In the dynamic world of sales, knowledge is power. Every decision, strategy, and approach can be transformed with the help of reliable sales statistics.

Whether you’re a seasoned sales professional, an aspiring entrepreneur, or a curious learner, knowing the relevant sales statistics is crucial because it motivates you to get things done.

In this blog, we will dive into the captivating world of sales statistics and facts. These sales statistics offer a deeper understanding of customer behavior, market trends, and the dynamics of successful sales teams, backed by concrete sources.

Let’s jump right in!

B2B sales statistics

An average of 7 people are involved in most buying decisions.

Gartner

1. B2B buyers complete 57% of the purchase process before engaging with a sales representative. (Source: CEB Global)

2. 91% of B2B buyers are looking for personalized, relevant content during their purchasing journey. (Source: Accenture)

3. 79% of B2B buyers prefer to engage with salespeople who are seen as trusted advisors. (Source: Salesforce)

4. 62% of B2B buyers say they can make a purchase based solely on digital content. (Source: Forrester)

5. 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to make a purchase after reading a trusted review. (Source: G2 Crowd)

6. Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost. (Source: Forrester)

7. 75% of B2B buyers say that a good digital experience significantly influences their purchasing decisions. (Source: Salesforce)

8. 80% of B2B sales require at least five follow-up calls or emails. (Source: The Marketing Donut)

9. Only 3% of buyers trust salespeople. (Source: HubSpot)

Lead generation statistics

80% of new leads never translate into sales.

Invespcro

10. Companies with strong lead nurturing processes generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost. (Source: Forrester)

11. 61% of marketers say generating high-quality leads is their top challenge. (Source: HubSpot)

12. B2B organizations that leverage marketing automation for lead nurturing see a 451% increase in qualified leads. (Source: The Annuitas Group)

13. 53% of marketers say half or more of their budget is allocated to lead generation. (Source: Statista)

14. Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing, but costs 62% less. (Source: DemandMetric)

15. 74% of companies say converting leads into customers is their top priority. (Source: HubSpot)

16. Only 25% of leads are legitimate and ready to advance to sales. (Source: Gleanster Research)

17. 63% of marketers say generating traffic and leads is their top challenge. (Source: HubSpot)

18. Companies that automate lead management see a 10% or greater increase in revenue within 6-9 months. (Source: Gartner)

19. Personalized email campaigns have a 29% higher open rate and 41% higher click-through rate than generic ones. (Source: Campaign Monitor)

Sales prospecting statistics

9 out of 10 of companies use two or more sources of contact data to learn more about prospects.

Gartner

20. Just 13% of prospects believe a sales rep understands their needs. (Source: Brevet)

21. 50% of prospects aren’t a good fit for what you sell. (Source: Sales Insights Lab)

22. Top sellers spend an average of 6 hours every week researching their prospects. (Source: Crunchbase)

23. 42% of SDRs feel they do not have enough time for prospecting. (Source: HubSpot)

Sales call statistics

93% of potential cold-call success is attributed to the tone of the caller’s voice during the conversation.

Close CRM

24. It takes an average of 18 calls to connect with a buyer. (Source: Gartner)

25. The best time of the workday to make sales calls to prospects is between 4:00 to 5:00 pm. (Source: Callhippo)

26. The best day to call your prospects is Wednesday. (Source: Callhippo)

27. The second best time to call prospects is between 11:00 AM -12:00 PM. (Source: Callhippo)

28. The worst times to call prospects are Mondays and the second half of Fridays. (Source: Callhippo)

29. Incorporating storytelling in sales calls increases information retention by 65%. (Source: Salesforce)

30. Only 29% of sales calls result in meaningful conversations. (Source: Gong)

Social selling statistics

98% of B2B enterprises see the value in social selling, yet only 49% of those businesses have developed robust social-selling programs.

Forrester

31. 63% of sales professionals who use social media to find new prospects say LinkedIn is one of the most effective platforms. (Source: HubSpot)

32. Sales reps who use social selling are 51% more likely to achieve sales quota. (Source: Optinmonster)

33. 73% of sales reps that leverage social selling exceed their quota (Source: Propeller)

Sales referral statistics

People are 4 times more likely to buy when they are referred by a friend.

Nielson

34. Referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value than non-referred customers. (Source: Wharton School of Business)

35. Salespeople who actively seek and leverage referrals earn 4-5 times more sales. (Source: Baylor University)

36. Companies with referral programs experience a 69% faster time-to-close on sales deals. (Source: Zoho)

37. Companies with formalized referral programs experience 86% more revenue growth over the past two years when compared to the rest.

Sales email statistics

81% of people prefer to open emails on their smartphones.

Campaign Monitor

38. Including videos in emails can increase click rates by 300%. (Source: Martech Advisor)

39. Segmented email campaigns have a 14.32% higher open rate than non-segmented ones. (Source: Mailchimp)

40. Emails with social sharing buttons increase click-through rates by 158%. (Source: GetResponse)

41. Automated email messages average 70.5% higher open rates and 152% higher click-through rates than non-automated ones. (Source: Epsilon)

42. The average email open rate across industries is approximately 22%. (Source: Campaign Monitor)

43. 82% of buyers say they have accepted meetings with salespeople after a series of personalized emails. (Source: State of Inbound)

Sales follow-up statistics

48% of salespeople never make a follow-up attempt.

