Sales rep KPI template: a sample table and how to calculate it
A KPI table is not there to hand out grades. It is there so that once a week, in ten minutes, you can see which reps are on track and who you need to talk to. Below are six metrics with formulas, a rule for finding your own baseline, and ready-made lines for a one-on-one review.
The metrics
Each metric is calculated per week and per person. Always put last week’s number next to it: what matters is not the figure but where it is heading.
1. First response time
- How to calculate: from the client’s message to the rep’s first reply, counting working hours only. Look at the median and the single longest wait of the week.
- Healthy: stays within the target you agreed on with the team.
- Red flag: the median looks fine, but some clients wait half a day. Or the target is missed for the third week in a row.
2. Abandoned conversations
- How to calculate: the number of conversations where the client had the last word and got no reply for more than a working day.
- Healthy: a rare case, and each one has an explanation.
- Red flag: the number grows and the explanations repeat: “didn’t get to it,” “forgot.”
3. Share of conversations that reach an agreement
- How to calculate: conversations that ended with a concrete next step (an invoice, a meeting, a payment, a date), divided by all new conversations of the week.
- Healthy: stays at the rep’s own level from last month.
- Red flag: the share drops while the inflow of inquiries stays the same.
4. Promises kept
- How to calculate: promises the rep made to clients (“I’ll send the quote by tonight,” “I’ll call you tomorrow”) kept on time, divided by all their promises.
- Healthy: nearly every promise is kept, and the broken ones can be counted on one hand.
- Red flag: there are plenty of promises and no way to check whether they were kept.
5. Revenue per conversation
- How to calculate: paid revenue for the week, divided by the number of conversations the rep took part in.
- Healthy: comparable to colleagues working with a similar client base.
- Red flag: lots of conversations and little money, or the reverse: there is money, but it all comes from two long-standing clients.
6. Agreements that turned into payments
- How to calculate: agreements that reached payment, divided by all agreements of the week.
- Healthy: most agreements close with money.
- Red flag: many agreements, few payments. That means the rep is counting as a result what the client said out of politeness.
How to find your own baseline
Numbers from other teams won’t fit you: a different product, a different client, a different cycle. Your baseline comes from your own data.
- For the first month, just observe. Don’t judge anything, simply record.
- Use the steady middle of the team as the baseline, not your best rep.
- Judge risk by the trend, not by a single week: three weeks in a row below the rep’s own baseline.
- Review once a quarter. Once a metric has evened out for everyone, it no longer tells people apart.
One weekly line per rep
Copy it and fill it in once a week. That is the whole table.
{Rep name}, week of {dates}. First response: {median} / longest {time}. Abandoned: {number}. Agreements: {share}. Promises: {kept} of {total}. Revenue per conversation: {amount}. Agreements paid: {share}. What changed since last week: {briefly}.
When to use: at the end of the week, before you talk to the person, not during the talk.
Ready-made lines for a one-on-one
A review starts with a specific conversation, not with a number. The number only tells you which conversation to open.
Opening the review
Let’s open two conversations from this week: one that went well and one that didn’t. We’ll start with the good one.
When to use: at the start of the weekly meeting. Good news first, otherwise the person will get defensive.
On a slow reply
Here’s a client who waited until evening. Tell me what was going on at that moment. I want to understand what got in the way, not who’s to blame.
When to use: when first response time shows one specific miss rather than general slowness.
On abandoned conversations
I see a few conversations where the client wrote last. Let’s go through them together and decide which ones you can still answer today.
When to use: abandoned conversations have been growing for a second week.
On a broken promise
You promised the client a quote by Wednesday, and they didn’t get it. What happened? If a promise can’t be kept, it’s better to tell the client before the deadline.
When to use: a promise was broken and the client hasn’t been told.
On agreements without payments
You have more agreements than anyone, but fewer payments. Let’s look at where clients really said “yes” and where they said “I’ll think about it.”
When to use: the sixth metric lags far behind the third.
Recognition that means something
I’d like to show this conversation to the team. You didn’t argue with the client, you asked two questions and got it to payment. Mind if I use it as an example?
When to use: in any review where there’s something to praise. Praise the conversation, not the number.
The next step
Let’s agree on one thing: this week no client waits for a first reply longer than our target. We’ll look at it together on Friday.
When to use: at the end of every review. One step, not five.
What not to do with the table
- Don’t show an overall ranking to the whole team. People will start competing with the person next to them instead of for the client.
- Don’t count messages or time online. That measures being busy, not doing the work.
- Don’t penalize a number before you’ve read the conversation behind it.
- Don’t change the set of metrics in the middle of the month.
Common questions
How many metrics should the table have
Five or six. Fewer than three won’t give you a picture, and nobody reads more than eight.
Should reps see their own numbers
Yes, and before you do. A person should have time to figure things out on their own.
How do you tie the table to pay
Only through the metrics that lead to money: revenue and agreements that turned into payments. Everything else is a reason for a conversation, not for a bonus.
A number shows you where to look. A conversation shows you what’s there.
Why it works
- Sales rep KPIs in chat: what to measure and what only gets in the wayMeasure what is tied to money: time to first reply, abandoned conversations, the share that ends in an agreement, promises kept and revenue per conversation. The number of messages sent and time online say nothing about the work. Metrics are for a conversation with a person, not for punishment, otherwise the team starts playing the number.
- How to tell your messaging-app sales team is underperforming without reading the chatsA weak sales team in messaging apps shows in indirect signals, not in the chats: reply time grows, abandoned conversations pile up, clients go quiet after the second message, promises slip, revenue doesn't follow broadcasts. Gather these signals into a 30-minute review once a week and decide in advance what to do about each one.
- Sales team motivation: what to pay for when sales happen in chatSales motivation works when the variable pay is tied to money actually paid, not to activity: message counts and time online are easy to inflate. You need a clear formula, a fair way of assigning clients and every rep seeing their own results. Non-cash motivation in chat means recognizing specific conversations, not saying generic words.