Sales Representatives per Sales Support Employee

Sales Representatives per Sales Support Employee

KPI Details

Sales Representatives per Sales Support Employee measures the number of sales representatives supported by each individual Sales Support employee. A lower than average value may be related to process inefficiencies, lack of automation and/or simple overstaffing within the Sales Support function, all of which can drive up overhead costs. While a high value for this metric is preferred (i.e., each Sales Support employee supports many sales representatives), this should also be balanced with the level of service being provided to the sales representatives of the company (i.e., printing, drafting sales proposals, scheduling meetings, and other administrative work related to selling activities), as well as the effectiveness of recruiting, hiring and training processes performed by the company. To determine how many sales support employees are needed, the performance of time studies on sales representatives is recommended as these studies measure how sales representatives spend their time which allows management to gauge just how much time is spent on non-selling activities. As a general rule, if greater than 25% of a sales representative's time is spent on non-selling activities, an additional sales support employee is needed.

KPI Definition

The number of sales representatives divided by the total number of sales support employees working for the company over the same period of time. Sales Support employees are typically responsible for performing administrative activities, such as printing, scanning, drafting sales proposals, scheduling meetings, etc., related to the activities performed by sales representatives (both inside and outside sales representatives).

KPI Best Practices

• Periodically review the time allocation of sales representatives to determine appropriate sales support
• Conduct analysis of market demand in the area to develop necessary staffing levels
• Automate sales support activities through technology or process streamlining to minimize rework and redundancies

KPI Calculation Instructions Sales Representatives per Sales Support Employee?

Two values are used to calculate this KPI: (1) the number of sales representatives, and (2) the total number of sales support employees working for the organization at the same point in time. Sales Support employees should include all employees within the company that are dedicated to administrative work (printing, drafting sales proposals, scheduling meetings, etc.) related to selling activities. Include both inside and outside sales representatives in the numerator.

KPI Formula :

Number of Sales Representatives / Total Number of Sales Support Employees