20+ sales KPIs to track for activity, pipeline, and performance

If your sales leader asked you how your sales team is doing, what data would you look at? Would it be the number of closed deals, meetings booked, calls made, or something else entirely?

While key performance indicators, or KPIs, are the best way to see how your team is doing and assess the health of your pipeline, it can be a little overwhelming with so many different KPIs and data points to look at.

To help make your job a little easier, we've identified the best sales KPIs you should be monitoring right now, as well as some tips on how to choose the right sales KPIs for your team.

What are KPIs in sales?

Sales KPIs are measurable values that show an organization, department, or individual employees' performance against their objectives.

The right KPIs will help you track the effectiveness of your relevant sales activities, so you can optimize your sales process overall. When used correctly, KPIs help to quantify whether a process or initiative is working or not, and if you need to pivot.

How to choose the best sales KPIs for your team

As a sales manager, you not only need clearly defined sales KPIs in order to boost sales, but also effective ways to monitor them. With so many different options to choose from, however, it can be difficult to determine which ones your team should focus on.

These three steps can help lead you in the right direction when choosing KPIs for your sales team.

1. Define your goals

The first step in choosing the right KPIs for your sales team is defining which company-wide goals you need to meet. Each goal should also have at least one secondary goal to support it.

For example, if your company-wide goal is to increase annual revenue by a specific percentage, a secondary goal might be to increase revenue by a specific percentage each month. Another secondary goal could be to decrease the average sales cycle length by a specific percentage.

It's also important to keep the sales landscape related to your specific industry in mind while defining sales goals. The impact of the pandemic has altered the B2B sales landscape, forcing organizations to embrace digital transformation to stay competitive. 

2. Identify what needs to happen to reach each goal

Once you broadly define your primary and secondary goals, it's time to specify what needs to happen in order to meet each goal. Communication is vital during this step. Work with marketing to make sure you're both aligned toward the same objectives. When sales and marketing are on the same page, sales cycles are shorter and sales costs decrease.

It may be easier to work backward when identifying the actions needed to meet your main goals. If your goal is to hit a specific revenue target, ask yourself how many deals your team needs to close to reach it. 

Then, in order to close that number of deals, how many sales opportunities do you need in your pipeline? Lastly, how many meetings with prospects does your sales team need per week and per month to acquire those opportunities?

Taking time to identify those actions helps you determine which KPIs will best measure your team's progress.3. Decide How to Prioritize Your KPIs

3. Decide how to prioritize your KPIs

After choosing your goals and identifying what actions to measure, it's time to choose how to measure your progress. In other words, it's time to prioritize your KPIs. Choose the metrics that provide the best insight into how each goal is progressing. Then choose those as your main KPIs. Those will be the KPIs you assess regularly to gauge whether you're meeting your objectives.

Some KPIs will be more obvious than others. If you're struggling to choose the right ones, ask yourself whether each metric will tell you what to do next if you're not meeting your goal. For example, if you haven't hit your monthly revenue goal, you should be able to assess the secondary actions assigned to that goal to see what to do next. Getting to the bottom of it is easier when you have a clearly defined set of secondary metrics associated with each KPI.

The 20 best sales KPIs to track

The best sales KPIs reflect your team's unique goals and business model. Below are 20 essential KPIs organized by category to help you track activity, pipeline health, deal progression, revenue, and team performance.

Activity KPIs

1. Number of new leads

Without leads, you have no sales, and without a consistent flow of leads, sales forecasting is a nightmare. Track the number of new leads your sales team generates each month based on your qualification criteria. Don't lower your standards to make this number look better; a lead should only count if there's a real chance of conversion. Track this metric per rep and team-wide to identify who may need more support.

2. Email open rate

Email open rate measures the percentage of prospects who open your emails. Strong open rates (typically 20-30% for cold outreach) indicate effective subject lines and good list quality. Low open rates signal poor targeting or spam filter issues.

How to calculate: (Number of unique opens / (Number of emails sent - Bounces)) x 100

For example, if you sent 1,000 emails, 200 were opened, and 50 bounced, your email open rate would be 21%.

3. Email response rate

Response rate shows how many prospects reply to your emails, regardless of sentiment. Average B2B response rates hover around 8-10%. Track this alongside buyer sentiment to determine whether responses are positive or require different follow-up.

How to calculate: (Total number of responses / Number of emails sent) x 100

For example, if you sent 100 emails and received eight responses, your email response rate would be 8%.

4. Calls-to-meeting ratio

This metric shows how many calls it takes to book a meeting. Track this per rep to identify top performers and coaching opportunities. Strong ratios vary by industry but typically range from 1:8 to 1:15.

