101 essential sales statistics for 2024

Has there ever been a time in sales like this?

Not only have sales reps been working from home, but companies have had to shift to remote selling and adapt techniques so sales reps can fill their sales pipelines and reach their quotas from anywhere.

Sales figures tell us that social media and social selling tools have become increasingly important, while e-commerce has seen significant growth. B2B sales has also seen significant shifts as, according to a study by McKinsey, many B2B buyers (75%) now prefer remote selling and digital self-service to in-person sales.

We have compiled key sales data to highlight some of the recent shifts in the sales landscape to help you and your salesforce navigate this new normal and achieve sales success. Check out these 74 essential sales statistics for salespeople in 2024 to learn more about how the sales industry has changed, what the day-to-day life of a sales rep looks like, what buyers want from salespeople and much more.

Sales statistics on the activities that make up a salesperson’s day

1. Sales professionals have a lot on their plate: Only 53% report spending most of their workday on selling, meaning 47% do not cite selling as their main activity (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

2. 46% of sales professionals say most of their time is spent lead prospecting (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

3. 36% of sales reps spend the majority of their time generating leads (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

4. 88% of salespeople regularly work on improving their soft skills (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

5. The number of English-speaking sales reps who said that selling was one of their main day-to-day activities has decreased by eight percentage points, from 62% in 2019 to 54% in 2020 (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

6. On average, sales teams save 5 hours every week by automating day-to-day tasks (source: Automate.io customer data)

7. Almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents say that they work over 40 hours a week, a 10 percentage point increase for English-speaking salespeople since 2019 (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

8. 83% of sales professionals say they at least sometimes work weekends (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

9. 48% of sales managers regularly work weekends (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

10. At least three-quarters (75%) of salespeople working weekends aren’t compensated (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

11. Spanish speakers are 20% more likely to usually work weekends, yet they’re less likely to get compensated compared to salespeople working elsewhere (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

12. Almost one in 10 sales reps is working over 60 hours a week (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

13. 59% of salespeople believe they became more successful at sales in 2020 (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

14. 81% of sales reps expect an increase in their sales this year (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

15. 28% of B2B organizations now have hybrid sales roles (McKinsey B2B Pulse Survey 2021)

Want to see more of the latest sales statistics for 2024? Check out our State of Sales Report for 2023-2024, which is packed with interesting sales facts about how businesses are helping to drive growth this year.

Salespeople are hitting their quotas

1. 71% of respondents said they hit their sales quota either usually or always, up from 52% last year (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

2. Only 3% said they rarely or never hit their sales quota, compared to 14% last year (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

3. Additionally, there was a slight uplift in the number of people hitting their annual personal sales targets, up from 60% in 2022 to 61% (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

4. 67% of individuals from companies with more than 100 employees reached their goals (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

5. By comparison, those who worked in companies with 10 employees or fewer were 11% less likely to reach their goals. (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

How often do you hit your regular sales quota? (2023)

Sales closing statistics to help you win more business

1. 70% of salespeople say using a CRM system is “very important” for closing deals (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

2. 72% of top performers (sellers who met quota by 125% or higher) say they “always” put the buyer first (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

3. 82% of buyers accept meetings with sellers who proactively reach out, highlighting the fact that cold calls and outreach emails are still important and effective ways to generate sales opportunities (source: Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, RAIN Group)

4. 71% of buyers want to hear from sellers early in the buying process (source: Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, RAIN Group)

5. 54% of sellers say sales tools help them to build stronger relationships with buyers (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

6. Top performers generate 2.7x better conversion rates than the average sales rep (source: Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, RAIN Group)

7. People who worked in companies that decreased their team’s budget in 2022 were 27 percentage points less likely to reach their personal annual sales target (source: The State of Sales and Marketing: The Economy Review 2022/23)

8. The salespeople working at companies that had to stop hiring people or decrease the size of their team in 2022 were 14 and 23 percentage points less likely to reach their personal annual sales target, respectively (source: The State of Sales and Marketing: The Economy Review 2022/23)

9. Salespeople and marketers who feel supported by their manager or colleagues are on average ten percentage points more likely to hit their regular sales quota (source: The State of Sales and Marketing: The Economy Review 2022/23)

10. Targeted email marketing helps to increase your open rates and response rates and initiate customer interactions. 80% of buyers say they prefer a personalized email to other methods of outreach (source: Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, RAIN Group)

11. These sales follow-up statistics mark the importance of persistence: It takes a top- performing sales rep five touches, and an average sales rep eight touches, to generate a meeting or other conversion (source: Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, RAIN Group)

12. Referrals can significantly help sales representatives land new customers and reach their sales goals, as 47% of top sales performers ask for referrals consistently (source: Sales Data Study of 2021, Sales Insight Lab)

13. Surprisingly, 40.4% of salespeople report rarely asking for referrals. Only 18.6% of reps note that asking every person they’re in front of for a referral is part of their sales process (source: Sales Data Study of 2021, Sales Insight Lab)

How technology is affecting sales and marketing

There is a clear association between companies effectively using technology and achieving success.

