50 Mind-Blowing Sales Facts that Will Change the Way You Work With Clients

If you thought you knew everything about selling, be prepared for some surprises with these 50 sales facts.

One reason you’re probably reading this post right now is because you know how quickly the world of sales changes. Just as you think you have a handle on the world of selling, new sales facts arise that make you question everything you’ve been doing.

These 50 sales facts will do just that.

Sales Facts You Should Consider Before You Start Selling

1. Only 2% of sales happen when two parties meet for the first time. [Marketing Donut] Tweet This
2. 35-50% of sales go to the company that responds first. [InsideSales] Tweet This
3. 63% of people requesting information on your company today will not purchase for at least 3 months – and 20% will take more than 12 to buy. [Marketing Donut] Tweet This
4. At any given time, only 3% of your market is actively ready to buy. 56% are not, 40% are poised to begin. [Vorsight] Tweet This
5. In a typical firm with 100-500 employees, an average of 7 people are involved in buying decisions. [Gartner Group] Tweet This
6. Nearly two thirds of B2B marketers identified engaging decision makers as their top challenge. [Forrester Research] Tweet This
7. After a presentation, 63% of attendees remember the stories told. Only 5% remember statistics. [Dan & Chip Heath] Tweet This
8. Visuals are processed 60 thousand times faster in the brain than text. [Neo Mammalian Studios] Tweet This
9. 70% of consumers make purchasing decisions to solve their problems. 30% make decisions to gain something. [Impact Communications] Tweet This
10. Customers believe that salespeople are 88% knowledgeable on product and only 24% on business expertise. [Corporate Visions] Tweet This
11. 95% of buyers chose a company that “provided them with ample content to help navigate through each stage of the buying process.” [DemandGen Report] Tweet This
12. On the phone, your tone is 86% of your communication. The words we actually use are only 14% of our communication. [ContactPoint] Tweet This
13. 71% of sellers say they spend too much time on data entry. [Toutapp] Tweet This
14. Only 33% of inside sales professionals’ time is spent actively selling. [CSO Insights] Tweet This
15. Nearly 57% of prospects and customers don’t feel that their B2B sales teams are prepared for the initial meeting. [IDC] Tweet This
16. Automated & enforced sales processes will generate 88% quota attainment. [Velocify] Tweet This

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Do these sales facts surprise you? We’ll give you an easy way to simplify your sales process. Schedule a free demo of our lead management software and turn prospects into customers in no time!

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Sales Facts about Emailing

1. An average buyer gets over 100 emails a day, but opens just 23%, and clicks on only 2% of them. [Tellwise] Tweet This
2. 33% of email recipients click on emails based on subject line alone. [Convince and Convert] Tweet This
3. Subject lines creating a sense of exclusivity and urgency create a 22% higher open rate. [Email Institute] Tweet This
4. Subject lines that contained the words “alert” and “breaking” perform well for B2B companies. [Adestra] Tweet This
5. Subject lines with more than 3 words experience a drop in opening by over 60%. [ContactMonkey] Tweet This
6. Using “free” in the subject line, increases opening 10% more than those without the word. [HubSpot] Tweet This
7. Emails with the word “quick” in the subject line get opened 17% less than those without. [HubSpot] Tweet This
8. Email marketing has a two times higher ROI than cold calling, networking or trade shows. [MarketingSherpa] Tweet This

Sales Facts about Phone Selling

1. On average, a team of 50 salespeople leave about 1,277 hours of voicemails per month. [RingDNA] Tweet This
2. The ideal voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds. [The Sales Hunter] Tweet This
3. 15% of every sales reps’ time simply leaving voicemails. [RingLead] Tweet This
4. The average response rate for voicemails is 4.8%. [InsideSales] Tweet This
5. 80% of calls go to voicemail, and 90% of first time voicemails aren’t returned. [RingLead] Tweet This
6. The best time to cold call is 4pm – 5pm. The second best time is 8am – 10am. The worst times are 11am and 2pm. [InsideSales] Tweet This
7. The best days of the week to call are Wednesdays and Thursdays. Make those calls from 6:45 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. [RingDNA] Tweet This
8. Tweet This
9. The worst days of the wee to call are Mondays from 6 a.m. to noon and Fridays in the afternoon. [RingDNA] Tweet This

Sales Facts About the Importance of Referrals

1. Increasing customer retention rates by 5% skyrockets profits by 25-95%. [Bain & Company] Tweet This
2. Each year, you’ll lose 14% of your customers. [BusinessBrief.com] Tweet This
3. 83% of consumers are comfortable making referrals after a positive experience. [Texas Tech University] Tweet This
4. 91% of customers say they’d give referrals. Only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. [Dale Carnegie] Tweet This
5. Customers are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend. [Neilsen] Tweet This
6. The lifetime value of a referred customer is 16% higher than a non-referred customer. [Journal of Marketing] Tweet This
7. 65% of a company’s new business is from the referrals they get. [New York Times] Tweet This
8. A referred customer is 18% more loyal than one acquired through a different method. [Journal of Marketing] Tweet This
9. A referred customer will spend 13.2% more than a non-referred customer. [Journal of Marketing] Tweet This

Sales Facts About the Importance of Using Social Media and Content Marketing

1. 73% of sales professionals using social selling as part of their sales process outperformed their peers and exceeded quota 23% more often. [Aberdeen] Tweet This
2. You’re 70% more likely to get an appointment on an unexpected sale by joining LinkedIn Groups. [Vorsight] Tweet This
3. Sales reps who use social selling are 50% more likely to meet or exceed their set quota. [Liz Gelb-O’Connor] Tweet This
4. The top sales professionals use LinkedIn at least 6 hours per week. [The Sales Management Association] Tweet This
5. 82% of buyers viewed at least five pieces of content from the winning company/brand/vendor. [Forrester] Tweet This
6. 68% of consumers feel more positive about brands who share engaging content. [iMedia Connection] Tweet This

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These sales facts may surprise you. It’s time to get to work and start selling. Here’s an easy way to simplify your sales process. Schedule a free demo of our lead management software and turn prospects into customers in no time!

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Do you have any other fun or surprising sales facts to share with our readers? If so, leave them in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!