100 Sales Statistics You Can Use to Drive Results

With the world more connected than ever, sales information and marketing trends are easier to find and share. As a business owner, you should know how essential this data is to your operations.

Whether you’re analyzing universal sales figures or reports from your own business, you can use sales statistics to chart the course of your growth. Below, we’ll look at some of the most impactful sales statistics and how they influence your business. Some of the sales stats categories we’ll look at include:

• General sales stats
• Sales phone call stats
• Sales email stats
• Sales prospect stats
• Sales challenge stats
• Sales technology stats
• Sales tactic stats
• Sales cost and revenue stats
• Sales success rate stats

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General sales stats

To kick off our list, let’s take a look at some general sales statistics. These stats will give you a broad look at a variety of info about the world of sales.

1. 71% of sales reps say that closing more deals is their top priority.
2. Sales reps spend 39% of their time interacting with leads and customers.
3. The best sales reps spend (on average) 5 hours per week prospecting.
4. Top sales reps spend 6 hours per week researching sales accounts.
5. As much as 50% of sales go to the vendor that responds to customers the fastest.
6. If you follow up with an online lead within 5 minutes of their inquiry, they’re 9 times more likely to engage with you.
7. Over 50% of all companies don’t respond to new leads for more than five days.
8. Only 11% of sales representatives ask customers for referrals.
9. 84% of customers begin their buyer’s journey with a referral.
10. Customers who get referred to your business have a 16% higher lifetime value than those that don’t.
11. Only 30% of sales professionals say their sales and marketing teams are closely aligned.
12. Over 40% of companies say that their sales and marketing teams have become more aligned over time.
13. Just 3% of your target market is actively buying at any given time.
14. 95% of business-to-business (B2B) buyer decisions are influenced by marketing and sales content.
15. Training your sales team can have a 353% return on investment (ROI).
16. 80% of all sales are made by only 20% of sales reps.
17. On average, there are 5 decision-makers involved in every sales process.
18. Over 50% of companies implemented some sort of new sales process within the last 120 days.
19. 50% of customer loyalty depends on how pleasant the sales experience is.
20. 93% of B2B sales processes start with an online search.

Sales phone call stats

One of the most widespread methods of reaching prospects is a simple phone call. Sometimes an interested prospect will call you, while other times you’ll call them to initiate contact (a method known as cold calling). Here are some stats about this sales method.

1. 92% of all interactions with customers take place over the phone.
2. 27% of sales reps still believe cold calling is an effective strategy.
3. Businesses that use cold calling see 42% more growth than those that don’t.
4. On average, it takes 8 cold call attempts to reach a prospective customer.
5. The average sales rep generates 1 sale for every 209 cold calls.
6. Around 72% of cold calls never reach an actual human being.
7. Sales reps spend 15% of their time leaving voicemails rather than talking directly with prospects.
8. 44% of sales representatives give up on a prospect after 1 failed follow-up call.
9. The average sales rep can make around 52 sales calls per day.
10. 75% of buyers expect (and want) to receive 2–4 sales calls.
11. Over 50% of all prospects want to see how a company’s product works on the first call with them.
12. 58% of prospects want to know about pricing on the first sales call.
13. 85% of customers are unhappy with the interactions they have on sales calls.
14. The ideal time to make a sales call is within 1 hour of receiving a prospect inquiry.
15. The most productive time to cold-call someone is between 4 and 5 PM.
16. The worst time during the week to make a sales call is on Friday between 1 and 3 PM.
17. Only 2% of cold calls lead to an appointment.
18. 80% of sales calls go straight to voicemail.
19. 93% of a cold call’s success comes down to the tone of the sales rep’s voice during the call.
20. Asking 11 or more questions on an initial sales call could increase the chances of a sale by as much as 74%.

Sales email stats

Another of the most popular methods for reaching prospects and customers is email. Sending out emails can be just as effective as (or more effective than) calling people on the phone. For that reason, here are some sales email statistics to know.

1. 80% of prospects prefer to communicate with sales reps via email.
2. Sales reps spend (on average) 21% of each day writing emails.
3. There is a 25% chance of hearing back from a prospect if you send them more than one sales email.
4. 95% of sales professionals say that bulk emails are ineffective.
5. Sending out even one follow-up email can increase reply rates by as much as 220%.
6. 2–5 days is the ideal amount of time to wait before following up on a sales email.
7. If you wait more than five days to send out a follow-up email, your chances of getting a response drop to 24%.
8. 91% of cold emails are opened the day after being sent out.
9. Personalized sales emails have a click-through rate (CTR) of 41%.
10. 47% of email recipients use the subject line alone to determine whether or not to open an email.
11. Around 49% of businesses use email automation software.

