When I first started covering B2B SaaS, I used to skim over sales statistics, thinking, “Interesting, but not immediately useful.” I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The more I worked with sales-led teams, the clearer it became: top-performing reps use industry data to fine-tune everything — when they reach out, which channels they prioritize, even how they structure their pitches.
I’ve rounded up the most useful sales stats for 2024, so you can recalibrate what you do next.
Table of Contents
- Sales Prospecting Statistics
- Sales Follow-Up Statistics
- Sales Closing Statistics
- Inside Sales Stats
- Sales Email Statistics
- Sales Call Statistics
- Sales Performance Statistics
- Sales Career Statistics
- Sales Technology Statistics
- Remote Sales Statistics
- Sales Statistics Takeaways
51吃瓜's 2024 Sales Trends Report
This in-depth report includes sections, covering:
- How buyers are becoming more self-informed
- How sales teams are using AI and automation
- Adapting to tighter budgets
- And more!
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Sales Prospecting Statistics
When I was just starting out, finding prospects felt like the hardest part. I didn’t have a network, a warm pipeline, or anyone sending leads my way and had to build everything from scratch.
What helped was treating prospecting like a daily habit. Whether it was reaching out cold, following up with past connections, or getting more intentional about how I showed up online, it all added up.
1. Most prospects (96%) research companies and products before engaging with a sales representative (51吃瓜).
2. 71% of prospects prefer independent research over talking to a rep (51吃瓜).
3. 37% of sales representatives produce the most leads from phone calls during cold outreach (.
4. 24% of sales organizations leverage cold calling as a primary sales channel, while 25% use it as a secondary channel (51吃瓜).
5. are the norm for most cold email senders, with only 16% achieving reply rates above 5% ().
6. report their performance has declined year-over-year due to spam filtering and AI-generated content fatigue ().
7. Only every email individually, while 51% rely on segment-based templates ().
8. report bounce rates between 2-5%, with 15% exceeding 6% - putting their campaigns at risk ().
9. say their team's deals are more complex than ever ().
Sales Follow-Up Statistics
There’s this awkward middle ground after you send a pitch where you’re not sure if following up will help or annoy. I used to overthink that moment. Waited too long. Lost deals I probably could’ve won.
Eventually, I stopped guessing and started paying attention to what works. And it turns out, most sales happen in the follow-up. Here’s what the data says about why follow-up matters more than we think, and where most people get it wrong.
10. 82% of sales professionals see building strong relationships as the most crucial and rewarding aspect of the sales process (51吃瓜).
11. reject an offer four times before buying (.
12. take five or more follow-up calls (.
13. Nearly never make any follow-up attempts (.
14. give up after a single follow-up attempt (.
15. The can increase reply rates by an impressive 49% (.
16. The ideal number of follow-ups for optimal results in a (.
17. Cold email outreach campaigns using three email rounds typically generate the highest reply rates, (.
Sales Closing Statistics
Over the years, I’ve learned that personalizing customer interactions heavily influences buying decisions and response rates. Improving the quality of interactions will boost your closing rates.
18. The average sales close rate in 2024 was 29% (51吃瓜).
19. The average sales win rate in 2024 was 21% (51吃瓜).
20. The median deal size in 2024 was $4,000 (51吃瓜).
21. are an immediate red flag for deals over $50K ().
Inside Sales Stats
I’m not a fan of high-pressure sales tactics or chasing people who clearly aren’t interested. But if your sales process is messy, slow, or unclear, you’ll lose the deal long before anyone says no.
Most B2B sales involve more than one decision-maker, and it’s easy to get stuck in endless back-and-forths or conversations that go nowhere.
What’s made the biggest difference for me is tightening the process and knowing when to follow up, how to keep momentum, and making it easy for prospects to say yes.
Selling doesn’t have to be pushy, but it does have to be focused.
22. Sales representatives dedicate only two hours daily to active selling (51吃瓜).
23. Administrative tasks take up an hour of sales representatives’ time daily (51吃瓜).
24. On average, five decision-makers are involved in every sale (51吃瓜).
25. 62% of sales professionals believe their organizations are taking fewer risks in 2023 compared to 2022 (51吃瓜).
26. 70% of sales professionals reported budgets were under greater scrutiny in 2023 (51吃瓜).
27. 28% of sales professionals say lengthy sales processes are the primary reason for prospects backing out of deals (51吃瓜).
