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7 sales statistics salespeople might not know (but should)

READ TIME: 6 MINUTES

Rachel Williams

Rachel Williams
Feb 15, 2022

7 sales statistics - blog - header

Inside sales is an art form — and just like any other craft, mastering it takes a combination of knowledge and practice. 

That said, knowledge can often be subject to gatekeeping by salespeople who want to protect their advantages. Many sellers know little about where they stand in comparison to their colleagues, which closes off sales training opportunities for your entire sales organization to enhance sales prospecting skills and increase conversion rates — key components of meeting your sales goals and increasing sales success. 

Sometimes all it takes are a few thought-provoking data points to improve your sales process. We’ve gathered a few pieces of eye-opening insight on the state of sales to illustrate what works — and what doesn’t — when it comes to meeting with potential customers and closing deals. Share these 7 sales stats and prospecting statistics with your sales team to spark discussions on what you can do to improve your sales strategy.

1. 80% of sales require five follow-up calls after initial contact. 44% of sales reps give up after one “no.”

Source: Marketing Donut

We get it: you’re busy. Your prospects are busy. (At least that’s how they respond to your scheduling requests and voicemails.) But squeaking a single sales call onto the calendar almost never results in a closed-won sale.

Based on this follow-up statistic, make sales follow-ups a standard practice. Let your prospect know you’re as invested in their success as they are. To reduce the burden of back-and-forth emails when it comes to scheduling meetings, try an automated scheduling system like Calendly.

2. Over 13% of all the jobs in the United States (1 in 8) are full-time sales positions.

Source: The Brevet Group

Your position isn’t going away any time soon and your skills make you an asset everywhere you go — but the popularity of sales is a double-edged sword.

If you believe you’re the only one sending cold sales emails or LinkedIn messages to B2B buyers, guess again. Your prospect has already heard from a handful of other sales reps just this morning. You must make your efforts targeted, personalized, and timely, and make it simple and frictionless for potential customers to respond. 

If you’re engaged in an email marketing campaign, it takes more than a catchy subject line to boost your open rates and conversion rates. Give prospects a clear call-to-action they can accomplish by clicking a single link — such as watching a video, requesting a demo, or scheduling a call.

3. 78% of salespeople engaging in social selling outperform their peers.

Source: Hootsuite

There’s no disguising social media’s raw power as an effective marketing tool and lead generation source. Many successful sellers use the power of social selling to draw their ideal clients to them, as opposed to chasing potential customers down with cold calls and emails.

By curating a social media feed that appeals to your ideal customers and provides a way for them to connect with you, you may attract enough inbound leads to make cold contacts a thing of the past. Even better, enthusiastic new customers can share your posts and become a source of referrals and future sales opportunities, as well as social proof to increase customer retention.

4. What do buyers want from sales professionals in the first call? 69% say, “Listen to my needs.”

Source: HubSpot

As a seller, the KPIs and quotas you’re trying to hit are truly mind-scrambling, and it’s easy to get wrapped up in the average sales rep’s concerns. I need to make this many sales. I need to clinch this many upgrades. I need to push adoption of this feature.

Be on the lookout for potential customers’ struggles. Listen, and understand the prospect’s needs in every conversation you have. Personalizing your outreach specifically to a decision-maker’s needs can greatly increase their trust in you.

Adopting a consultative approach to sales instead of hyping your solution’s features and benefits is much more effective for closing — especially in the mid-engagement stages of a deal. 

5. By 2025, 95% of customer interactions will be powered by AI.

Source: Finance Digest

Those who struggle in the sales industry are those who don’t adapt to their target clients’ business environment and personal preferences. The data shows that prospects vastly prefer to take control of their business themselves, and — especially in the wake of the pandemic — without human interaction (especially through e-commerce automation such as chatbots).

You’ll have more sales success if you can give potential customers avenues to self-serve or book time with you in a contact-free way, such as through a scheduling app. Booking meetings through scheduling apps also gives you the opportunity to collect useful information that can populate your CRM and other sales tools (such as Salesforce), which makes future outreach and follow-up much easier. 

6. The best time to make a phone call? Wednesdays 4–5pm, or within an hour of their inquiry.

Source: HubSpot

For the most effective response rates when calling prospects, studies have shown it’s best to call in the middle of the week. Mondays are when people at B2B companies are transitioning into work mode and planning their week, and by Friday they’re already thinking about the weekend and not ready to engage with sales reps. By Wednesday, prospects have settled into their schedule and are less likely to see your call as an interruption.

However, if you’re responding to an active prospect, it’s important to move fast. You should contact them within an hour of their inquiry. Their interest is piqued, your product is fresh in their minds, and they’re more likely to respond to your phone call.


7. 19% of buyers want to talk to a sales rep when first learning about a product.

Source: HubSpot

Potential customers in the early stage of a purchase decision have seen your homepage, read your content, and want to learn more — right now! Help engaged prospects take the next step in the buying process by providing a seamless way to schedule time with a sales representative.

Embedding Calendly in your website enables prospects to connect with a sales team member to schedule a demo right away. You can even set up round robin availability so there is always a team member available to respond to inquiries — and potentially convert a hot lead.

Don’t keep these sales stats to yourself. Whether you’re a sales rep, sales manager, or sales leader, share them with your entire sales team! 

Update your high-level sales enablement materials and selling tools with these stats to illustrate your sales process. Use them to generate new ideas for approaching prospects. Understanding these insights and learning from them is an important part of optimizing your success rate, increasing close rates, and developing the best sales strategy.

Related reading

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Rachel Williams

Rachel Williams

Rachel is the former Director of Sales at Calendly. She loves her kids, her cat, and software sales in January.

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