1. 82% of respondents who are “very satisfied” with the tools available to them are likely to hit their sales quotas, compared to 62% of unsatisfied respondents (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

2. Sales and marketing professionals are using automation tools to be more productive and efficient, with 81% already using customer relationship management (CRM) software with automation (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

3. In total, 87% of respondents use a CRM tool, meaning that only around 7% of them aren’t taking advantage of the CRM automation features available (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

How satisfied are you with the tools and tech available where you work?

AI's impact on sales and marketing

AI is also significantly impacting sales and marketing. According to our 2023/2024 State of Sales and Marketing Report, a third of sales and marketing professionals use AI daily.

Additionally, 83% of respondents have implemented at least one new approach or technology in their sales process in the last few years.

These approaches and technologies include:

Respondents are very optimistic about AI’s impact on their work, with many reporting increased efficiency and productivity.

How do you think AI will impact your team in the future?

Employees benefit from support and a work-life balance

Technology isn’t the only factor in employee work satisfaction and success. Overall, we can see that respondents who maintain a good work-life balance are more likely to hit their sales targets.

1. Almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) rate their work-life balance as good or very good (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

2. Only 31% of respondents said they don’t work additional hours, while 16% work over 10 additional hours a week (source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

3. 45% of respondents felt supported by their colleagues, and 33% felt supported by their managers, which correlated with easier achievement of annual goals and sales quotas and higher overall satisfaction with their employer (Source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

4. Women were 12% more likely than men to respond that their job performance had improved due to higher flexibility in working (Source: Pipedrive’s The State of Sales and Marketing Report 2023/2024)

Which of the following well-being and work-life balance initiatives does your workplace provide?

Sales statistics on perceptions and aspirations in the sales industry

1. The majority of salespeople (91%) are proud to call themselves a salesperson (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020–2021)

2. Almost half of sales professionals (49%) became more satisfied in their roles in 2020 (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020–2021)

3. 92% of salespeople believe they’ll play a key part in the global economic recovery from COVID-19 (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020–2021)

4. Over half of respondents (61%) believe that salespeople are underappreciated (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020–2021)

5. 67% of companies believe that hitting sales quotas is the best indicator of individual sales performance (source: Aberdeen, Changing The Gauge On Sales Performance)

6. Four in ten salespeople who are satisfied with their job didn’t reach their sales target last year (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020–2021)

7. Salespeople whose company decreases spending on employee benefits are 28 percentage points more likely to be concerned about an increased individual workload (source: The State of Sales and Marketing: The Economy Review 2022/23)

8. 46% of salespeople who reached their sales targets last year aren’t satisfied in their current role (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020–2021)

9. 47% of sales and marketing professionals rely most on their own positive mindset as a source of support (source: The State of Sales and Marketing: The Economy Review 2022/23)

10. 56% of CEOs and founders say that believing in their company’s vision and mission supported them the most in their professional lives (source: The State of Sales and Marketing: The Economy Review 2022/23)

11. 42% of companies do not create career paths for salespeople (source: Aberdeen, Changing The Gauge On Sales Performance)

12. Salespeople who work on their soft skills are 11 percentage points more likely to usually or always hit their sales quota compared to those who do not. (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020–2021)

How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected sales (potentially forever)

1. Only 6% of sales reps found it easier to sell during the COVID-19 pandemic (source: Pipedrive’s COVID-19 y Ventas Survey)

2. 75% of Spanish-speaking managers, executives and sales assistants have had to make adjustments to the value proposition of their business to maintain their sales levels due to COVID-19 (source: Pipedrive’s COVID-19 y Ventas Survey)

3. 89% of Spanish-speaking sellers say that it is currently more difficult to sell and harder to hit sales quotas in the wake of the pandemic (source: Pipedrive’s COVID-19 y Ventas Survey)

4. Two-thirds of Spanish-speaking sales professionals say that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for them to find new clients (source: Pipedrive’s COVID-19 y Ventas Survey)

5. 37% of Spanish-speaking sales professionals believe that the impact of this crisis on the sales industry will last until 2021 (source: Pipedrive’s COVID-19 y Ventas Survey)

6. 60% reported that the place they work from the most has changed over the past year (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