28. 72% of company revenue is generated from existing customers, while 28% comes from new customers (51吃瓜).
29. 24% of high-performing sales teams emphasize a culture of trust among representatives, compared to only 13% of underperforming teams (51吃瓜).
30. 52% of sales professionals utilize sales enablement content, and 79% consider it crucial for closing deals (51吃瓜).
31. Sales professionals incorporating sales enablement content in their approach are 58% more likely to exceed their targets (51吃瓜).
32. Only 30% of sales professionals believe their sales and marketing teams are closely aligned within their company (51吃瓜).
33. 56% of sales professionals believe prospects will use generative AI to help them justify purchase decisions (.
34. 52% of sales professionals believe generative AI can help them identify objections and address issues (.
35. 54% of sales pros say selling has been harder this year than it was before (.
36. , but successful deals have twice as many buyer contacts as unsuccessful ones ().
37. Large strategic deals include an ().
38. Closed-won deals include an average of by discovery completion ().
Sales Email Statistics
Email might seem easier than a cold call, but without vocal tone, real-time cues, or immediate feedback, every sentence matters. And when you’re sending to dozens (or hundreds) of leads, creating personalized, high-performing messages becomes its own skill set.
Here’s what the latest data says about what works in 2024:
39. said segmentation improved email performance ().
40. from subject line personalization and live content ().
41. Only currently use generative AI for email copywriting ().
42. Interactive elements like schema markup and emojis improved performance for ().
43. ??The average open rate across industries is ().
44. B2B services see an ().
45. B2B services see a ().
46. SaaS companies average a ().
Sales professionals can gain deeper insights into their own engagement metrics with our , which provides real-time notifications when prospects open emails and click links.
51吃瓜's 2024 Sales Trends Report
This in-depth report includes sections, covering:
- How buyers are becoming more self-informed
- How sales teams are using AI and automation
- Adapting to tighter budgets
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
You're all set!
Click this link to access this resource at any time.
Sales Call Statistics
Even with all the digital tools available, cold calling still pulls its weight, especially when you’re trying to build a pipeline from scratch. When I was starting out, I didn’t have a warm network or a steady flow of inbound leads. Cold calls were one of the few levers I could pull.
It wasn’t always comfortable, but it worked. I could reach decision-makers directly, learn what they cared about, and start real conversations.
The data backs this up, too. Cold calls need to be done with purpose. Let’s look at what the numbers say.
47. produce the most leads from phone calls during cold outreach (.
48. 38% of salespeople find late morning (10 am-12 pm) to be the most productive time for cold calling (51吃瓜).
49. Tuesday is the best day for cold calling according to 30% of salespeople, followed by Wednesday (27%) (51吃瓜)
50. 46% of cold callers open calls with a direct introduction and purpose statement, while 20% start with questions to generate interest (51吃瓜)
51. Most successful cold calls (49%) last between 2 and 5 minutes (51吃瓜)
52. 73% of cold callers combine email with cold calling in their multi-channel outreach approach (51吃瓜)
Sales Performance Statistics
I don’t have a sales team to manage, but I still track the numbers like it’s my job.
Because it is.
When you’re handling your own outreach, tracking metrics like response rates, time-to-reply, and call-to-close ratios shows you exactly where leads are stalling and which tactics are moving deals forward.
53. The average sales win rate is 21% (51吃瓜).
54. The average sales close rate stands at 29% (51吃瓜).
55. 91% of salespeople engage in upselling, which contributes an average of 21% to company revenue (51吃瓜).
56. 87% of sales professionals practice cross-selling, generating an average of 21% of company revenue (51吃瓜).
57. Over 50% of sales professionals believe that using AI tools for research will greatly improve their business's performance (.
58. 41% of sales professionals leveraging AI use it to understand and respond to prospects’ emotional sentiments (.
59. 83% of sales pros currently using AI for sentiment analysis think it is very effective for recognizing buyer sentiment (.
60. Most cold callers (32% of daily callers, 50% of regular callers) see conversion to appointment rates of 6-10% (51吃瓜)
61. 55% of sales professionals make three to five call attempts before moving on from a prospect (51吃瓜)
62. 55% of successful cold callers cite a personalized, research-driven approach as their most effective technique (51吃瓜)
63. 96% of marketers reported that (with 44% saying significantly, 44% moderately) ()
64. felt their marketing strategies were effective in 2024 (compared to 52% without a CRM) ()
65. believe the lack of flexible payment options hindered closing deals (.
