I've seen plenty of sellers regularly miss on their KPIs, but still reach or exceed quota, so why have more than 1 KPI (quota attainment)?

Quota attainment & revenue will always the most important outcomes of any sales organization. However, the most mature sales organizations can align on a set of KPIs that will serve as leading indicators to success.  It’s not to say that consistency hitting KPIs will guarantee achievement of revenue goals 100% of the time, and similarly it’s not to say you cannot meet or exceed revenue goals if you miss KPIs. Sometime all it takes is you being in the right place at the right time with one lu ...Read More

I think any KPI that is not integrated into the quota and comp structure for any AE by and large is misguided. If you want AEs to focus on specific behaviors then build it into their comp plan and prioritize quota relief over increased commission payments if you have to choose. There are only two exceptions to this in my mind: any KPIs (pipe coverage, onsite meetings, etc.) where you can establish a direct connection to the health of those metrics and their ability to close more revenue OR behav ...Read More

Good question. I have seen these people in my time as a leader as well. However, not all sellers fall in to this bucket, so KPIs should be in place to support the rest of the team and encourage consistent behaviors. I have seen sellers that are more junior in their sales career or new to a business ask for KPIs (reflective of the top sales performers within the team) so that they can add more structure to their day/week and help them formulate a plan that will eventually get them to a positive q ...Read More

Very interesting question — and one that brings up a few more! Quota attainment is a KPI that is directly meaningful to a seller—if she can hit her KPI of quota attainment year after year, that will be meaningful to her personally! However, quota attainment isn’t a helpful KPI to the company by itself — we could find out that the above seller is selling bad deals — selling deals that have low margins, high churn rates, and more… This is why it’s important to have a several KPIs that are develope ...Read More

KPIs drive the behavior you expect to see from your Sales team. Quota attainment is typically the primary focus for Sales teams, how you achieve those results can alter the direction of your business. Quota from New Logos vs Expansion customers, will impact your future revenue streams differently. Selling a core product vs cross-selling additional products can drive customer retention and ultimately impact churn down the road. Landing a monthly contract vs multi-year commitment allows you to inv ...Read More