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Sales analytics KPI definitions: thirty measures on one page, each with its formula

Thirty sales and commercial measures defined in one sentence each with the formula, grouped by what they describe: coverage and activity, wallet and depth, retention and churn, pipeline and forecast, concentration and reporting, and data quality. Each links to a full definition. Written so that a team can adopt the definitions as its own, version them, and stop arguing about what a number means.

The short answerThirty measures, one sentence and one formula each, in six groups. Coverage and activity: coverage, penetration, time to first touch, rep load, meeting conversion. Wallet and depth: share of wallet, gap at norm, products per customer, cross-sell, upsell, whitespace. Retention and churn: dormancy, churn, net revenue retention, cohort, renewal calendar, season watch. Pipeline and forecast: pipeline coverage, win rate, forecast bias, slip count, sales velocity, run rate. Concentration and reporting: top-n share, count to half, contribution, price realisation, lifetime value. Data quality: roll-up identity, control total, data quality score. Adopt them as written, version them, and cite the version.

Every number in a sales report has a definition, written or not. Written ones can be shared, versioned and checked. This page gives thirty in one sentence each with the formula, grouped, so that a team can adopt them and cite them.

Coverage and activity

Measure Definition Formula
Coverage Share of assigned accounts touched at their tier's cadence touched at cadence ÷ assigned
Penetration Share of a stated universe of accounts that are buying buying above floor ÷ universe
Time to first touch Days from assignment to first qualifying touch first touch date − assigned date
Rep load Weighted accounts and opportunities a rep carries Σ accounts × tier weight + Σ opps × stage weight
Meeting conversion Share of first meetings that become a qualified opportunity in the window converted ÷ first meetings

Wallet and depth

Measure Definition Formula
Share of wallet Sales to a customer over its total category spend our sales ÷ wallet
Gap value What a customer would spend at the norm, less what it does norm − actual, floored at 0
Products per customer Distinct product lines used in the period count of lines with activity
Cross-sell Revenue on lines not bought in the prior period Σ new-line revenue
Upsell Increase in revenue on lines already bought Σ max(0, now − prior) per line
Whitespace Empty account-by-line cells for lines similar accounts hold, valued Σ norm spend on missing expected lines

Retention and churn

Measure Definition Formula
Dormant account An account silent beyond a multiple of its own order cadence days silent > k × cadence
Churn Customers or revenue lost from the starting base lost ÷ starting base
Net revenue retention ARR now from last year's customers over their ARR then ARR now ÷ ARR then, same customers
Cohort Customers grouped by first-purchase period, fixed group by first purchase
Renewal calendar Contracted value ending per month with untouched accounts in notice Σ value by end month
Season watch Clients whose recurring work has not started by their usual date no activity by usual start + margin

Pipeline and forecast

Measure Definition Formula
Pipeline coverage Open pipeline closing in period over remaining target pipeline ÷ remaining target
Win rate Won over won plus lost among outcomes in the period won ÷ (won + lost)
Forecast bias Mean signed forecast miss per rep at a fixed week mean(forecast − actual) ÷ actual
Slip count Times a deal's close date moved to a later period count of out-of-period moves
Sales velocity Revenue per day the pipeline produces opps × win rate × avg value ÷ cycle days
Run rate Recent revenue scaled to a longer period, window stated window revenue ÷ window × period

Concentration and reporting

Measure Definition Formula
Top-n share Revenue from the largest n customers over total top-n revenue ÷ total
Count to half Customers, largest first, to reach half of revenue n where cumulative ≥ 50%
Contribution Gross margin less cost to serve per account revenue − cost − cost to serve
Price realisation Invoiced value over list value, against the agreed discount invoiced ÷ list
Lifetime value Annual contribution times expected remaining life, as a range contribution × expected life, discounted

Data quality

Measure Definition Formula
Roll-up Revenue summed identically at region, team, person and account Σ region = Σ team = Σ person = Σ account = ledger
Control total The source system's figure an export must match file total = source total
Data quality score Share of a rep's CRM records passing completeness and validity checks passing ÷ records

Adopting them

  1. Copy the thirty sentences into the company's definitions document.
  2. Change what needs changing; keep the formula shape.
  3. Number the version and date it.
  4. Put the version on every report.
  5. When a definition changes, change the version.

Where it goes wrong

Definitions in a workshop, not a document. Gone by the next quarter.

Changed silently. March and May incomparable.

Formula without the denominator stated. Coverage of what; penetration of what.

Thirty adopted, none versioned. Written, and still argued about.

Every report, the version

Covirage computes every one of these from stated, versioned definitions and cites the version on each table. The metrics governance solution describes the setup, the glossary has the long form of each term, and the versioned definitions guide covers why the version matters.

Questions people ask

Why does a company need written definitions?

Because two people computing coverage from the same CRM will get two numbers unless they share a sentence that says what a touch is and what the denominator is. The sentence is the definition; the number without it is an opinion with decimals.

Can these definitions be changed?

They should be, to fit the business, and then versioned. A definition that changed in April without a version makes March and May incomparable. The version number on every report is what makes a change safe.

Which five should a team start with?

Coverage, share of wallet, dormancy, pipeline coverage and top-n share. They cover activity, the base, the leak, the future and the risk, and they compute from a ledger and a CRM export on the first day.