Best Practices of World Class Sales Organisations
is a sales research report unlike you have read before.
What Does It Mean To Be "World-Class"?
Best Practices of World-Class Sales Organisations assesses performances on two levels - one that highlights World-Class organisations (based on the metric Return on Sales) and another that showcases World-Class individual sales reps (based on the metric Sales Productivity per Sales Rep).
Best Practices of World-Class Sales Organisations should end the debate about whether there is a major difference between top-performing sales forces and everyone else. Best Practices of World-Class Sales Organisations found that both organisational and individual World-Class performance is separated from the "benchmark" or "median" performance by a 5x differential. This statistically significant separation emerges in metric after metric. There is a wide gulf indeed.
World-Class Performance - Organisational
Wolrd-Class organisations produce a Return on Sales of 72% vs. a benchmark median of 14%. These organisations achieve this distinction by outperforming their peers in the ten key sales metrics below that lead to exceptional Return on Sales performance. Taken together, such organisations can be considered World-Class because they demonstrate excellence across a wide range of operational measures.
Metric | World-Class | Benchmark |
Breakeven Point | $94,000 | $372,000 |
Outside Sales Contribution | 63% | 71% |
Sales Quota Attainment | 65% | 50% |
Cost of Sales | 8% | 27% |
Cost per Sales Rep | $93,000 | $133,000 |
Sales Turnover Rate | 16% | 35% |
Sourcing Pool Needed | 30 | 69 |
Time To Backfill Rep | 30 Days | 45 Days |
Customer Acquisition Cost | $19,000 | $28,000 |
Training Hours per Rep | 40 hours | 25 hours |
For example, companies that are World-Class in organisational performance commit 40 hours of training per rep per year vs. a benchmark of 25 hours. Therefore the performance against the benchmark is 40 / 25 or 160%.
World-Class Performance - Individual
Companies exhibiting World-Class Individual Sales Rep Performance produce a median Sales Productivity per Sales Rep of $1.5M vs. a benchmark median of $287K. These organisations achieve this distinction by outperforming their peers in the below seven key sales metrics that lead to exceptional Sales Productivity per Sales Rep. Taken together, such organisations can be considered World-Class because they demonstrate excellence across a wide range of operational measures.
Metric | World-Class | Benchmark |
Customer Lifetime Value | $4,750,000 | $1,300,000 |
Customer Share | 55% | 38% |
Pipeline Ratio | 1.33 | 0.88 |
Sales Activities to Close Sale | 53 | 63 |
Sales Deal Size | $109,000 | $40,000 |
Sales Turnover Rate | 17% | 35% |
Training Budget per Sales Rep | $4,000 | $2,059 |
For example, companies that are World-Class in individual sales rep performance invest $4,000 to training rep per year vs. benchmark of $2,059. Therefore, the performance against the benchmark is $4,000 / 2,059 or 194%.
World-Class Performance - Summarised
Through understanding what companies exhibiting World-Class Organisational and Individual Sales Rep performance are doing, you can build a roadmap to earn yourself this distinction while reaping the rewards of exceptional sales performance along the way.
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