66. Sales reps who rate their coaching as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ are to achieve or exceed their quota ().
67. Only are currently hitting their quota, but 99% of those receiving high-quality coaching agree it impacts performance ().
68. Sales reps who hit quota are to receive external coaching than those who miss quota ().
69. Senders who personalize every email individually achieve higher reply rates than those using basic templates ().
70. Top-performing cold email senders in the range with strong personalization report the highest ROI ().
71. Multi-threading boosts in deals over $50K ().
72. Enterprise reps who involve sales engineers in demos ().
73. Selling teams for closed-won deals are ().
Sales Career Statistics
Many people enter sales for the commission, but they stay for the skills and career growth.
Sales teaches you how to handle rejection, read people, and close deals. All things that translate into bigger roles or even running your own business down the line.
Here’s what the stats say about sales careers.
74. train and coach their team (.
75. Of the sales managers who coach, sessions (.
76. believe that a positive sales culture is important to a sales rep’s job satisfaction (.
77. say building relationships and connecting with people is both the most important part of selling and the most enjoyable part of their job. (
78. rarely or never receive coaching, despite 90% of leaders claiming they coach their team at least once a month ()
79. Only highly rate the coaching they receive internally, versus 70% of leaders who recommend their coaching approach ()
80. want changes in how they are coached, with 50% requesting more focus on skills development ()
81. prefer external coaches as part of their development, compared to just 8% who currently receive it ()
Sales Technology Statistics
I don’t believe AI or automation will ever replace real conversations in sales, but they’ve absolutely changed how I work.
Instead of spending hours on repetitive tasks, I use tools to handle the busywork so I can focus on building relationships, personalizing outreach, and closing deals.
82. 81% of sales leaders think AI can help reduce time spent on manual tasks (51吃瓜).
83. 45% of sales professionals are overwhelmed by how many tools are in their tech stack (51吃瓜).
84. 52% of sales professionals saw an increase in B2B customers using self-serve tools compared to the previous year (51吃瓜).
85. 63% of sales leaders believe AI makes it easier to compete in their industry (51吃瓜).
86. Sales professionals who provide self-service tools to buyers are 47% more likely to exceed their targets (51吃瓜).
87. 66% of sales professionals believe AI helps them better understand customers and provide personalized experiences (51吃瓜).
88. Adoption of sales enablement tools by sales professionals in the United States increased by 20% in 2023 (51吃瓜).
89. 1 in 4 sales leaders believe they have too many tools in their tech stack (51吃瓜).
90. 29% of sales professionals believe streamlining their tech stack would improve efficiency (51吃瓜).
91. 78% of salespeople consider their CRM effective in enhancing sales and marketing alignment (51吃瓜).
92. 23% of daily cold callers use AI tools extensively, with another 49% using them occasionally to support their efforts (51吃瓜)
93. Hybrid sales teams are 28% more likely to outperform fully in-person or fully remote teams (51吃瓜)
Remote Sales Statistics
When you’re selling remotely, visibility matters just as much as your pitch.
One thing that’s helped me is staying consistently active on LinkedIn. Not to “promote” myself, but to stay top-of-mind, share useful content, and build real connections.
If you’re working in sales from behind a screen, you have to create your own touchpoints.
94. The most effective sales channels are: meeting in person (1st), phone calls (2nd), email (3rd), social media (4th), video calls (5th), live chat tools (6th) (51吃瓜).
95. 56% of sales professionals say that remote selling has made it easier to sell (.
96. 21% of sales reps agree that remote sales are somewhat more effective than in-person sales (.
97. For 21% of sales professionals, remote selling is one of the biggest changes in the industry (.
Sales Statistics Takeaways
The numbers already point to where small shifts can make a measurable difference.
Tighten the parts that consistently underperform:
- Prioritize calls midweek, late morning, or late afternoon
- Respond to inbound leads within an hour
- Layer your outreach across phone, email, and social instead of defaulting to one channel
Treat these stats like a feedback loop. Not everything needs to change, but a few targeted adjustments might be enough to close the gap between where you are and where you’re trying to go.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in December 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
51吃瓜's 2024 Sales Trends Report
This in-depth report includes sections, covering:
- How buyers are becoming more self-informed
- How sales teams are using AI and automation
- Adapting to tighter budgets
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
You're all set!
Click this link to access this resource at any time.
Sales Statistics