12 Strategies to Improve Sales Performance and Close More Deals

Sales performance has always been a make-or-break factor for growth, but in 2025 it is also a competitive differentiator. The most successful organizations have found ways to balance data-driven decision-making with the human side of sales, encompassing the motivation, skills, and mindset that keep teams productive and engaged. This balance is harder to achieve than it looks. Economic uncertainty, evolving buyer expectations, and an influx of digital tools have raised the bar for sales teams. Leaders are expected to deliver results in less time, often with fewer resources.

A McKinsey study found that companies with top-quartile sales operations have win rates up to 20% higher than their peers, and their salespeople are more likely to consistently meet or exceed their quotas (McKinsey & Company, 2023). The good news is that sales performance is not fixed; it can be measured, influenced, and improved with the right strategies.

This guide will unpack what sales performance really means, how to measure it, the factors that influence it, and actionable strategies to improve it. It will also explore how SalesScreen supports sales performance improvement through motivation, visibility, and recognition.

What Is Sales Performance?

Sales performance refers to the effectiveness with which an individual, team, or organization achieves its sales objectives over a specified period. It’s not just about revenue numbers; although revenue is the ultimate output, but also about the activities, behaviors, and processes that lead to those results.

High sales performance means consistently meeting or exceeding targets, maintaining strong conversion rates, and building sustainable customer relationships. It also reflects how well a sales team adapts to market changes, responds to buyer needs, and collaborates internally. From a leadership perspective, sales performance is a balance of quantity and quality. Quantity is about volume, referring to the number of calls made, proposals sent, or deals closed. Quality focuses on the value of each interaction, the relevance of solutions offered, and the long-term potential of each customer relationship.

How to Measure Sales Performance

Measuring sales performance effectively means looking beyond the surface-level metrics. Revenue and quota attainment are critical, but they are lagging indicators. To manage performance proactively, leaders need to track both leading and lagging indicators.

Key metrics include:

• Quota attainment: The percentage of salespeople meeting or exceeding their quota.
• Win rate: The percentage of opportunities won out of total opportunities.
• Conversion rate: The percentage of leads converted into paying customers.
• Average deal size: The mean value of closed deals, which can indicate market positioning and sales effectiveness.
• Sales cycle length: How long it takes to move from initial contact to closed deal.
• Activity metrics: Calls made, meetings booked, proposals sent, and other measurable actions.
• Customer retention rate: A reflection of post-sale satisfaction and relationship management.
• Pipeline coverage: The ratio of opportunities in the pipeline compared to quota.

According to Gartner, organizations that track a balanced set of both leading and lagging metrics are 1.5 times more likely to improve sales performance year-over-year (Gartner, 2024).

The Key Drivers of Sales Team Performance

Several elements work together to determine how well a sales team performs. These drivers can be internal, such as team motivation, skill development, or process efficiency, or external, such as market conditions, competitive pressures, and changing customer expectations.

1. Skill and Capability Development

Sales skills, from prospecting to closing, directly impact results. Regular training ensures teams stay competitive in an evolving market while also equipping them to adopt new technologies and adapt to shifting buyer expectations.

2. Motivation and Morale

Motivation is a multiplier. High morale fuels resilience and persistence, while low morale can derail even the most skilled teams and reduce their willingness to engage prospects or push through challenging sales cycles.

3. Process and Workflow Efficiency

A clear and streamlined sales process reduces friction. It ensures that opportunities move smoothly through the pipeline, helping teams focus their energy on revenue-generating activities rather than administrative or repetitive tasks.

4. Access to the Right Tools

Modern sales require CRM platforms, data intelligence tools, and engagement software. When tools are easy to use, well integrated, and aligned with the sales process, performance improves and adoption rates remain consistently high.

5. Leadership and Coaching

Managers who provide ongoing and personalized coaching can significantly increase rep performance. Research from CSO Insights reveals that effective coaching can increase win rates by up to 16 percent and enhance overall team engagement.

6. Market Conditions and Competition

Even the best teams must adapt to shifting economic trends, competitor activity, and buyer behaviors, finding innovative ways to differentiate their offerings and maintain relevance in crowded or rapidly changing markets.

Defining High-Performing Sales Teams in 2025

A high-performing sales team in 2025 is not just a group of high-revenue producers. It is a cohesive unit that blends individual talent with collective discipline, using data insights and human connection in equal measure.

Traits of high-performing sales teams include:

• Consistent quota attainment across the team, not just among top performers.
• Strong collaboration between sales, marketing, and customer success.
• High adaptability to new tools, buyer expectations, and market shifts.
• A customer-first approach that focuses on solving problems rather than pushing products.
• A culture of continuous learning and feedback.

For example, some global sales organizations have implemented peer-learning programs where top performers share strategies with the rest of the team, creating a culture of shared success rather than competition alone.

Why Sales Performance Improvement Fails in Many Companies

Many companies set out to improve sales performance with good intentions, but see limited results. Common reasons include:

• Over-reliance on short-term incentives: While contests or bonuses can drive quick spikes in activity, they rarely lead to sustained improvement and often fail to address deeper skill or process gaps.
• Lack of clarity in goals: Vague targets make it difficult for salespeople to understand what success looks like, reducing focus and hindering their ability to prioritize daily actions effectively.
• Insufficient coaching: Without ongoing support, reps may revert to old habits, miss growth opportunities, and struggle to adapt to evolving market or customer expectations.
• Misaligned tools: Technology that is cumbersome or poorly integrated slows down productivity, creates frustration among users, and prevents teams from fully leveraging available data and insights.
• Ignoring cultural factors: A toxic or disengaged culture can undermine even the best sales processes, eroding trust, lowering morale, and driving higher turnover rates among top performers.

