Are your sales norms built on ambition or convenience?
Why Sales Benchmarking Matters
Most sales teams judge their performance by target achievement versus last year’s numbers. But growth isn’t just about hitting revenue goals — it’s about raising the standards of sales performance indicators that truly drive success.
How do your numbers stack up when compared to the best in your industry?
- Revenue per customer
- Funnel conversion rates
- Sales cycle time
- Lead-to-order ratio
- Customer acquisition cost, etc, etc
If you are not measuring these against industry benchmarks, you are benchmarking against your own comfort zone. And that is not performance — that is just maintenance.
The Purpose of Sales Benchmarking
Sales Benchmarking is about setting operational standards, not just sales targets. It answers three essential questions:
- What are the best-in-class performance indicators for your business type and sales model?
- Where do you stand today on those metrics?
- What will it take to close the gap — in capability, process, or culture?
When you benchmark right, your teams stop celebrating last year’s numbers. They start chasing next year’s possibilities.
Why Most Organisations Get It Wrong
- They track lagging indicators (sales achieved) and ignore leading indicators (pipeline quality, activity ratios).
- They set internal norms based on convenience, not competitiveness.
- They let sales targets substitute for sales standards.
- They fear the discomfort that ambitious benchmarks create.
But remember: Benchmarks aren’t supposed to make you comfortable — they’re meant to make you better.
The Benchmarking Process
At GASP® Sales Academy, we help organisations turn benchmarking into a structured discipline:
- Collect Industry Data — from peers, mentors, and published benchmarks.
- Analyse Current Performance — across activity, funnel, and conversion metrics.
- Identify Variances — where are you ahead, and where are you behind?
- Redesign Sales Standards — practical, measurable, and stretch-worthy.
- Pilot the New Norms — in one zone or team.
- Roll Out Across the Organisation — and review every quarter.
The result? A sales culture where productivity and performance are measured by evidence, not emotions.
A Benchmark-Driven Culture
Benchmarking is not an annual ritual. It’s a habit of excellence — the constant drive to outperform yesterday and measure up to the best today.
A benchmark-driven organisation doesn’t just ask “Did we achieve our target?” It asks:
- “Did we achieve it with greater productivity?”
- “Did we convert faster?”
- “Did we retain better?”
That mindset shift — from target obsession to benchmark discipline — transforms sales execution forever.
Closing Thought
Benchmarking is the bridge between your potential and industry excellence. Build your sales norms on ambition, not convenience — and watch your teams evolve from good performers to industry leaders.
💡 Raise Your Standards, Redefine Your Success
At GASP® Sales Academy, we help organisations benchmark their sales operations against the best, not the average — creating a culture where performance is measured by excellence, not convenience.
We work with Founders, CEOs, and Sales Leaders to:
✅ Identify and set industry-grade benchmarks across 27 GASP® Sales Processes
✅ Redesign performance standards using data-driven leading indicators
✅ Build a BOSF culture — a Brutal Obsession with Sales Fundamentals
Let’s move your teams from chasing targets to setting new standards of sales excellence.
👉 Embed the Discipline of Sales Benchmarking with GASP® — and move your teams from Average to Exceptional.
Contact us or get more details at 🌐 www.gaspsalesacademy.com
Dinkar Suri I Founder & UnConsultant I GASP Sales Academy I dinkar@gaspsalesacademy.com
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