112+ Key Sales Statistics So You Can Sell Smarter, Not Harder in 2025

We’ve mentioned multiple times how sales stats are the building blocks to better outreach and greater results.

Stats are also useful for staying on top of recent market trends and developments.

To give you a hand, we’ve compiled over 112 key sales statistics to help you drive better sales performance. 

Sales prospecting statistics

Prospecting is one of the toughest stages in the sales cycle.

Today, it’s not enough to simply find people who fit your ideal customer profile. You also need to identify signals that suggest they’re ready to buy. Spotting buyer intent early gives your outreach the timing and relevance it needs to land.

Buyer research behavior

96% of sales prospects prefer doing their own research before talking to a salesperson. (HubSpot)

71% of prospects prefer researching information on their own over talking to a sales rep. (HubSpot) 

88% of leads are already familiar with the company when first interacting with a sales rep, 84% know about their competitors, and 83% are aware of the brand’s products and services. (HubSpot) 

98% of buyers research customer reviews and ratings before selecting a vendor. (Gartner)

74% of buyers check out 2 review sites before making a purchase decision. (BrightLocal)

Prospecting challenges & fit

71.4% of companies report that less than half of their prospects are a good fit for their products or services. (Sales Insights Lab)

40% of salespeople believe prospecting is the hardest part of sales. (HubSpot)

Prospecting success

85% of sales representatives say that AI improves their prospecting. (HubSpot)

180% more deals happened thanks to improving prospecting strategies. (HubSpot)

76% of top sales performers gather information on a lead before making contact. (LinkedIn)

Tools & outreach trends

22% of salespeople use automated lead generation tools, with AI playing a big role in prospecting. (Pipedrive)

63% of salespeople rely on cold outreach. (HubSpot)

82% of buyers accept meetings with salespeople who reach out proactively. (HubSpot)

Buyer preferences

72% of consumers are likely to switch brands to get better deals. (Salesforce)

76% remain loyal to companies providing optimal data security, while 72% value faster service. (Salesforce)

Sales follow-up statistics

Sales follow-ups are often where deals are won or lost. Despite their importance, they’re an overlooked part of the sales process. With the right timing, relevance, and persistence, follow-ups can keep opportunities alive and push deals across the finish line.

Lack of follow-up

48% of sales teams never attempt a follow-up after the first email. (Invesp)

48% of sales reps don’t follow up after the first interaction. (Invesp)

Only 2% of sales reps feel confident when engaging with leads, compared to 20% of managers. (Salesroom)

Effective follow-up practices

80% of deals require five follow-ups after the initial call to close the deal. (Invesp)  

Pausing for 2–5 days before following up leads to higher response rates. (Belkins)

Cold outreach campaigns with three email rounds (initial + 2 follow-ups) average a 9.2% reply rate. (Belkins)

Timing & buyer behavior

35% to 50% of sales will likely go to the business that contacts interested prospects first. (Invesp)

60% of customers say “no” four times before saying yes to a sales offer. (Invesp)

57% of buyers are more inclined to buy from a sales rep who doesn’t pressure them in follow-ups. (Invesp)

Outbound sales statistics

Outbound sales is often seen as a cold, unforgiving wasteland, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead. Despite growing skepticism since 2022, outbound still works when done with the right strategy, targeting, and messaging.

Outbound revenue & value

28% of revenue in B2B comes from outbound, while 31% pours in from partner referrals. (Ebsta)

Only 16% of marketers believe outbound generates high-quality sales-qualified leads. (Ironpaper)

Personalization & content

63-69% of buyers are more willing to connect when a salesperson provides personalized content relevant to their business or industry. (RAIN Group)

79% of sales professionals believe sales enablement content is essential for success. (HubSpot)

Selling strategies

81% of sales reps find collaborative team selling effective in closing deals. (Salesforce) 

80% of companies encourage their sales teams to prioritize long-term partnerships over short-term projects. (Salesforce) 

58% of intro meetings bring no value to prospects. (RAIN Group)

Inbound sales statistics

Inbound sales focuses on engaging prospects who’ve already expressed interest, whether by visiting your website, interacting on social media, or even checking your G2. It’s about responding with the right message at the right time to turn curiosity into conversations.

Marketing & sales alignment

Only 30% of sales pros see a strong alignment between marketing and sales in their companies. (HubSpot)

78% of sales professionals say their CRM improves the alignment between sales and marketing. (HubSpot)

Lead quality & impact

70% of marketers rate their leads as high quality. (HubSpot)

59% of sales representatives confirm that the leads they get from marketing are high-quality. (HubSpot)

75% of marketers say personalizing customer experiences significantly drives sales. (HubSpot)

Lead conversion & engagement tactics

73% of B2B webinar attendees turn into qualified leads. (Zippia)

80% of clients prefer email for communicating. (RAIN Group)

71% of buyers looking for ideas to improve their business want to hear directly from sellers. (RAIN Group)

Email marketing ROI

14% of ROI comes from email marketing. (HubSpot) 

Artificial intelligence can increase email marketing’s return on investment by up to 70%. (HubSpot)

Post-sales process & feedback

73% of sales teams record their sales meetings, but only 44% review recordings with managers for feedback. (Salesroom)

Sales email statistics

Sales emails are a core and cost-efficient tactic in modern outreach, giving teams a direct line to possible buyers. But with noisy inboxes and shrinking attention, success depends on relevance, clarity, and timing.