McKinsey research found that fewer than 30% of sales transformation efforts succeed in achieving sustained performance improvement (McKinsey & Company, 2023). The most successful programs are those that combine process improvements with cultural and behavioral changes.

12 Proven Strategies to Improve Sales Performance

1. Set Clear, Measurable Goals

Salespeople perform best when they know exactly what they are working toward. Goals should be specific, time-bound, and tied to larger business objectives so every action has a clear purpose.

Clear targets provide direction and focus, helping reps prioritize high-value opportunities. They also make it easier for leaders to track progress and adjust strategies as needed.

2. Invest in Continuous Training

Continuous training keeps sales teams competitive in a rapidly changing market. Skill-building should go beyond product knowledge to include communication, negotiation, and problem-solving.

Companies with a strong learning culture see higher productivity and faster market response. Regular development sessions help reps adapt quickly to new tools, buyer expectations, and selling environments.

3. Improve Lead Qualification

A well-defined Ideal Customer Profile ensures reps focus on prospects most likely to convert. Clear qualification criteria prevent wasted time on leads that lack genuine interest or budget.

Data-driven scoring models refine targeting even further, helping teams concentrate on high-potential accounts. This improves conversion rates and shortens the sales cycle, making the pipeline healthier overall.

4. Enhance Sales Coaching

Consistent coaching helps salespeople improve skills, stay motivated, and overcome challenges. Effective coaching is personalized, using performance data to identify areas of improvement and growth opportunities.

One-on-one sessions create space for tailored advice and role-play scenarios. This approach strengthens selling techniques, boosts confidence, and ensures that learning translates into measurable results in the field.

5. Optimize Sales Processes

Streamlined processes reduce friction and keep opportunities moving. Mapping the buyer journey helps identify bottlenecks that delay deals or create frustration for customers.

When processes are clear and efficient, reps can focus more on selling than on admin tasks. This leads to faster cycles, better experiences, and stronger revenue outcomes.

6. Leverage Sales Technology

Modern sales tools improve productivity and provide valuable insights. CRM automation, AI-driven analytics, and engagement platforms remove manual tasks and free up time for selling.

Integration is key. When tools work seamlessly together, they give leaders and reps the real-time data they need to make smarter, faster decisions at every stage of the pipeline.

7. Foster Collaboration Across Teams

Sales doesn’t work in isolation. Aligning sales, marketing, and customer success ensures consistent messaging and smooth handoffs from one stage to the next.

Regular cross-team meetings and shared performance goals help break down silos. This collaboration improves efficiency, strengthens relationships with customers, and increases the likelihood of long-term account retention.

8. Track and Analyze the Right Metrics

Focusing only on lagging indicators like revenue misses early warning signs. Leading metrics, such as pipeline growth or meeting volume, reveal trends before problems escalate.

By tracking both, leaders gain a balanced view of performance. This enables proactive adjustments, better forecasting, and smarter allocation of resources across the sales organization.

9. Implement Recognition Programs

Recognition boosts morale and drives sustained effort. Celebrating milestones, wins, and positive behaviors encourages healthy competition and motivates teams to push further.

Programs can include public shoutouts, peer nominations, or small incentives. The key is consistency; recognition should be timely and meaningful so it reinforces the behaviors that lead to results.

10. Encourage Peer Learning

Top performers have techniques worth sharing. Structured peer-learning sessions allow knowledge to spread quickly across the team, creating collective strength.

This approach also builds trust and camaraderie. By learning from peers, reps gain practical, real-world tactics while building a shared sense of responsibility for team-wide success.

11. Personalize Sales Enablement

Generic resources don’t meet every rep’s needs. Tailoring enablement materials by territory, vertical, or role ensures relevance and faster adoption.

When reps receive tools and content that match their selling environment, they can act with greater confidence. This leads to more effective conversations and stronger outcomes with prospects.

12. Build a Culture of Accountability

Accountability keeps performance on track. Clear expectations and regular check-ins ensure commitments are met and progress is visible to all.

When leaders model accountability themselves, it sets a standard for the entire team. This fosters trust, improves execution, and aligns daily activity with organizational goals.

How SalesScreen Improves Sales Performance

SalesScreen supports performance improvement by integrating recognition, visibility, and motivation into the everyday sales workflow, helping teams stay engaged, aligned, and focused on consistently achieving their targets.

• Visibility That Drives Action: SalesScreen’s dashboards and leaderboards make performance metrics visible in real time. When reps can see their progress, they stay engaged and can adjust their efforts proactively.
• Recognition That Inspires: Celebrating both significant wins and daily accomplishments fosters a culture where everyone feels valued. Whether it’s hitting a milestone or contributing to team goals, recognition drives engagement.
• Motivation Through Gamification: SalesScreen uses gamification to make progress measurable and fun. Competitions, challenges, and achievement badges give reps an extra push to reach targets.
• Data-Driven Insights: Managers can use SalesScreen to identify performance trends and coaching opportunities, ensuring that improvements are targeted and impactful.

By combining motivation with measurable outcomes, SalesScreen helps teams build the habits and behaviors that sustain performance over time, rather than creating short-lived bursts of activity.

Start Creating a Culture That Delivers Consistent Results

Improving sales performance is not about chasing quick wins. It is about creating a system where goals are clear, processes are efficient, and people are motivated to bring their best every day. It requires investment in skills, alignment between teams, and tools that make the job easier, not harder.

With the right combination of measurement, coaching, technology, and culture, any organization can elevate its sales performance. SalesScreen plays a crucial role in making these improvements stick by integrating motivation and recognition into daily sales activities, helping teams not only meet their numbers but also sustain success over the long term.