Ultimate List of B2B Sales Metrics That You Must Track to Stay on Top of All Things Sales

Are you putting great efforts into sales deal closure for your B2B brand but still struggling to understand where you are lagging?

Do you wonder why this might be the case? 

It's because you may have overlooked the evaluation of B2B sales metrics.

Now imagine a picture: A beautiful garden filled with lush trees that you care for every day. However, one day a heavy tornado ruined it, causing most of the trees to crash to the ground. You might strain tremendous effort in trying to restore them by chopping and nurturing them, but the truth remains the same because they are damaged and gone.

Surprisingly, you can relate this aforementioned circumstance to your losing deals. 

How? You may also find some dead deals in your sales pipeline after making a determined attempt in sales strategies to count on them in the sales funnel and hope to get them back by retargeting.

But wait. Don’t worry because if you pay attention to your sales performance, you can lessen the probability of disaster. 

After thorough research, I've compiled a list for you to focus on the essential B2B sales metrics. So, your brand along with modified sales strategies can soar high with increased revenue and a loyal customer base. 

Without further ado, here you go!

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What are B2B sales metrics?

Business-to-business sales metrics are industry-standard benchmarks that act as key performance indicators (KPIs) in sales and are used to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of your brand's sales in the dynamic market.

To stay in the game of the B2B sales trend, where sales folks are using data-driven sales metrics to hit their goals, you cannot simply deny the significance of it. 

But, as we know, 'All that glitters is not gold,' not every sales metric is well-suited for your business. 

Now understand this: Daily sales activities, such as interaction time with customers while conducting product and service demonstrations, offer valuable insights into the performance of your sales team. 

Tracking the number of qualified warm leads and assessing the ability to retain lost clients are crucial metrics in evaluating your sales team's effectiveness. Additionally, measuring the revenue generated from these activities provides a cost-effective way to estimate the ultimate success of your sales goals.

For example, as you can see above, Microsoft, a renowned US B2B brand, prioritizes revenue as one of the top sales metrics to estimate its turnover from different B2B segments of the global business. 

Now, this aforementioned sales metric along with others enables your business to leverage your most effective B2B sales strategies. 

What are the right ways to approach B2B sales metrics?

“Reinforce what you want to see repeated. What gets rewarded gets done” - Brian Tracy.

Do you agree with the aforementioned statement of Brian Tracy?

If yes, then, to consider yourself among the top 10% of smart business players, persistence is needed. And without following the right ways of approaching each B2B sales metric, you can't achieve your desired goal.

How? Look below:

✅ Meaningful comparison & regular review 

Do you know that all sales metrics contain specific goal values based on the current industry standards?

Without comparing the list of do's and don'ts sales metrics, reaching an ultimate decision seems to rely on meaningless numbers. So, it's really important for you to compare these key metrics to track sales progress on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

✅ Easily obtainable

If your sales metrics are scattered and you don't maintain a single dashboard to track them all at once, it will consume your valuable time and create obstacles before making those sales metrics actionable. 

From tracking each sales metric to analyzing them with in-depth insight, you can rely on Zixflow, and enhance your sales efficiency.

✅ Quickly actionable 

If your B2B sales metrics aren't effective in driving ultimate sales goals, why waste your time on them? 

It's essential to let your sales metrics speak. And for that, you need to modify your sales strategy to take appropriate actions at the right time, so that those metrics are not less valued.

Which B2B sales metrics do you need to track and why?

“If you don’t actively and decidedly choose to be the best, you automatically default to the lower 80% in your field” - Brian Tracy.

Renowned sales influencer Brian Tracy wasn’t lying when he said that your active and precise performance can place you on top of your chosen field. And his statement is not merely a quote rather it contains his decade of experience in the sales field. 

And I think this belief alone is sufficient to provide you with a clear understanding of why tracking sales metrics is essential for your business. Without waiting, let's refresh your list with B2B sales metrics.

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Percentage of time on the phone

Equation: (Number of hours spent on phone / Total number of hours worked) x 100

To impress your sales prospect, the concept of simply ‘Picking up the phone and starting to dial’ is no longer sufficient.

Why? Because, after picking up the phone, it's essential to consider the effective average communication time required to reach a final agreement during the first session. 

