8 Sales Operations KPIs You Need to Track and Why

Sales operations metrics are a vital tool to keep your finger on the pulse of your company’s growth and financial health. The performance of your sales ops metrics provides valuable information about your sales efficiency and the effectiveness of related business functions, with 70% of marketers ranking sales and revenue metrics among their most-used KPIs (key performance indicator). 

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In fact, by analyzing patterns in your sales performance metrics, you can identify correlations between your business processes and your financial success, keeping your sales operations department in complete alignment with your bottom line. 

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But which sales operations KPIs do you need to track to achieve this?

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There are 8 in particular that every business should know.

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Essential Sales Operations KPIs

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While some organizations may put more weight onto certain KPIs than others, the following are core SalesOps KPIs that reflect the health of any sales ecosystem:

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1. Lead conversion rate: Your lead conversion rate, or the percentage of leads that move forward in the sales funnel, reflects the success of both your marketing and sales teams. Check your conversion rate any time you adjust your site interface, marketing collateral, or sales enablement processes to determine the effectiveness of these changes.
2. Sales cycle length: The length of your sales cycle starts at first engagement and ends when you make the sale. Using a sales dashboard to track incoming prospects and closed deals allows you to measure how quickly prospects move through your sales funnel and identify roadblocks that slow down the process. 
3. Customer acquisition cost (CAC): Your customer acquisition cost covers all the sales and marketing resources you expend to bring in a new customer. Compare CAC with customer lifetime value to ensure that you get a return on your investment with each new deal.
4. Win rate: Win rate measures the percentage of deals you close. You can compare your win rate to your conversion rate in different sales cycle stages to identify where most customers lose interest.
5. Pipeline velocity: Your pipeline velocity tracks how quickly prospects convert to customers and generate revenue. Measure pipeline velocity by multiplying average deal size, number of opportunities, and win rate, then dividing the result by the length of your sales cycle.
6. Forecast accuracy: Sales forecasts help you manage your resources effectively if they’re accurate. Compare your forecast numbers to the actual values to determine if your forecasting methods accurately guide your sales strategy.
7. Average deal size: Calculate your average deal size by dividing income from purchases by the number of deals you’ve closed. Knowing how much money the average client spends is critical for forecasting revenue. 
8. Churn rate: Churn rate is the percentage of customers who leave your business over a specific time. Monitoring changes in your churn rate can help you pinpoint what circumstances cause customers to defect.

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How to Effectively Measure and Analyze These KPIs

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Using your sales operations KPIs effectively hinges on consistency. Measuring your sales metrics regularly ensures you’re keeping up with by-the-minute organizational changes and accurately identifying cause-and-effect relationships within your sales ecosystem. 

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By leveraging data tracking and analysis tools, you can automate your KPI measurement system and implement a reliable, accurate plan for managing your sales metrics. 

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Along with tracking individual KPIs, these tools allow you to measure the relationships between them to determine the root of your challenges and successes as a business. In other words, they allow you to put your core sales KPIs into conversation with one another, providing you with the context you need to draw accurate conclusions—all in real time. 

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What’s the benefit of this?

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80% of organizations using real-time data analytics have witnessed a revenue increase from their data tools, showcasing the connection between timely, in-depth data analysis and overall sales performance. 

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Leveraging KPIs for Sales Operations Optimization

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Sales operations KPIs provide a baseline of organizational performance you can use to inform your sales strategy and process improvement initiatives. To maximize the impact and value of your data, keep these best practices in mind:

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• Make your sales data accessible to stakeholders throughout your organization
• Distinguish between lagging indicators that give you insights into past performance and leading indicators that predict future success
• Review and revise your KPIs based on which metrics are most useful
• Regularly audit your measurement methods to ensure they’re still effective as your sales processes evolve

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Equipped with the right KPI data, you can strategically and systematically address common sales operations pain points, implement new tech tools, and streamline your sales processes.

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Operatus: Your Partner in Sales Operations Excellence

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There’s no denying it: Your sales performance has a ripple effect throughout your entire organization. This is why it’s critical to have a sales data management system that you can rely on. 

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Fortunately, Operatus provides RevOps as a service solutions for sales operations teams looking to master their RevOps strategy and extract maximum value from their data. We treat your business like ours and use our expertise to accelerate your growth. 

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For instance, when the email signature SaaS company Exclaimer wanted to get more out of its KPIs, we launched streamlined KPI reporting and tracking dashboards, empowering the Exclaimer team to improve data collection and analysis. 

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If you want to start exploring custom solutions for your team to experience the same benefits, reach out to our expert sales operations reps today.

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