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40 Sales Statistics That Will Keep You Up At Night in 2022

Camille Trent

Feb 07, 2022

sales statistics

Are you a sales representative who wants to stay ahead of the curve in 2022? If so, you’ll want to be aware of the latest sales statistics. In this blog post, we’ll share 40 sales statistics that you need to know to take your work to the next level this year.

Why we chose these sales statistics

You may go through these statistics and wonder why we gave importance to these particular numbers. Our selection process for this list of sales statistics is simple – we wanted to cover as much ground as possible in one definitive blog. As such, we included sales statistics covering a wide range of areas, from sales prospecting to sales follow-ups to sales training.

Sales productivity statistics

1. 19% of sales professionals agreed that they often stray from the official sales process of the company they work for.

Meanwhile, 42% said they rarely strayed, 22% said sometimes, and 13% said they never strayed.

[Source: Dooly]

2. Roughly 77% of salespeople say their working hours have increased since the pandemic began.

This is among the myriad of things the COVID-19 impact has changed about the way we work. 

[Source: Dooly]

3. 43% of sales reps had their first in-person business meeting since the pandemic began between April and June 2021.

Around this time, there was also a dip in Coronavirus cases in the US. 

[Source: Dooly]

4. A staggering 66% of salespeople believe in-person meetings will never return to pre-pandemic levels.

This is in line with the general assumption that we will enter a “new normal” with more social distancing, fewer face-to-face meetings, and more caution around health and safety even after the pandemic ends.

[Source: Dooly]

[Source: Dooly]

sales happiness index banner

6. 67% of salespeople say that up to half of all meetings can be conducted virtually or via email.

The prevalence of remote working throughout the pandemic has popularized the phrase “that could have been an email”.

[Source: Dooly]

7. 74% of salespeople admit that most of their time spent at work involves activities that have nothing to do with selling.

Despite spending more time at work, less time goes to the actual selling part.

[Source: Dooly]

8. 80% of sales reps feel that they aren’t on the same page with management about how time-consuming non-revenue-generating activities are.

[Source: Dooly]

9. Today, sales forces only spend 34% of their time selling.

This is in line with the fact that nearly ¾ of salespeople admit that most of their time spent at work involves tasks unrelated to selling. Some of the time-consuming tasks that burden sales teams include data entry and quote generation.

[Source: Salesforce]

10. Evidence suggests that by optimizing territory design, you can make a positive impact on your sales and boost them by 2 to 7%.

This can happen even without making changes to your total resources or sales strategy. According to HBR, territory design is a “key driver for sales force productivity and performance”.

[Source: Harvard Business Review

11. As many as 60% of sales reps successfully meet their yearly sales goals.

[Source: Sugar CRM]

12. 72% of companies with fewer than 50 new opportunities per month failed to reach their sales goals. 

[Source: Hubspot]

Sales training statistics

13. On average, companies can gain up to 50% higher net sales per employee with ongoing training.

[Source: The Brevet Group]

14. Over two-thirds of sales executives believe their managers don’t have the right training to handle pipeline management.

Oftentimes, additional training is required.

[Source: Zety]

Sales career statistics

15. About 27% of sales professionals say they expect to work in sales for another 36+ months. 

Only 11% anticipated working in sales for 24 to 36 months, 18% said they expected to work 12 to 24 months, 16% said 6 to 12 months, and a quarter of sales professionals anticipate working in sales for 3 to 6 months. Only 3% say they expect to work in sales for only up to three months.

[Source: Dooly]

16. The total number of employed sales managers is projected to grow by 7% between 2020 and 2030.

This employment growth percentage is roughly the same across all occupations.

[Source: bls.gov]

17. Full-time sales positions take up almost 13% of all jobs in the United States.

[Source: The Brevet Group]

Sales call statistics

18. The vast majority of sales reps (89%) use video calls for their work.

Meanwhile, Zoom stood out as the number one video conferencing platform for large groups.

[Source: Dooly]

The number of hours spent on the phone has also increased since COVID hit. 

[Source: Dooly]

Sales follow-up statistics

20. Only 20% of salespeople make up 80% of sales. 

[Source: Zety]

21. Up to half of a company’s sales go to vendors that respond first.

[Source: The Brevet Group]

22. Just 2% of sales happen at the first point of contact. 

[Source: IRC Sales Solutions]

Sales prospecting statistics

23. Roughly 13% of customers believe that sales reps understand their needs.

[Source: The Brevet Group]

24. During the awareness stage, nearly 20% of buyers have expressed a desire to connect with a salesperson, especially when learning about the product for the first time.