To achieve this, you can assess the percentage of effective communication by breaking down insights into different types of sales calls to gather more specific and accurate data.

Percentage of time performing data entry

Equation: (Number of data entry hours / Total number of hours worked) x 100

Taking note of every single piece of customer data is crucial for segmenting them based on their demographics to understand their buyer persona and modify your sales pitches based on it. However, if you're spending excessive time on data entry tasks, it raises questions.

Then what’s needed? If you're smart enough, you should consider opting for a sales CRM like Zixflow to automate workflow instead of manually entering each detail on your own. The time you may spend on data entry can now be dedicated to your sales process while utilizing every single second of it.

Percentage of time demoing

Equation: (Number of hours spent demoing / Total number of hours worked) x 100

When adopting a customer-centric selling approach, there's no need to hesitate before demonstrating B2B sales products or services to seize the opportunity in this phase.

Why? Because this presentation time is when your targeted prospects are most interested in how your offerings can translate into action for them. 

You should adhere to this motto - ‘Don't just provide a demo, offer a solution.’

For example, if you have a SaaS business and you're showcasing your top-notch CRM product, along with the product demo, you can pitch it like this: 

‘Hello, we are from (X) software service company. We are finding that sometimes your team gets exhausted from handling customer data smoothly and that affects your customer interactions and overall your brand's authenticity. 

But don’t worry. Now you can smartly get over this headache with our automation tool within a few seconds and focus on generating more revenue. 

You can do all tasks automatically from data entry, getting meeting reminders, setting marketing campaigns, and analyzing data. And if you find any technical glitch, just inform us because we are here for you with 24/7 support.’

Number of sales tools used & average amount of time spent

What kind of tools are you using to streamline productivity and foster growth in sales? 

Well, you can utilize sales productivity tools, whether it's for automating scheduling and managing appointments or analyzing changing patterns in the current market. Furthermore, you can implement a time-tracking tool to assess the average effective time spent by your sales team. 

Is it essential to keep your eye on where your sales team spends maximum time? 

Yes, because this measurement allows you to identify gaps in your sales team's productive output. 

Either they are struggling to understand your customers' pain points, or they are lagging in engaging them in smart sales conversations, in both cases it will take much time. And your sincere approach can help them out, ultimately enhancing sales performance.

Average follow-up attempt 

Equation: Total number of follow-up attempts / Total number of leads

This metric indicates the number of attempts your sales reps are making to contact your target clients before deal closures. So, you can easily understand how many follow-ups it takes to close a deal.

Why? Arranging follow-up appointments or reminder messages is crucial to lessen the probability of losing your brand’s image in the busy schedule of your customers. 

But at the same time, a higher number of follow-up attempts can indicate that your sales team may lack tactics to overcome various objections in the sales process. However, on average, it takes a maximum of 2-3 attempts to follow up on your potential leads to close the deal. 

While you are in the way of the follow-up process, you need to avoid following up on the same prospect every hour to avoid risks associated with annoying your customers. Don't stick to a single method while following up instead of mixing up between mediums be it phone calls to voicemail or email to social media.

Average lead response time

Equation: Time of contact - Time of lead generation

Let's suppose, one of your potential leads submitted a form on your website at 10 a.m. and your sales rep conducted a conversation with him at 10:30 a.m. So, here, this 30-minute gap is your lead response time.

According to statistics from a Harvard Business Review study, only 37% of businesses can successfully achieve lead response time within one hour or less than that. And to count your brand on those 37%, you need to be more proactive. 

How? Well, to make a faster response with undivided attention and reduce average lead response timing, you can try the following as mentioned below:

Email automation

Don't forget the importance of email. If your leads are connected through emails, choose an email automation tool like Zixflow. With this email automation software, not only do you get success in a quick interaction, but also its customized engaging email-messaging templates will reduce the chances of your email getting overlooked between shuffling messages. 

Live Chat

If your top customers are still following the monotonous process of visiting your website and then filling out forms to get a response, it's time for you to change. 

You need to integrate a leadbot that will quickly respond to queries in real-time, eventually increasing your customer satisfaction through personalized live chat. You can consider integrating Leadbot by Zixflow.

Lead to opportunity ratio

Equation: (Total number of opportunities / Total number of leads) x 100

“Oh, there's a lot of opportunities

If you know when to take them

You know there's a lot of opportunities

If there aren't, you can make them” - Song by The Pet Shop Boys.

