchy is by using heatmaps and scroll-maps tools like Microsoft Clarity. It's free to use and can help you back your hypothesis with actual user insights. #conversionrateoptimization #uxdesign

Demand Capture 101. This is actual data from a $60MM ARR SaaS company. Let’s break it down 👇   How a lead/account enters your pipeline is the biggest predictor of sales velocity metrics - win rates, sales cycle lengths, even ACVs.    Because how they enter your pipeline is a surrogate for buying intent & indicator of how far they are complete in the buying process.    Here’s how to measure it & use it to drive your revenue strategy:   1. Measure the Opportunity Source in Salesforce on the opportunity record.    Campaign Source = What campaign type did they convert on to move this opportunity into pipeline? (e.g. demo request, e-book download, cold call, trade show, etc.)   Source / Channel = What source or channel did they come from in order to convert? (e.g. LinkedIn ad, organic search, account intent data, ZoomInfo, etc.)    Using both of these data points combined will literally guide your strategy.    This shows you the optimal paths to *capture demand* and is easily measurable using software-based attribution.   2. Separate conversion sources between *Declared Intent* and *Low Intent*.    Declared Intent = The buyer declares intent to buy from you (e.g. Demo Request, Contact Sales) Low Intent = You assume the buyer has intent based on their digital behavior (e.g. ebook download, webinar attendee, trade show badge scan, intent data, etc.)    3. Calculate core sales analytics between the two sources.    Calculate conversion rates, lead-to-win rate, net new ARR, sales velocity, and more.    4. Visualize how much conversion intent matters to sales velocity and sales productivity.    149X higher lead-to-win rates for declared intent conversions   Declared intent = 26 “leads” to win 1 deal for $54k ARR Low Intent = 3,868 “leads” to win 1 deal for $130k ARR   18X greater sales velocity for declared intent conversions   Declared intent = $14.2MM annual sales velocity Low intent = $781k annual sales velocity 5. Recognize not all MQLs are created equal Measuring on MQLs incentivizes teams to get the most volume of MQLs for the lowest cost (low intent conversions), which is entirely misaligned with sales productivity and sales goals. Separate these into two Pipeline Sources (Declared Intent, Low Intent). Plan and build your goals for these two sources separately.   __   Now you know exactly HOW you want buyers to enter pipeline (capture demand) for maximum sales velocity & sales team efficiency. You also know exactly WHY buyers choose to take those paths to enter pipeline & WHAT triggers / channels / tactics move them to conversion. And with all of these insights, you can re-architect your strategy that optimizes for REVENUE. #revenue #sales #marketing #b2b #gtm p.s. Every SaaS company’s data looks like this, because it’s universal to how buyers buy. Most just don’t take the 3 hours of time to analyze their own data and see it for themselves.

Your sales team is optimizing for the wrong metric, and it's costing you millions Most sales leaders are obsessed with pipeline coverage ratios. "We need 3x coverage to hit our number." "Generate more top-of-funnel activity." "Increase prospecting activity by 40%." But coverage ratios are a vanity metric that's actually destroying your team's performance. Here's why this thinking is backwards Traditional logic is the same old… More opportunities = Higher probability of hitting quota Build massive pipeline = Insurance against deal slippage BUT in reality Bigger pipelines create cognitive overload for reps Too many opportunities = Poor qualification and deal management Reps spread thin across 50+ "opportunities" instead of focusing on 15 real ones The highest-performing sales teams I work with have completely flipped this Instead of maximizing pipeline size, they maximize pipeline quality. The Quality-First Framework looks like this 1) Ruthless Qualification Standards Only deals with documented business impact, defined evaluation processes, and accessible buying teams make it into the pipeline. 2) Rep Capacity Management Each rep can effectively manage 12-15 active opportunities. Anything beyond that diminishes focus and results. 3) Stage Velocity Tracking Measure how fast deals move through stages, not how many deals exist in each stage. 4) Elimination Before Generation Before adding new opportunities, eliminate stalled ones. Clean pipeline = clear thinking. The math is crazy Team A: 200 opportunities, 15% close rate = 30 deals Team B: 100 high-quality opportunities, 35% close rate = 35 deals Team B wins with half the pipeline stress. Your reps aren't struggling because they need more opportunities. They're struggling because they can't focus on the right ones. Share with a leader who needs to hear this ^^

A critical part of journey management in any large organisation is measuring how your journeys perform. 📊 By setting clear goals, monitoring performance, identifying gaps, and measuring improvement impact, you create a continuous cycle of management and enhancement. Measurement surfaces opportunities and kickstarts improvements. 🚀 Yet many organisations struggle: data sits in silos, teams measure inconsistently, and dashboards report numbers without a coherent story. Product, marketing, sales, service, and digital teams collect valuable insights, but without a common language, they never combine into a unified performance view. The result? Plenty of activity, little clarity on what actually improves customer experience and business performance. Measuring performance along specific journeys—rather than isolated KPIs—provides the right context: the journey itself. 🗺️ This approach transforms your journey framework into an engine for improving both customer experience and business performance holistically, creating a shared structure and language where different KPIs unite. 🧭 Inspired by the Balanced Scorecard, this pragmatic 3x3 Matrix structures performance measurement across two dimensions: 👉 First, it distinguishes 3 performance metric categories: - Customer performance (behavior and sentiment) - Commercial performance (conversion, customer base, revenue) - Operational performance (cost, efficiency, reliability) 👉 Second, it distinct three journey hierachy levels: - Overall customer lifecycle - End-to-end product or service journey - Individual customer tasks These intersecting dimensions ensure each metric sits logically within a complete, coherent view. The visual below shows example metrics for all nine sections, helping you build a balanced measurement framework for journeys. This matrix delivers three immediate benefits: ✨ 1. It aligns siloed KPIs and contextualizes them into a shared journey 2. It enables drill-down and aggregation through connected KPIs across journey levels 3. It surfaces trade-offs and synergies between performance metrics A few quick tips to take into account when drafting or structuring your own journey-driven measurement framework 👇👇👇 🐌 Consider both leading and lagging indicators for a robust measurement approach that balances early warning signs with outcome metrics.  🤲 Don’t collect everything. Start with a North Star KPI for each journey, and add a small set of supporting metrics. Less is more. 💬 Always mix performance metrics with more qualitative feedback and insights that will help you determine why performance is down and how to fix it. Happy measuring! 🎉