Invesp

44. 90% of sales are made after the fifth follow-up. (Source: The Marketing Donut)

45. 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up. (Source: Salesforce)

46. 48% of salespeople never make a follow-up attempt. (Source: Invesp)

47. 57% of people say they would be encouraged to make a purchase from a salesperson who doesn’t try to apply pressure or hassle them when following up. (Source: Invesp)

48. The average response rate for follow-up emails is around 12%. (Source: Mailshake)

Writing sales emails

87% of salespeople say generative AI tools are effective for writing sales email and prospect outreach messages.

HubSpot

49. Personalized email subject lines have a 26% higher open rate than generic ones. (Source: Experian)

50. The optimal length for an email subject line is between 6-10 words, generating the highest open rates. (Source: HubSpot)

51. Including a customer’s name in the email subject line can increase open rates by 20%. (Source: Aberdeen)

52. Using the word “you” in email subject lines increases open rates by 3%. (Source: Adestra)

53. Including video in email can increase click rates by 300%. (Source: Martech Advisor)

Lead nurturing statistics

Sales teams are two times as likely to prioritize leads based on data analysis of “propensity to buy” rather than on intuition.

Salesforce

54. Leads that are nurtured with targeted content produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities. (Source: DemandGen Report)

55. 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales due to a lack of lead nurturing. (Source: MarketingSherpa)

56. Nurtured leads experience a 23% shorter sales cycle. (Source: Marketo)

57. Companies that excel at lead nurturing have 9% more sales reps making quota. (Source: HubSpot)

58. Buyers state that 58% of sales meetings aren’t valuable and that there should be a greater focus on the value you can deliver them. (Source: Rain group)

Sales productivity statistics

Inaccurate contact data wastes 27% of sales reps’ time each year.

LeadJen

59. 25% of data in a typical sales database is inaccurate. (Source: Internal Results)

60. 40% of sales reps still use tools like Outlook or Excel to store customer and lead data. (Source: HubSpot)

61. Salespeople who prioritize tasks based on revenue potential achieve 15% higher win rates. (Source: Forbes)

62. Sales teams that implement sales engagement tools see a 47% increase in revenue. (Source: Outreach)

63. Sales reps spend approximately 27 hours per month on unproductive meetings. (Source: LevelEleven)

64. Using sales technology can increase productivity by 14.6%. (Source: Nucleus Research)

65. Salespeople spend 17% of their time every day on administrative tasks. (Source: HubSpot)

Sales training statistics

US companies spend $20 billion yearly on sales training.

ATD report

66. 40% of salespeople don’t get the training they need to successfully sell virtually. (Source: Salesforce)

67. For every dollar a company invests in training, they receive around $4.53 in return — an ROI of 353%. (Source: Highspot)

68. It takes at least 10 months for a new sales rep to reach their full potential. (Source: Brevet)

69. Without ongoing learning, employees forget 70% of training within 90 days. (Source: Learning Solutions)

70. Salespeople who receive consistent training outperform their peers by 20%. (Source: Sales Performance International)

71. 70% of high-performing sales teams invest in ongoing sales training. (Source: Brainshark)

72. Sales training that includes real-world scenarios and role-playing can increase retention by up to 90%. (Source: Training Industry)

CRM statistics

CRMs can boost sales by 29% and productivity to 34%.

Salesforce

73. 65% of sales reps who have adopted mobile CRM have achieved their sales quotas. (Source: Innoppl Technologies)

74. CRM usage can result in a 41% increase in revenue per salesperson. (Source: Salesforce)

75. CRM adoption can increase sales productivity by up to 34%. (Source: Nucleus Research)

76. Companies that integrate their CRM with marketing automation see an average of 451% increase in qualified leads. (Source: Annuitas Group)

Remote sales statistics

77. Remote sales grew 44% faster than traditional sales prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Source: OWL Labs)

78. 67% of managers say that managing a remote sales team is more challenging than expected. (Source: LinkedIn)

79. Remote sales reps have 30% higher closing rates compared to inside sales teams. (Source: HubSpot)

80. Sales teams that work remotely have a 25% lower employee turnover rate. (Source: Owl Labs)

81. 86% of salespeople say they feel more connected and engaged with their team when using remote collaboration tools. (Source: Buffer)

82. Remote sales teams have a 23% reduction in operating costs compared to traditional office-based teams. (Source: HubSpot)

83. 67% of sales professionals believe that remote selling is equally or more effective than in-person selling. (Source: McKinsey & Company)

Sales closing statistics

Using the word “discount” decreases the odds of successfully closing a sale by 17%.

Gong

84. 92% of salespeople give up after four “no’s,” but 80% of prospects say “no” four times before they say “yes.” (Source: Marketing Donut)

85. Only 17% of salespeople ask for the sale a second time after receiving an initial rejection. (Source: Gong)

86. 85% of salespeople say that building strong relationships and trust with prospects is the most effective way to close deals. (Source: HubSpot)

87. Sales teams that prioritize active pipeline management have a 28% higher win rate. (Source: Vantage Point Performance)

88. The average length of the sales cycle has increased by 22% over the past five years. (Source: CSO Insights)

89. 63% of customers need to hear a company’s value proposition at least twice before making a purchase decision. (Source: Corporate Visions)

90. 48% of sales calls end without an attempt to close the sale. (Source: Spotio)

Wrapping up

Sales statistics serve as a guiding light in the world of selling. 

They empower you to make informed decisions, fine-tune strategies, and achieve remarkable growth. 

From B2B sales to lead generation, prospecting, and closing, these statistics hold the key to unlocking your full potential. Embrace these facts and let your sales soar to new heights!