Use & behavior

88% of people say they use email every day, with 39% saying they check their inbox 3-5 times a day. (ZeroBounce)

61% of people check their email primarily on their mobile device. (ZeroBounce)

Email preferences & effectiveness

66% of people prefer short emails, 6% prefer longer emails, and 28% think email length isn’t important. (ZeroBounce)

144-word emails have the best reply rate at 2.7%. (Regie.ai) 

7-word subject lines get the highest open rate at 46.2%. (Regie.ai) 

The average open rate for email is 35.63%. (Mailchimp)

Results & reach

44% of people say the primary reason they unsubscribe from an email list is that they receive too many emails from the sender. (ZeroBounce)

57% of webinar registrations occur through email. (GoToWebinar)

The number of email users is projected to reach 4.89 billion users in 2027. (Statista)

The average return on investment of email marketing is $36 for every $1 spent. (Litmus)

Sales call statistics

Sales calls are an impactful way to connect with prospects. Unlike emails or LinkedIn messages, sales calls allow for real-time conversations and stronger rapport.

Performance & success rates

74% of sales representatives report better response rates when making cold and warm calls. (HubSpot)

37% of salespeople say cold calling is their top lead source. (HubSpot)

The success rate of cold calling is 4.82% in 2024. (Cognism)

Cold callers have a ~75% chance of the prospect answering on the first call attempt. (Cognism)

Best practices

Wednesday is the most effective day to call leads. (Callhippo)

Confidence & coaching

80% of salespeople have a manager present during sales calls, but have limited access to coaching and feedback. (Salesroom)

Only 11% of sales professionals feel confident making sales calls, with 70% struggling most with handling objections. (Salesroom)

78% of salespeople see value in AI presenting real-time insights during sales calls. (Salesroom)

Social selling statistics

45% more sales opportunities go to salespeople with a strong LinkedIn social selling index than salespeople who don’t. (LinkedIn)

78% of businesses that use social selling outperform businesses that don’t. (LinkedIn)

87% of sellers state that social selling has helped their business. (HubSpot)

59% of sellers say their business is making more sales thanks to social media, compared to previous years. (HubSpot)

87% of businesses say user-generated content (UGC) increases sales. (HubSpot)

92% of businesses say UGC increases brand awareness. (HubSpot)

Sales performance statistics

Sales performance shows how effectively teams and sales reps turn opportunities into revenue. Tracking key performance indicators plays a large role in helping identify strengths and uncover gaps.

Sales trends & market conditions

54% of sales professionals report that the current year’s sales are more difficult than the previous year’s. (HubSpot)

58% of B2B companies are seeing longer sales cycles as customers try to stretch their budget and include more stakeholders. (Salesforce)

69% of sales professionals find it increasingly difficult to close sales deals. (Salesforce)

21% was a typical sales conversion rate in 2023. (HubSpot)

61% of deals are lost due to indecision, while other common reasons cited by average performers include limited budget (22%), low priority (20%), and competition (14%). (Ebsta)

Omnichannel customers typically make 1.7x more purchases than single-channel customers. (McKinsey)

Sales cycle benchmarks

The average B2B sales cycle (by industry) lasts anywhere from 70 to 162 days, with retail being the fastest while non-profits take the longest. (Focus Digital)

The average B2B sales cycle (by company size) lasts anywhere from 38 to 185 days, with companies of 1-10 employees being the fastest while companies of 10,001+ employees take the longest. (Focus Digital)

Key success factors

Completing SPICED (Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical Event, Decision) by the time a solution is presented to a client makes it 307% more likely to win a deal compared to the incomplete process. (Ebsta)

45% of sales reps focus on upselling, while 31% say understanding a prospect’s needs is key to closing deals. (HubSpot)

91% of salespeople engage in upselling, contributing an average of 21% to company revenue. (HubSpot)

52% of executives focus on cross-sell and upsell revenue as a major growth strategy. (HubSpot)

86% of B2B customers are more likely to buy from vendors that take the time to get to know them. (Salesforce)

Nearly 75% of B2B customers say their relationships with sales professionals feel transactional in nature. (Salesforce)

Barriers to sales success

Sales professionals spend 70% of their working hours on tasks other than selling, such as email and lead management. (Salesforce)

24% of companies identify a lack of effective communication tools as the main bottleneck in achieving sales goals, 19% cite poor personalization, and 18% highlight challenges with handling objections. (Salesroom)