Wingstop's Q4 results, just announced. An absolute scorcher of a year. Domestic same-store sales increased 10.1 percent. In Q4 2023, comps were up 21.2 percent. So the brand managed to grow double-digits on top of 20 percent-plus for a two year-stack of 31.3 percent. Digital sales lifted to 70.3 percent of systemwide sales. Speaking of, systemwide sales rose 27.6 percent to $1.2 billion. Restaurant AUV is now $2.1 million. That was $1.8 million in Q3 2023. Total revenue hiked 27.4 percent to $161.8 million. Net income was up 42.2 percent to $26.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA surged 44.2 percent to $56.3 million. Wingstop opened 105 net new stores in Q4 to reach 2,563 total units (2,204 domestic). For the full fiscal 2024 year, the brand opened 349 net stores. It expects global unit growth rate of 14–15 percent in 2025. Same-store sales in the U.S. across 2024 soared 19.9 percent on top of 18.3 percent (two-year view of 38.2 percent). System-wide sales increased 36.8 percent to $4.8 billion and revenue climbed 36 percent to $625.8 million.

I watched a $3M sales team implode Not because they lacked talent. Not because they lacked resources But because they confused "activity" with "results" → Here's what most sales leaders don't understand: Your CRM is lying to you - Those 500 leads? - Those 200 calls? - Those 50 meetings? Pure vanity metrics I've spent 10 years doing forensic autopsies on sales organizations, and here's the brutal truth: Most sales teams are walking zombies - Busy - Exhausted - But fundamentally dead They measure: - Number of calls - Number of emails - Number of meetings What they DON'T measure: - Quality of conversations - Depth of customer understanding - Real economic impact generated Quick test for you: If I looked at your last 30 sales interactions, could you tell me EXACTLY how each one moved the needle? Hint: If you're hesitating, the answer is no One client went from $200k to $1.8M annual revenue by cutting their lead list by 70% and going DEEP instead of wide Not more leads Not more hustle Just relentless, surgical precision Sales isn't a numbers game. It's a RELEVANCE game. P.S. If you need help with your sales, send me a message

Why Your Sales Team Isn't Hitting Targets and HOW TO FIX IT 📊Today many businesses struggle with declining sales performance, and one of my clients - a mid-sized tech firm, faced this very issue. Despite having a talented team, they consistently missed their sales targets, leading to frustration and dwindling morale. They started sales coaching with me, and here's how we started and turned things around. Conducting Diagnosis: Understanding the Core Issues through a sales audit, and after an initial assessment, it became evident that several factors contributed to the poor performance. These are listed broadly as follows: 🚫Lack of Clear Goals: The sales team didn’t have well-defined, achievable targets. They were chasing numbers without a strategic plan. 🌀Inadequate Training: Despite their talent, the team lacked training in the latest sales techniques and tools. There was also an inefficient sales process at play. 🗯Poor Communication: There was a significant disconnect between the sales team and other departments, leading to missed opportunities and misunderstandings. 📌Low Motivation: Constant failure to meet targets had demoralized the team, impacting their productivity and drive. To address these issues, we implemented a comprehensive coaching and facilitation program focusing on well executed strategies: 🎯 Setting SMART Goals - to give the team clear direction and purpose. Fine tuning the sales process also contributed to efficiency. 💪Enhanced Training - on advanced sales techniques, product knowledge, and customer engagement strategies. 🧲Optimizing the Sales Process - by identify the bottlenecks and making necessary adjustments, we ensure that the process is customer-focused and aligns with their buying journey. 🎎Improving Communication - by establishing regular cross-departmental meetings and open communication channels to ensure everyone was on the same page. 👊Motivation and Incentives - by introducing a reward system to recognize and celebrate achievements, boosting morale and encouraging a healthy competitive spirit. Within three months, there was a complete transformation - the team had a high morale and camaraderie. Soon, they not only met but also exceeded their sales targets, achieving a 30% increase in sales. The clear goals, enhanced skills, and improved communication fostered a collaborative and motivated environment. The client’s sales performance skyrocketed, and the once-struggling team became a powerhouse of productivity and success. ✨✨ Need help identifying and fixing the issues in your sales team? Contact me for expert guidance and tailored solutions! 📌https://lnkd.in/dGGM5vCK #sonniasingh #sonniasinghleadershipcoach #salescoaching #salesoptimization #businessresults #SalesPerformance #SalesTargets #TeamMotivation #SalesTraining #SalesProcess #SalesLeadership