Is this melodious note relatable? Umm, oh yes, only if all your efforts are into finding your fortune-tellers.

Now, to understand these sales metrics take an example. Let’s suppose, you’ve 500 leads, and 100 of them converted into opportunities, your lead to opportunity will be 20%. 

This simply means that in every five leads that your sales team receives, surely one will be your diviner who has already met the criteria on your lead qualification checklist.

Enjoy your moment of capturing leads with this melody.

Lead conversion rate

Equation: (Total number of sales / Total number of leads) x 100

By calculating the ratio between the deal-won-based follow-on and the lead-to-opportunity ratio, you can determine your lead-to-sale percentage, which showcases your lead conversion rates. 

This metric is crucial in assessing how effectively your sales team leverages sales psychology to influence your intended audience, leading them to become paying consumers and find more opportunities.

Revenue Per Lead

Equation: Total revenue / Total number of leads 

If you're investing your valuable resources, whether they are financial resources, technological stacks, or your precious time, you'll undoubtedly want to evaluate every single aspect in terms of the relationship between your investments and returns. 

And with this aforementioned sales metric, you can calculate your revenue per lead for various segments such as product type, sales channels, sales pipeline stages, or different B2B sales goals. 

All-in-all, you can get a clear picture of how much each lead is worth to your business, from B2B sales engagement to driving revenue.  

Revenue by lead source

Equation: Total sales / Sales from a given lead source

Optimizing this sales metric helps you understand all your lead source channels along with every penny generated from those highly-qualified warm leads. Furthermore, you will identify your most promising lead generation channel where you need to be more focused in terms of sales engagement activities.

For instance, if your company invested $20,000 in sales, and $5,000 of that revenue originated from qualified leads who were connected through social media channels, it would account for 25% of your company's revenue. 

Furthermore, if more than $3,500 of that amount comes from Facebook, it becomes evident that shifting your energy to Facebook over other channels will be a wise decision.

Sales pipeline velocity

Equation: (Number of opportunities x Average deal value) x Win rate / Length of sales cycle in days

To thrive in the competitive arena of B2B sales, it's crucial to minimize the values of sales pipeline velocity as much as possible.

Why? Because this metric represents the amount of time it takes from the initial contact to its inclusion on the conversion list. The more time you spend here indicates a lag in your sales engagement strategies, which in turn increases the likelihood of losing deals. 

This metric is one of the most reliable indicators for forecasting your sales performance in a financial period.

Total sales & Net profit margin

Equation: Net profit margin = (Net Income / Net Sales) * 100

One simple but essential metric to remember is your total sales. While it informs you about the sum of money generated from sales in a specific period, you can calculate the net profit margin.

Why is it needed? You can evaluate this metric to comprehend fluctuations in volume on a quarterly, monthly, or yearly basis due to your sales team's performance. 

With this understanding, you can make improvements in sales performance to ensure that your business isn't adversely affected by high expenses and to safeguard profitability.

Sales win/loss rate & ratio

Equation: 

Sales win/loss rate = (Number of won/lost opportunities / Total number of opportunities) x 100

Sales win/loss ratio = (Number of won opportunities / Number of lost opportunities)

To understand this equation, let's consider an example. Suppose your business won 20 deals and lost 30 out of 50 possible deals in the last quarter. In this case, your sales win/loss rate would be 1.33, and the sales win/loss ratio would be ⅔ or 67%.

Although tracking this metric won't provide you with a complete picture, it can offer valuable insights for comparing high-won deals and low-value losses. On one hand, it provides a straight walk for you to become a data-driven decision-maker, and on the other hand, it encourages you to dive deeper into the underlying reasons for losses and encourages you to modify best practices for managing the sales pipeline.

Sales from new business

Equation: (Sales from new customers / Total sales) x 100

For example, within a certain quarter or month, if your B2B business generates $100,000 and $30,00 comes from new joint ventures, it simply earns 30% of revenue from new business.

Well, this example indicates the importance of measuring sales from new business. 

How? Monitoring this sales metric helps you understand your business growth and success in acquiring new customers. Also, you'll realize that your sincere sales team is dedicated to nurturing relationships for sales and aiming revenue generation from these new business connections.