[Source: Hubspot]

25. One of the basic sales skills needed by sales pros is optimism. A study found that optimistic sales pros outperform pessimists by 57%. 

[Source: Zety]

26. Only 17% of salespeople believe they are “pushy.”

But 50% of prospects do.

[Source: Hubspot]

Inside sales statistics

27. Marketing makes up 44% of the inside sales pipeline. 

[Source: Spotio]

28. Nearly 40% of high-growth companies rely on inside sales as their main strategy.

This effective sales tool beats out field sales (27%), internet sales (23%), and channel sales (8%) as the primary sales strategy.

[Source: Spotio]

Social selling statistics

29. Over half of salespeople who use social networks in their work use it less than 10% of their time.

[Source: Zety]

30. A survey by Databox found that 70% of people believe that SEO generates more sales than PPC.

[Source: Hubspot]

31. A staggering amount of buyers on social media (84%) have higher budgets versus non-social network users.

[Source: Zety]

32. Those who sell on social media meet their quotas by 66% more than non-social sellers.

This proves that social selling has a significant impact on quota attainment.

[Source: Zety]

33. Social selling platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are used by over 70% of sales professionals.

[Source: Zety]

Sales technology statistics

34. 75% agree that “tech stack” can make or break a company’s productivity.

But more isn’t always better. Most salespeople only use about 8 tech tools regularly. 

[Source: Dooly]

35. High-performing sales organizations are more likely to use automation to aid in the selling process.

[Source: Sugar CRM]

36. There is a 33% chance that sales teams prioritize leads based on data analysis of a prospect’s “propensity to buy.”

Only 16% rely on intuition.

According to Forbes, data-driven insights help businesses become high-performing sales organizations by improving segmentation, creating stronger value propositions, and producing more effective messaging.

[Source: Salesforce]

Sales success statistics

37. Across all industries, the average sales conversion rate ranges from 2.46 to 3.26%.

[Source: Zety]

38. The highest closing rates across most industries is in the 20% range. 

[Source: Sales Insights Lab]

Referral sales statistics

39. Potential customers who are referred by a friend are four times as likely to make a purchase than non-referred customers. 

This goes to show just how much word-of-mouth marketing can influence buying decisions.

[Source: Hubspot]

40. Higher customer retention rates are influenced by referrals. In fact, those who are referred by other users or customers have a 37% higher rate of retention.

[Source: Hubspot]

Conclusion

In order to be successful in sales, you need to know the industry inside and out. That includes understanding the latest sales statistics so you can stay ahead of the competition.

And if you want to improve these stats and improve your sales process, you can join thousands of sales professionals at Asana, Figma, Intercom, and more who use Dooly daily to recover 5+ selling hours a week. Demo Dooly today.

sales happiness index banner

Want even more sales statistics?

Looking for more specific sales stats? Check out our other must-read articles on sales statistics, from sales funnel statistics to sales forecasting statistics in 2022. 

FAQ

How do you use statistics in sales?

Sales statistics can help you improve countless areas in your sales process, including generating leads, matching the right people to the best deals, boosting customer acquisition, and pinpointing the right pricing for your products.

What is a good success rate for sales?

Business owners should look at win rate, which is defined as the percentage of opportunities proposed that your company has actually won. The average win rate for a sales organization is 47%.

What are the key sales metrics?

Some of the most valuable sales metrics include average time to close, average deal size, number of deals in your pipeline, win rate, sales revenue, sales forecast accuracy, lead response time, time spent selling, annual growth rate, and follow-up time.

How many leads do I need to make a sale?

According to studies, 10 to 15% of leads turn into sales.


Join the thousands of top-performing salespeople who use Dooly every day to stay more organized, instantly update their pipeline, and spend more time selling instead of mindless admin work. Try Dooly free, no credit card required. Or, Request a demo to speak with a Dooly product expert right now.

Camille Trent

Camille Trent is the Head of Content at Dooly. When she's not planning content, she's repurposing it. When she's not repurposing content, she's hanging out with her pup and two favorite redheads. Or she's trying to coach the Portland Trail Blazers to victory from her couch.

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