Measuring your team’s performance is an essential part of your sales process. Your team’s ability to reach sales goals allows you to identify potential problems and leverage successful strategies into future wins.
This is especially true in the world of enterprise sales. As the payoff and risk of your deals scale to an enterprise level, you must become more data-oriented as a leader. Setting clear goals and tracking the right enterprise sales KPIs can improve your outcomes. The question then becomes: Which data should you track?
Why Tracking the Right Enterprise Sales KPIs Matters
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are vital to sales success at any level, but the stakes are significantly higher in enterprise sales. Enterprise deals differ from small or medium business (SMB) sales in a few key ways:
- Longer sales cycles: On average, enterprise sales cycles tend to last six months or more — much longer than the average SMB deal. This longer cycle requires more resources, focus, and efficiency from your team to close.
- More stakeholders per deal: Compared to the usual one or two stakeholders involved in smaller business deals, enterprise sales often involve a buyer group consisting of 6 to 10 stakeholders — each with their own needs and concerns to address.
- Higher revenue per deal: Enterprise companies typically make more than $1 billion in annual revenue, meaning they can afford to spend more on a product they are interested in to ensure their needs are met. This means a higher payout for your team (and more pressure to succeed).
- Increased risk: With more roadblocks, a longer sales cycle, and a higher average payout, each enterprise sale has the risk of losing out on more potential revenue than several smaller deals combined, including any sunk costs your team puts into selling.
These differences mean you cannot afford to leave your sales performance to chance. With the right enterprise sales KPIs, you can measure and adjust your sales process to ensure you maximize your strategy’s effectiveness.
4 Enterprise Sales KPIs Every Sales Leader Should Track
While the KPIs you choose for your team may depend on specific organizational goals, these four metrics are especially beneficial for tracking enterprise sales performance.
1. Annual Contract Value
In enterprise sales, larger budgets can lead to larger deals. However, knowing the annual contract value (ACV) of each enterprise client can help your team understand how these deals compare to SMB sales and where they may have opportunities to increase revenue through upselling or cross-selling.
High ACV clients can act as a guide for what your team is doing right and what enterprise clients are looking for during a sales pitch. Low ACV clients may indicate a need for strategic updates, nurturing, or a search for new sales opportunities.
Formula: Total contract value / number of years under contract = annual contract value
2. Win Rate
Win rate, also known as conversion rate, represents the percentage of enterprise deals your team is able to close over a certain period of time. A relatively straightforward metric, this enterprise sales KPI shows how successfully your team is closing prospective enterprise clients.
According to Ebsta’s 2023 B2B Sales Benchmark Report, enterprise sales win rates average at 42%. If your win rate is lower than expected, it may be time to take a closer look at your process to identify potential roadblocks. You can even leverage sales reps with higher than average win rates to train other employees and learn from their process.
Formula: (Deals closed per period of time / number of leads in the pipeline) x 100 = win rate
3. Average Sales Cycle Length
The length of your enterprise sales cycle will determine the cost and resources required to close a deal. The longer the sales cycle, the less profit you make. If your average sales cycle is longer than you hope, consider employing tactics to cut down on touch points — such as demo automation.
According to Gartner, B2B buying groups only spend 17% of their time in direct contact with vendors. Solutions like demo automation sell for your team during the other 83%, reducing the work required to educate and win enterprise clients, leading to a faster overall sales cycle and improving this enterprise sales KPI.
Formula: Total number of days to close enterprise sales / total number of sales = average cycle length
4. Net Revenue Retention Rate
Enterprise clients are often looking for long-lasting solutions. That means you should have a higher likelihood of retaining these customers over time — along with the revenue they provide. However, if you have low revenue retention among your enterprise clients, it could be a sign your sales team isn’t doing enough to nurture and leverage these relationships after closing the deal.
It could also indicate your product isn’t providing the long-term benefit your team is selling, whether due to frequent issues or a misalignment of your customers’ perceived value. Tracking your revenue retention rate will help you identify potential upticks in churn or contraction and correct these issues before they impact your bottom line.
Formula: (Starting Monthly Recurring Revenue – Contraction Monthly Recurring Revenue – Churn Monthly Recurring Revenue + Expansion Monthly Recurring Revenue) / Starting Monthly Recurring Revenue x 100 = Net Revenue Retention Rate
Elevate Your Enterprise Sales Strategy With Consensus
Building a successful enterprise sales strategy starts with knowing how to measure performance. Once you’ve identified the enterprise sales KPIs you want to track, you can use expert advice to build a sales process that works for your target audience. Discover pro tips from industry leaders at our blog or use our research to help you scale.