Sales cycle length

Equation: Total number of days to close all sales / Total number of new deals

The sales cycle covers different stages of your sales pipeline. And the sales cycle length is the amount of time that begins with the first touch with leads via calls, emails, or chats to initiate sales engagement, then nurture them, and finally convert them into paying customers. 

This well-defined and transparent metric is vital in forecasting future deals. However, several variables, depending on market size and business goals, can significantly impact the length of the sales cycle of your business, which are mentioned below:

• Price of the product.
• Payment terms.
• Market maturity.
• Number of stakeholders.
• Last but not least, customer profile.

MQL to SQL conversion rate

Equation: (SQL generated / MQL generated) x 100

MQL, or Marketing Qualified Leads, are those who primarily show interest in your products or services, and SQL, or Sales Qualified Leads, are those who willingly engage with your sales reps to invest their money and become loyal customers.

For example, in one of your month-long sales campaigns, if you generated 50 SQLs out of 100 MQLs, your MQL to SQL conversion rate is 50%. This means, on average, you have 4 hot leads out of your targeted 10 leads.

“You will never win all the clients you want. You will win all the clients that want you” - Anthony Iannarino.

Converting MQL into SQL is like handling the perfect hand-off on a running track. But to make sure this process is effective and sequential, you need to consider the best lead nurturing tool along with some key factors that include:

• Lead behavior to understand their buyer persona.
• Lead demographics to analyze customer profiles.
• Lead scoring to strategically modify lead routing rules.

Customer Acquisition Cost

Equation: Total sales and marketing cost / Total number of new customers acquired

Customer acquisition brings your new customers down the sales funnel from brand awareness through marketing to making them buyers. And lead generation puts your business on the path to customer acquisition. However, customer acquisition is not free at all.

For example, if your company spends $200 on WhatsApp marketing campaigns annually and acquires 100 customers who are actually making deals with your brand in the same year, then its CAC is $1.00.

However, if you're unsure of what expenses are added to your sales and marketing cost, consider the below-mentioned expenses before calculating the total CAC:

• Employee salaries for hiring and retaining the best talents for your business.
• Advertisement costs to attract your target audience.
• Creativity costs for content production.
• Technical costs for utilizing productive software tools and managing them.
• Publishing costs associated with releasing marketing campaigns to the public, from online to offline.
• Inventory upkeep costs for maintenance and updates to products or services.

Customer Retention Rate

Equation: (Number of customers at the end of a period - Number of customers acquired during a time period / Starting number of customers) x 100

What do you need to excel in your B2B business without acquiring new customers? The answer is simple: Customer retention.

“Invest money in customer retention, because it’s a small fraction of the cost of customer acquisition” - Seth Godin.

Why? Think smart. To acquire new clients, you have to put in extra effort by setting targets with fresh marketing and sales strategies. However, you can generate more revenue from your existing loyal consumers and invest less effort in acquiring new customers. 

Well, This B2B sales metric is crucial to quantify because, according to data, 65% of the average revenue in your business comes from existing consumers.

Customer Lifetime Value

Equation: 

Customer value = Average purchase value x Average number of purchases

Customer lifetime value = Customer value x Average customer lifespan

Customer lifetime value reflects your expected revenue generation from your loyal customers throughout the business relationship. It considers the period from the first day of your consumers' purchases to the predicted customer lifespan with your brand as evaluated by your organization.

The first and foremost reason is that tracking this sales metric helps focus on reducing the cost of customer acquisition and retention. So, you can invest more time in rapport building for sales with people who are most likely to have purchasing intentions. 

Moreover, enhance your B2B products or services with CLV trends, and simplify your financial planning with strategic decisions.

It’s your time to quantify B2B sales metric with Zixflow to stay on top

Are you ready to turn the tables in the B2B sales game? 

Then modify your sales strategy by relying on a funnel of B2B sales metrics, and to outperform the competition, gather all tasks in a one-stop solution by signing up with Zixflow. 

Now, setting up a meeting scheduler, responding to customers within seconds, and nurturing your valuable leads become easier with Zixflow. Furthermore, gain accurate insights from the data with specific reasons, and find more opportunities to quantify every single digit of B2B sales metrics to thrive in the business world.

Still thinking? Stop reading and seize your opportunity now!