Quota Attainment: How to Measure the Performance of Sales Reps

Creating a highly productive and efficient sales team requires performance analytics. According to Zippia, there are roughly 2 to 3 million sales reps operating in the United States. Some sales reps are more productive and efficient than others. You can measure the performance of your B2B company's sales reps by focusing on quota attainment. It's one of the most meaningful B2B-related performance metrics.

What Is Quota Attainment?

Quota attainment is a key performance metric (KPI) for sales reps. It represents the percentage of a sales rep's total sales relative to his or her quota. In other words, quota attainment is how much of a sales rep's quota he or she has attained.

As you may know, as a sales quota is a target sales goal for a given period. It can be expressed as either a flat number of sales or a fixed dollar amount. Some sales reps may set a quota of 50 sales per month, whereas others may set a quota of $100,000 per month. Regardless, all sales quotas are target sales goals for a given period. Quota attainment, on the other hand, is a measurement of how much of a sales quota was achieved or attained during the specified period.

How to Calculate Quota Attainment

Quota attainment is easy to calculate. You can calculate it by taking the sales rep's actual total sales or sales revenue for the specified period and dividing that number by the quota amount. Next, multiply this number by 100. The final number -- expressed as a percentage -- is the sales rep's quota attainment.

If the sales rep generated 25 sales last month and had a quota of 50 sales per month, his or her quota attainment would be 50%. If the sales rep generated $100,000 in sales revenue last month and had a sales quota of $100,000 per month, his or her quota attainment would be 100%.

While many B2B companies measure both sales quotas and quota attainments by month, you can use other time frames for these performance metrics. Some B2B companies use a quarterly time frame, for instance, whereas others use an annual time frame. The formula for calculating quota attainment remains the same. It's still the percentage of a sales rep's total sales or revenue relative to his or her quota.

The Problem of Missed Sales Quotas

Just because sales reps set a reasonable quota, there's no guarantee they will achieve them. One report found that over half of all sales reps miss their quotas.

Missed quotas translate into fewer sales and less revenue for B2B companies. Different B2B companies sell different products or services, but they all have a shared goal of converting leads into buyers. Sales reps are responsible for performing this task. Using a variety of channels and tactics, they reach out to leads while pitching their B2B companies' products or services. Sales reps who struggle to convert leads into buyers may miss their quotas. They may fall short of achieving their target sales or sales revenue.

Allowing missed quotas to go unchecked can lead to the following problems:

• Fewer sales
• Less sales revenue
• Congested sales pipeline
• Low sales productivity
• Loss of market share to competitors

Why You Should Track Sales Reps' Quota Attainment

If you operate in a sales leadership position, you should pay close attention to sales reps' quota attainment. You can use it to gauge the performance of sales reps.

Successful sales reps typically have a higher quota attainment than their unsuccessful counterparts. They are more persuasive and results-driven, so they are able to close more deals when pitching products or services. And by closing more deals, they experience a higher quota attainment.

Quota attainment is a quantifiable metric. It doesn't require any guessing. When calculated correctly, you can see exactly how close a sales rep was to achieving his or her quota for a given period. Other performance metrics may or may not be quantifiable. Metrics that aren't quantifiable are difficult to use for performance analytics.

Tips to Improve Sales Reps' Quota Attainment

How can you improve sales reps' quota attainment exactly? Start by ensuring that all sales reps set reasonable quotas. Reasonable quotas are those that can be "reasonably" achieved. There's nothing wrong with sales reps taking an optimistic approach to their sales efforts, but if they set an excessively high quota, they may fall short of achieving it. By setting reasonable quotas, more sales reps will achieve their target sales or sales revenue, resulting in a higher quota attainment.

A little motivation will go a long way at improving sales reps' quota attainment. When motivated, sales reps will work harder to achieve their respective quotas. They may go the extra mile to contact and persuede prospects to purchase their B2B companies' products or services. The problem is that most B2B leaders fail to motivate their sales reps. They focus on other administrative tasks while ignoring the importance of motivation. By motivating your B2B company's sales reps, however, you can expect a higher quota attainment.

Marketing and sales alignment can have a positive impact on sales reps' quota attainment. Most B2B companies have separate marketing and sales teams. They have marketers who generate leads and perform other marketing tasks, and they have sales reps who contact these leads to pitch products or services. Assuming your B2B company has these same two types of teams, you should consider aligning them.

When aligned, marketing and sales teams can work together more efficiently. They can exchange data, share resources and ultimately help each other. The end result is more sales, which typically has a positive impact on sales reps' quota attainment. More marketers will achieve their goals, and more sales reps will achieve their own goals. If you're looking to improve the quota attainment of your B2B company's sales reps, you should leverage marketing and sales alignment.

In Conclusion

There are different metrics you can use to measure sales reps' performance. Among the most meaningful, though, is quota attainment. Expressed as a percentage, quota attainment reveals how close sales reps were to achieving their quota.