7. Four in ten (41%) say they are mostly working from home (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

8. The number of English-speaking salespeople who usually or always hit their regular sales quota dropped from 56% in 2019 to 37% in 2020 (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

9. 55% of businesses have reduced their budget after COVID-19 hit (source: McKinsey B2B Decision Maker Pulse Survey, April 7, 2020)

10. 83% of sales reps said an omnichannel strategy was equally or more effective with reaching and serving customers during the pandemic (source: McKinsey B2B Pulse Survey 2021)

11. 50% of companies have seen a drop in existing and potential revenue (source: Aberdeen, Business Resilience and Agility: A Benchmark of Performance amid Uncertainty)

12. 57% of sales leaders were only partially prepared or unprepared to pivot to virtual sales (Source: Gartner, 5 Ways the Future of B2B Buying Will Rewrite the Rules of Effective Selling 2021)

13. Only 15% of sales professionals expect to be selling in-person more than 75% of the time by 2022 (source: McKinsey B2B Pulse Survey 2021)

14. 77% of B2B companies said they had faced challenges with their field reps working from home (source: McKinsey B2B Pulse Survey 2021)

Sales figures that reveal the challenges of lead generation and technology adoption

1. Sales professionals who are working from home are eight percentage points more likely to use a CRM than people not mostly working from home (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

2. Using a CRM to track sales is standard practice for 79% of sales reps (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

3. Almost two-thirds (65%) of sellers say they “always” put the buyer first (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

4. Only 23% of buyers agree that sellers “always” put the buyer first (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

5. 67% of sales managers say that overseeing a remote sales team is more challenging than they expected (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

6. Only 24% of sales emails sent out are actually opened (source: Gartner, Sales Development Technology: The Stack Emerges)

7. Sales and marketing professionals who work in companies that invest less in technology are twice as likely to be concerned about an increased individual workload (source: The state of sales and marketing: The economy review 2022/23)

8. Activity quantity was the top metric used to measure salesperson performance in 2021 (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

9. Almost half of sales and marketing professionals regularly (24%) or usually (21%) struggle to find enough sales leads (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

10. Spanish speakers are (on average) 38 percentage points more likely to usually struggle to find sales leads (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

11. 78% of companies are continuing or increasing spend on new and existing technology (source: Aberdeen, Business Resilience and Agility: A Benchmark of Performance amid Uncertainty)

12. Companies investing in omnichannel experiences has skyrocketed, from 20% to 80% (source: PWC, Retailing 2020: Winning in a polarized world)

13. 85% of sellers say they lost or delayed at least one deal in the past year because a stakeholder had changed jobs (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

14. 90% of companies are now using at least two lead enrichment tools to learn more about prospects (source: Gartner, Sales Development Technology: The Stack Emerges)

15. 43% of sales professionals say their companies use data to assess the performance of salespeople (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

16. Almost 40% of respondents do not use any technology or automation tools for lead generation (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021)

17. Sales reps who use technology and automation tools for lead generation were 14 percentage points more likely to have reached their annual sales target last year (source: Pipedrive State of Sales Report 2020-2021

Sales statistics on what buyers want from salespeople and businesses

1. 50% of buyers say that working remotely has made the purchasing process easier (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

2. 89% of buyers agree that the salespeople they do business with are “trusted advisors” (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

3. 51% of top performers refer to themselves as experts in their field, while only 37% of non-top performers see themselves as experts. Given that prospects are more likely to make purchasing decisions when guided by a “trusted advisor”, how reps present themselves is key (source: Sales Data Study of 2021, Sales Insight Lab)

4. 90% of buyers have used industry conferences and events to meet salespeople and learn more about products (source: The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021)

5. 51% of companies think that sales reps need to improve their ability to identify behavior from buyers that indicate they want to make a purchase (source: Sales Performance Optimization Study, CSO Insights)

Final thoughts

These sales figures can help sales teams identify industry trends so they know what’s working well and what parts of their sales strategy and sales training needs to be optimized.

Keep these key takeaways in mind:

• Lead generation takes up a lot of time and many sales representatives are working overtime, but technology like lead generation tools, CRMs and automation can significantly help save time and bring in more qualified leads.

• Sales follow-up statistics tell us that reps that proactively make phone calls, send cold emails, leave voicemails, incorporate personalized subject lines and messaging into their sales strategy and consistently follow up with potential customers generate more opportunities.

• Becoming a trusted advisor and being perceived as an expert in your field can help reps improve close rates and increase retention.

• Remote selling isn’t going anywhere and, while it’s a challenge for sales teams to adjust, buyers are enjoying the digital purchasing experience, so it’s crucial to optimize your digital touchpoints and leverage supporting technology.