How to calculate: Number of meetings scheduled / Total number of calls made

For example, if you made 100 calls and scheduled 10 meetings, your calls-to-meetings ratio would be 1:10.

Pipeline KPIs

5. Leads-to-meetings conversion rate

A steady flow of new leads doesn't matter unless your team can convert them into paying customers. The leads-to-meetings conversion rate shows how effectively your team converts leads into meetings and moves prospects down the funnel. If this number drops, it could mean reps need more training, your sales process needs work, or lead qualification needs adjustment.

How to calculate: (Number of meetings / Number of leads) x 100

For example, if your team had 100 leads and 6 of them turned into meetings, your leads-to-meetings conversion rate would be 6%.

If this number is low, it could mean several things:

• Your reps may need more training or support
• Your sales process may need more work
• Your lead qualification needs work

If you see your leads-to-meetings conversion rate dropping, it's time to dive in and find out what is going wrong. This is another metric that may be best if tracked per-rep to make troubleshooting easier.

6. Meetings-to-pipeline conversion rate

The meetings-to-pipeline conversion rate (also called meetings qualified rate) indicates the percentage of meetings that turn into deals or qualified opportunities.

How to calculate: (Number of deals or qualified opportunities / Number of meetings) x 100

For example, if your team had 60 meetings in a month and 20 of those meetings resulted in deals or qualified opportunities, your meetings-to-pipeline conversion rate would be 33%.

7. Deal win rate

Deal win rate measures the number of deals you won divided by the total opportunities created. Track win rate by deal size, rep, and product to identify patterns.

How to calculate: (Number of closed-won deals / Number of opportunities created) x 100

For example, if you won 10 deals in a given month out of 100 opportunities created, your deal win rate would be 10%.

8. Pipeline coverage ratio

Pipeline coverage shows whether you have enough opportunities to hit quota. Most teams need 3-5x coverage depending on win rates and sales cycle. Enterprise teams with longer cycles often need 4-5x, while transactional sales may only need 2-3x.

How to calculate: Total pipeline value / Revenue target

For example, if your quota is $500,000 and you have $2,000,000 in pipeline, your coverage ratio is 4x.

9. Average deal size

Average deal size is total deal value divided by the number of closed deals. Track this over time to see if you're moving upmarket or downmarket. Increasing deal size can offset lower win rates, while decreasing deal size may signal competitive pressure or a focus on smaller accounts.

How to calculate: Total value of all closed deals / Total number of deals

For example, if you closed 10 deals worth a combined $100,000, your average deal size would be $10,000.

10. Deal slippage rate

Deal slippage measures opportunities that don't close within their committed timeline. High slippage (over 30%) signals poor qualification, unrealistic forecasts, or deals stalling without clear next steps. Track which stages have the highest slippage to identify bottlenecks.

How to calculate: (Number of deals that missed close date / Total number of committed deals) x 100

For example, if you had 50 committed deals and 15 missed their close date, your deal slippage rate would be 30%.

11. Average sales cycle length

The sales cycle length is the time from first contact to closed deal. Enterprise sales typically range from 3-9 months, mid-market 1-3 months, and SMB 2-4 weeks. Increasing cycle length signals friction in your process or longer buying committees. Track by deal size and stage to pinpoint delays.

How to calculate: Total number of days to close all deals / Number of deals closed

For example, if you closed 10 deals in a quarter and it took a total of 300 days, your average sales cycle would be 30 days.

12. Pipeline velocity

Pipeline velocity tells you how fast deals move from prospect to close and how much revenue flows through your pipeline daily. If you could only track one KPI, this would be it. It gives a holistic view of pipeline health by combining volume, quality, speed, and value.

How to calculate: (Number of qualified opportunities x Win rate x Average deal size) / Sales cycle length in days

For example, if you have 50 opportunities, a 20% win rate, an average deal size of $10,000, and a 60-day sales cycle, your pipeline velocity would be $1,667 per day.

Revenue KPIs

13. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

MRR tracks predictable monthly revenue from subscriptions. Break it into new MRR (from new customers), expansion MRR (upsells/cross-sells), and churn MRR (lost revenue). MRR growth shows business momentum and helps forecast future revenue.

How to calculate: Average revenue per account x total number of accounts that month

For example, if you have 100 customers each paying an average of $500 per month, your MRR would be $50,000.

14. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

CAC is the average amount spent on sales and marketing to acquire one customer. Compare CAC to customer lifetime value (LTV) to ensure profitable growth. The ideal LTV:CAC ratio is 3:1.

How to calculate: (Total sales costs + Total marketing costs) / Number of new customers acquired

For example, if you spent $50,000 and acquired 100 customers, your CAC would be $500.

15. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

LTV measures total revenue expected from a customer over their entire relationship with your company. LTV helps you determine how much to invest in acquisition and which customer segments are most valuable.

How to calculate: Average revenue per account x gross margin % x average customer lifespan

For example, if your average customer pays $500/month, stays for 24 months, and you have a 70% gross margin, your LTV would be $8,400.

16. User adoption of the sold solution

User adoption measures how quickly customers implement and use your solution. High adoption (over 60% in the first 30 days) indicates smooth implementation and product-market fit. Low adoption signals onboarding issues or mismatched expectations that lead to churn.

How to calculate: (Number of new users during period / Total number of users during period) x 100

For example, if 50 users adopted your solution for the first time this month and you have 500 total users, your adoption rate would be 10%. The higher the adoption rate, the better.

Customer & retention KPIs

17. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

NPS measures customer loyalty by asking, "On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend us?" Respondents answering 0-6 are detractors, 7-8 are passives, and 9-10 are promoters. Use NPS to identify at-risk accounts and improve retention.

How to calculate: % of promoters - % of detractors

For example, if 60% of respondents were promoters and 10% were detractors, your NPS would be 50. The higher the NPS, the better.

18. Buyer sentiment

Buyer sentiment measures a buyer's emotional response to sales engagement. Rather than just tracking email reply rates, classify responses as positive, objection, referral, unsubscribe, or other. This KPI helps you understand engagement quality, not just quantity. Outreach's conversation intelligence automatically classifies buyer sentiment so you can prioritize high-intent opportunities and close deals faster.

Here's how Outreach Insights classifies email responses for users:

• Positive
• Objection
• Unsubscribe
• Referral
• Other

19. Churn rate

Churn rate is the percentage of customers who cancel or don't renew. Even small reductions in churn dramatically impact revenue since acquiring new customers costs 5-25x more than retaining existing ones.

How to calculate: (Number of customers lost / Total customers at start of period) x 100

For example, if you started the quarter with 500 customers and lost 25, your churn rate would be 5%.

Rep performance KPIs

20. Quota Attainment Rate

Quota attainment shows the percentage of reps hitting their targets. Track this alongside average attainment (sum of all rep attainment percentages divided by number of reps) to see overall team health and identify coaching needs.

How to calculate: (Number of reps who hit 100%+ quota / Total number of reps) x 100

For example, if 15 of 20 reps hit quota, your quota attainment rate would be 75%.

21. Average ramp time

Average ramp time measures how long it takes new sales reps to reach full productivity and consistently hit quota. This KPI helps you assess the effectiveness of your onboarding and training programs. Faster ramp times mean new hires contribute to revenue sooner and reduce the cost of scaling your team.

How to calculate: Total days for all new reps to reach 100% quota / Number of new reps

For example, if three new reps took 90, 120, and 150 days respectively to hit their first full quota, your average ramp time would be 120 days. Industry benchmarks typically range from 3-6 months, depending on deal complexity and sales cycle length.

Track sales KPIs with unified dashboards

The KPIs above only drive results when you can monitor them in real time without manual reporting. Spreadsheet tracking creates lag, while disconnected tools force reps to toggle between systems just to update deal stages or log activities.

Outreach centralizes all your sales KPIs in a single platform with AI-powered dashboards that automatically track activity, pipeline health, and rep performance. Instead of chasing data across your CRM, email, and calendar, you get instant visibility into what's working and what needs attention. 

Conversation intelligence classifies buyer sentiment automatically, so you can prioritize high-intent opportunities and intervene on at-risk deals before they slip.

Frequently asked questions about sales KPIs

What's the difference between sales KPIs and sales metrics?

All sales KPIs are metrics, but not all metrics are KPIs. Sales metrics are any measurable data points about your sales process. Sales KPIs are the specific metrics tied directly to your business goals that you track regularly to measure progress and success.

How many sales KPIs should I track?

Track 5-10 primary KPIs that directly impact revenue goals, plus 5-8 secondary KPIs that provide diagnostic insight. Too many KPIs dilute focus and make it harder to identify what's actually driving results. Choose metrics that tell you what action to take next if you're off track.

How often should I review sales KPIs?

Review activity KPIs daily, conversion and pipeline KPIs weekly, and revenue KPIs monthly. Strategic KPIs like NPS and customer lifetime value should be reviewed quarterly. Use real-time dashboards to monitor critical metrics without manual reporting meetings.

What are the most important sales KPIs for B2B sales?

The most critical B2B sales KPIs are pipeline coverage ratio, win rate, average deal size, sales cycle length, and quota attainment. These metrics give you a complete picture of pipeline health, deal quality, and team performance while predicting whether you'll hit revenue targets.