Get a Demo
Bigtincan Logo

40 Surprising Sales Statistics That Matter in 2019

May 02nd, 2019

We know that B2B sales is constantly evolving. And as new research is published, we’re being confronted with more data about how salespeople do their jobs, and what today’s buyers expect from them.

Sometimes new information can cause sales reps to question previously-held beliefs or change how they approach selling for the better. If you or your team are struggling to meet goals, it can also be a reminder that others are dealing with many of the same challenges, too.

Whatever the case may be, there’s no doubting that sales statistics have a lot of value for all types of sales roles and organizations.

Check out this list of 40 stunning sales stats and you’re bound to find something that will help you, a colleague or even an entire team be more productive and successful in this year.

40 Sales Stats to Know

Big Picture Sales Statistics

1. More than 50% of sellers missed quota in 2018. [Aslan]

2. 61% of salespeople say selling is harder or much harder today than it was 5 years ago. [Marc Wayshak]

3. At least 50% of your prospects are not a good fit for what you’re selling. [Marc Wayshak]

4. 90% of buyers are willing to engage salespeople earlier in the buying process. [CSO Insights]

5. 8 out of 10 companies have introduced a new product or service in the past 12 months. More than 50% of companies have implemented a new sales methodology in the last year. [Sales Management Association]

Read more: Sales Transformation Survival Guide

Cold Calling Statistics

6. 69% of buyers have accepted phone calls from new providers in the last 12 months. [RAIN Group]

7. 27% of sellers say cold calling is extremely effective. [RAIN Group]

8. 41% of reps say the phone is their most effective sales tool. [Marc Wayshak]

9. Sales reps spend about 25 hours per month leaving voicemails. That equates to roughly 15% of their time. [RingLead]

10. The best days to connect with prospects over the phone are Wednesday and Thursday. [CallHippo]

11. The best time of day to engage leads is between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Calls made at 8 a.m. resulted in the most positive responses. [InsideSales.com]

12. It takes sellers an average of 18 dials to connect with one decision-maker in the course of an hour. [TOPO]

Follow-Up Sales Statistics

13. 50% of buyers choose the vendor that responds first. [InsideSales.com] Yet more than 50% of companies take 5-plus business days to respond to new leads. [Drift]

14. 80% of sales calls go to voicemail, and 90% of first-time voicemails are never returned. [RingLead]

15. 93% of converted leads are contacted by the 6th call attempt. [Velocify]

Sales Training Statistics

16. According to 59% of companies, the top barrier to delivering effective sales training is reps not being held accountable for applying skills they’ve learned. [ATD]

17. For every dollar a company invests in training, it receives about $4.53 in return – which is equivalent to a 353% ROI. [Accenture]

18. 26% of reps say their sales training is ineffective. [Training Industry]

19. 27% of companies offer no sales onboarding program. [Training Industry]

20. Companies with sales onboarding programs that need “major redesign” saw voluntary turnover rates increase from 7.9% to 14.2%. [CSO Insights]

21. Companies with a dedicated sales enablement function improved their sales training effectiveness by 29%. [SMA]

22. Almost 75% of sales kickoff attendees say their company’s SKO doesn’t merit an “A” grade, while 29% rate it a “C” or below. [Brainshark]

Read more: 7 Sales Training Ideas to Try in 2019

Sales Coaching Statistics

23. Effective sales coaching can improve win rates by as much as 29%. [Vantage Point Performance]

24. Almost 60% of organization take a random or informal approach to sales coaching [CSO Insights]

25. 79% of business buyers say it’s absolutely critical or very important to interact with a salesperson who is a trusted advisor. [Salesforce]

26. More than 60% of employees reporting to a manager who is not a good coach are thinking about quitting. [Zenger Folkman]

27. Companies that provide real-time, deal-specific sales coaching increased revenue by 8.4% year-over-year – a 95% improvement over companies that don’t provide that level of coaching. [Aberdeen Research]

28. Just 15% of sales managers believe their companies provide the right amount of sales coaching. [Sales Management Association]

Read more: 4 Sales Coaching Techniques for SDRs

Sales Email Statistics

29. Only 23.9% of sales emails are opened [TOPO]

30. 80% of buyers say they prefer to be contacted by sellers via email. However, only 5% of sellers say sending bulk emails is effective. [RAIN Group]

31. Personalized emails increase click-through rates by 14% and conversions by 10%. [Aberdeen Research]

32. Subject lines that include the recipient’s first name improve unique open rates by 29.3% across all industries [MarketingSherpa]

Social Selling Statistics

33. 69% of salespeople say they are “self-taught” social sellers and have no active training program in place [Feedback Systems]

34. Only 21% of companies report having their social selling strategy formally aligned with marketing’s social strategy. Almost 1 in 3 companies say they have no social selling alignment at all. [CSO Insights]

35. Reps that incorporate social media into their sales process exceed quota 23% more often. [A Sales Guy Consulting and Social Centered Selling]

Read more: 6 Simple Rules of Social Selling

Sales Talent Statistics

36. Almost 5% of the total U.S. population works in sales [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics]

37. The average annual pay for a B2B Sales Representative in the United States is $51,378 a year. [ZipRecruiter]

38. The average tenure for a sales development rep (SDR) is 1.5 years. Only 8% of SDRs stay in the role for 3-plus years. [The Bridge Group]

39. On average, it costs sales organizations $97,960 to replace a sales rep, and it takes between 3.5 and 5.5 months to fill an open position. [DePaul University]

40. 84% of today’s sales leaders don’t think they have the team to succeed [CSO Insights]

Read more: 17 Sales Skills Every Rep Should Have

Finding and keeping the right sales talent has never been more important – or more challenging. Download our special report on the “War for Sales Talent” to learn how sales readiness can fuel a more effective talent strategy for your organization.