Sales efficiency and revenue growth: How to improve key activities for success
Sales efficiency is the foundation of predictable revenue growth. The most successful sales teams don’t just work harder — they work smarter by focusing on high-impact activities and optimizing their processes.
The challenge is that many organizations struggle to calculate sales efficiency, benchmark performance, and pinpoint areas for improvement. Without a clear understanding of key metrics and the right sales tools to use, sales leaders waste efforts and stall revenue growth.
Note: This blog is part of the Revenue Growth Formula series, which explores how to systematically improve revenue performance. If you haven’t read the first installment — four factors that determine revenue growth — we recommend starting there.
Now, let’s dive into the sales processes and strategies that drive efficiency and measurable success.
Why sales efficiency matters for revenue growth
A sales team’s effectiveness is not just about the number of deals closed — it’s about how efficiently those deals are won. Improving sales efficiency requires sales processes, sales training, and sales tool alignment to ensure reps spend time on the right activities.
High-performing organizations focus on:
- Time allocation: Are your reps maximizing their time on high-value selling activities?
- Process optimization: Are your sales processes structured for efficiency and repeatability?
- Technology enablement: How are you empowering your teams to use sales tools to eliminate manual work and improve workflows?
- Sales training: Are you adequately equipping reps with the skills and knowledge to close deals faster?
By tracking the right key metrics and using sales efficiency benchmarks, sales leaders can refine their approach and drive consistent growth.
How to calculate sales efficiency and improve performance
Sales efficiency isn’t just a number — it’s a reflection of how well your team’s efforts align with your company’s business goals. Many organizations measure it by looking at revenue per rep, conversion rates, or time spent on selling activities. Backed with that data, it’s easier to build strategic plans that truly improve sales efficiency.
Another, often overlooked, way to make incremental improvements is to ensure that your enablement team is aligned with sales priorities. Without a clear plan, enablement can become a reactive service for go-to-market (GTM) teams — addressing immediate needs without implementing a long-term strategy that makes the biggest impact possible.
This is where an enablement charter (EN) is essential. An enablement charter serves as a strategic roadmap for the enablement team, ensuring they focus on programs that support the right sales activities. A well-structured charter helps enablement leaders:
- Define business objectives and the goals of the sales team
- Establish program metrics that measure enablement’s impact on sales efficiency
- Identify the key sales activities that enablement will support and improve
- Build a plan that aligns with sales leadership priorities
- Secure executive sponsorship promoting better cross-functional cooperation
By implementing an enablement charter, organizations can tie their enablement efforts directly to the process of improving sales efficiency, rather thanoperating in isolation.
Sales efficiency benchmarks: How to measure and improve
The best sales teams don’t just track performance — they experiment and refine their approach based on real data. If your goal is to improve sales efficiency, it’s critical to move beyond outdated playbooks and continuously test new strategies.
1. Evaluate sales engagement and messaging
Analyzing rep performance starts with looking at how they engage with prospects. Leaders should regularly review:
- Engagement rates on outreach cadences: If certain messaging isn’t working, test variations to improve response rates.
- Content performance: A content audit can reveal what materials drive conversions and what’s being ignored by buyers.
- Call recordings and email analytics: These tools can help pinpoint where conversations lose momentum in the sales cycle.
By optimizing outreach and content based on engagement trends, teams can boost sales effectiveness and shorten deal cycles.
2. Identify friction points in the sales process
Efficiency isn’t just about speed — it’s about eliminating bottlenecks that prevent deals from moving forward. Using CRM data and sales analytics, leaders can uncover areas where deals stall and test strategies like:
- Multi-channel outreach to improve response rates
- Hyper-personalized follow-ups to re-engage stalled opportunities
- Adjusting sales training programs to address the common pain points that reps encounter
This data-driven approach ensures that sales teams aren’t just working hard — they’re working on the right things.
3. Align sales training with performance metrics
Traditional sales training often focuses on broad skill-building, but the most effective teams align their training initiatives with performance data. By connecting training content to measurable outcomes, such as quota attainment, time-to-close, or deal size, leaders can rest assured that reps are continuously improving in ways that drive revenue.
Regular experimentation is key. If something isn’t working, test new coaching techniques, training formats, or role-specific skill development to see what makes the biggest difference.
Take the next step to improve your sales efficiency
The best sales teams aren’t just productive — they’re efficient, ensuring every activity contributes to revenue growth. By refining sales processes, leveraging the right sales tools, and tracking key metrics, sales leaders can continuously improve sales efficiency and achieve predictable success.
This is just one piece of puzzle. To get the full framework and apply it to your team, download the Revenue Growth Formula Workbook today and start optimizing your GTM strategy.