Sales prospect stats

One of the most important parts of marketing and sales is knowing your audience. That allows you to touch on their unique pain points and persuade them to buy your products or services. Here are some stats about what you can expect from your prospects.

1. On average, 50% or more of a company’s prospects won’t end up being a good fit for what the company sells.
2. More than 80% of sales reps say that buyers are more informed now than they were in past years.
3. 96% of all prospects do their own research before they speak with a sales representative.
4. At any given time, only 25% of leads are interested in moving to the next stage of the sales process.
5. According to 28% of sales professionals, the biggest reason prospects back out of a sale is that the process is taking too long.
6. 71% of consumers say that they expect to hear from sales reps early in the buying process.
7. 62% of buyers who are actively seeking a solution to a problem want to hear from sellers.
8. 69% of buyers say that they want sales reps to listen to their needs.
9. 79% of consumers prefer to interact with actual trusted specialists rather than people whose only job is to sell them something.
10. 92% of B2B prospects will happily interact with a sales rep if that rep is an established thought leader in their industry.
11. 57% of prospects say they appreciate low-pressure follow-ups.
12. 60% of prospects will take their business elsewhere due to unfriendly sales service.

Sales challenge stats

Not everything in the sales world is easy. As you probably already know, sales professionals struggle with a variety of challenges. These stats provide some insight into what those challenges are.

1. Over 40% of sales reps identify sales prospecting as the hardest part of the sales process.
2. 14% of sales professionals say that the biggest issue with sales prospecting is setting up appointments.
3. 40% of sales reps say that it’s harder to get a response from prospects now than in past years.
4. 42% of salespeople say that they don’t feel as though they have enough information before making a sales call.
5. The average business loses 10–30% of its customers each year.
6. The best sales reps only get the chance to pitch their offer 7% of the time.
7. 65% of B2B companies fail to use lead nurturing.
8. 61% of sales reps say that selling is more difficult now than it was five years ago.
9. 81% of sales teams never bother to review or correct their processes.
10. 1 in 5 sales teams report that they don’t have the resources needed to reinforce their workflow.
11. 26% of sales reps say that their sales training had little to no impact.

Sales technology stats

In the digital world that we now occupy, you really can’t afford not to use sales technology. Even if you aren’t doing it, you can rest assured that your competitors are. Here are a few stats about the type of technology that sales reps use and what they think about it.

1. 77% of sales reps feel that their business should invest more in sales technology.
2. 45% of sales professionals say they feel overwhelmed by the number of tools in their sales tech stacks.
3. With today’s technology, businesses can automate over 30% of sales activities.
4. Companies that automate their lead management see (on average) a 10% revenue increase within the next 6–9 months.
5. 90% of companies use 2 or more lead enrichment tools to help them learn more about their prospects.
6. Over 70% of sales professionals use social media tools in their sales efforts.
7. Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms can boost sales by 29%.

Sales tactic stats

Salespeople use a variety of tactics to help them drive more conversions. Here are just a few stats about some of the methods they find effective.

1. 56% of sales professionals say they use data to help them identify the best prospects.
2. Around 44% of companies use some form of lead scoring system.
3. Businesses that actively publish blog posts are able to generate 67% more leads than those that don’t.
4. 87% of businesses say that video marketing has helped them drive more sales.
5. 77% of sales professionals have begun conducting more video meetings in the last few years.
6. Of salespeople who use social media in their sales efforts, 78% end up outselling their peers.
7. 50% of companies identify online forms as their main source of inbound leads.

Sales cost and revenue stats

One of the main things any business is concerned with is the money — not just how much they spend, but how much they earn. These stats give you some insight into the spending and earning habits of sales professionals.

1. Over a trillion dollars is spent on sales efforts each year.
2. On average, 72% of company revenue comes from existing customers.
3. Inbound leads are 61% less expensive to generate than outbound ones.
4. Customer retention costs 6–7 times less money than customer acquisition.
5. Increasing customer retention by a mere 5% can boost revenue by as much as 90%.
6. A company is considered profitable if it closes at least 30% of sales-qualified leads (SQLs).

Sales success rate stats

To wrap up our list, here are a few stats about sales success rates. Every sales team will encounter successes and failures, but how common are each of those? What percentage of your prospects will end up converting? These stats will help you get a sense of what to expect.

1. The average sales win rate is 21%.
2. Across all industries, the average sales conversion rate falls between 2.46% and 3.26%.
3. Just 2% of sales occur during the first meeting.
4. On average, sales agents close 3 times more deals near the end of each month.
5. Of contacts who request info from a business, 83% don’t buy for 3–12 months.
6. 60% of customers say “no” four times before finally saying “yes.”

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