18% of sales reps call for cutting down on admin tasks to improve efficiency. (Richardson)

75% of sales pros admit they don’t consistently follow their sales methodology. (Salesroom)

The top three challenges to staying on track are changing business cycles (15%), delivering resonant messaging to decision-makers (14%), and evolving customer needs (12%). (Richardson)

Revenue outlook

Overall sales revenue is expected to hit $339.1B in 2024 and $818.8B in 2029. (Statista)

60% of marketers say generating sales-ready leads is their top priority. (DemandGen)

75% of marketers rely on third-party software to enrich leads, but recent and upcoming regulations may limit this ability. (Salesforce)

Sales team statistics

Sales teams are one of the engines behind revenue growth, but their success depends on strong collaboration, clear roles, and explicit responsibilities. And when they’re aligned with marketing, they can generate even more targeted leads and improved conversion.

Role of SDRs & pipeline contribution

38% of companies with revenue between $250M and $1B rely on SDRs to generate almost half of their sales pipeline. (Outreach)

74% of companies with revenue between $1M and $1B revenue have at least 21 SDRs, with SDRs having considerable responsibility for pipeline generation.(Outreach)

Sales-marketing alignment

Sales teams are 103% more likely to perform better when they’re aligned with their company’s marketing team. (HubSpot)

Only 30% of sales teams feel that they’re aligned with their marketing team. (HubSpot)

Sales technology statistics

Sales tech is essential for modern teams who want to get more done, faster, and without needing to grow headcount. Tools like CRMs, sales engagement platforms, and AI assistants help teams work more efficiently and deeply.

Tech use & overload

Sales teams use on average 10 tools to make a sale. (Salesforce) 

45% of sales pros feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of tools they use.  (HubSpot) 

Only 37% of sales pros strongly believe their company uses its CRM system to its full potential. (Salesforce)  

43% of sales managers prioritize CRM use as a top productivity measure. (HubSpot)

Time-consuming tasks

68% of sales reps find note-taking and CRM data input the most time-consuming manual tasks. (Salesroom)

43% of sales reps spend between 10 and 20 hours weekly on manual activities. (Salesroom)

Buyer decision-making

B2B customers looking to maximize the value of every purchase can take up to 6 months evaluating sales software before deciding whether to buy or not. (Gartner)

80% of sales take place virtually. (Salesroom)

96% of marketers say personalization increases the chances of buyers making repeat purchases. (HubSpot)

94% of marketers say personalization improves sales results. (HubSpot)

Sales AI statistics

By automating time-intensive work and enabling real-time research, sales AI is changing the way teams prospect, engage, and close deals. This in turn allows teams to focus on higher-value conversations while delegating research and initial outreach to AI.

AI impact on productivity & sales strategy

81% of sales representatives say they can spend less time on administrative tasks thanks to AI. (HubSpot) 

78% confirm that AI helps them be more productive. (HubSpot) 

AI helps sales teams save 2 hours a day on average. (HubSpot) 

63% of sales executives report AI improves their competitive advantage. (HubSpot) 

Generative AI in sales

71% of sales reps use generative AI to automate communications, while 68% use it to design sales plans and strategies. (Salesforce)

84% of executives say their organization has used generative AI in sales in the past year. (Salesloft)

21% of commercial leaders have fully enabled generative AI for B2B buying and selling. (McKinsey)

52% of sales representatives believe that AI helps them connect with leads on a more personal level. (HubSpot)

Training needs

49% of SDRs need more understanding of how to use gen AI safely. (Salesforce)

63% of sales pros expect their company to provide some form of training on AI usage. (Salesforce)

Long-term impact

15% of day-to-day work decisions may be made autonomously by AI by 2028 (Gartner).

95% of executives say their organization is using AI in sales in some capacity. (Salesloft)

Sales AI could unlock trillions of dollars in value and productivity across many sectors. (McKinsey)

72% of sales reps see AI as a solution for helping them follow their sales methods. (Salesroom)

Sales career statistics

The average salary for an in-house business development representative in the United States is $66K-$107K per year. (Glassdoor)

The cost of an in-house SDR can reach up to $139,120, after factoring in salary, on-target earnings (OTE), employment taxes, benefits, equipment, and software. (AiSDR)

Almost 25% of sales representatives are currently looking for a job or planning to start looking for a job in the next 12 months. (Salesforce)

90% of sales managers believe that a positive sales culture is key to a sales rep’s job satisfaction. (HubSpot)

What does this mean for AI in sales?

Even though SDRs and Account Executives are struggling to reach quota, the data shows that the sales industry is rapidly evolving and becoming more competitive.

As buyers increasingly do their own research and seek personalized approaches, generating meaningful marketing and sales content will remain a key focus for marketing and sales teams throughout 2024.

Another channel for growth is using AI sales tools that allow you to automate outreach and other time-consuming tasks. However, such tools are best used for setting the stage for a relationship – leaving you to forge it.