Activity Per Rep

What is Activity Per Rep?

The sales metric Activity Per Rep is the total number of tasks (or activities) that a sales representative completes in a given time period. This includes phone calls (dials and call connects), emails, meetings, presentations, demos, proposals, and live chats. Basically, any activity that draws the lead further into the sales cycle should be counted. Activities are usually tracked daily, but can also be tracked weekly or monthly.

How to calculate Activity Per Rep:

Add (#) of activities completed for each rep for given time period (usually daily) = Total (#) of Activities Per Rep (daily)

Pros:

Activity Per Rep is a leading indicator that helps sales reps and sales managers proactively monitor progress on overall goals (lagging indicators) such as deals won or total revenue. It also helps sales managers understand if a rep is focusing on the right tasks. For example, if a rep has high activity levels but are constantly missing their target, it would be an indicator to the manager that the rep needs coaching to prioritize the right tasks.

The number of activities required to close a lead may vary depending on the source (i.e. hot or cold lead), product, and industry, but companies should know the average number of activities required for their product/service. With this benchmark in mind, it’s easy to track a sales reps progress toward their quotas by calculating the number of activities they’ve completed.

Cons:

Tracked alone, Activity Per Rep can provide a skewed perspective since it doesn’t account for the quality of the activities. While this sales metric generally indicates progress towards deals won and total revenue, it’s not a guarantee.

For example, if a sales rep completes the most activities of the team, but has the fewest deals won, there is likely a problem with the quality of the activities. For a more accurate picture, Activity Per Rep should be tracked along with other sales metrics and KPIs - such as SQL to Win Conversion Rate (deals won), Sales Pipeline Volume (are the activities pushing leads through the sales cycle?), and Average Handle Time.

Relevant Sales Metrics and KPIs:

If you’re adding Activity Per Rep to your sales KPI dashboard, you might want to also consider tracking these related sales metrics for context.

• Sales Pipeline Volume vs Goal
• SQL to Win Conversion Rate
• Average Handle Time
• Average Follow-up Attempts

Industry Benchmarks and Examples

Bridge Group 2015 Inside Sales Report shows that more conversations per day correlate with higher quota attainment. While benchmarks vary significantly based on company and product/service, the research found on average that inside sales reps make 52 dials (phone call attempts) per day. Of those 52 calls, sales reps have an average of 6.7 meaningful conversations. (Source)

Additional Notes:

Activity Per Rep is also closely related to Average Follow-up Attempts since a single lead generally requires multiple calls, conversations, and emails to convert to a closed deal.