Activity metrics
Counts of what sellers do, such as calls, emails, meetings and proposals sent, read next to the results they lead to.
In plain words
Activity metrics count the work sellers do, not what that work produces. Calls made, emails sent, meetings held, proposals sent. They show effort and pace. They do not show whether the effort reached the right customers or moved any deal.
Most CRMs record activity on their own: logged calls, emails and completed tasks linked to deals. A count is only as honest as the logging behind it. If sellers call from personal phones and never log the calls, the number shows less work than there was.
Worked example (invented numbers)
A seller holds 12 meetings in a month and sends 4 proposals: one proposal for every 3 meetings.
How to use it
Read activity metrics weekly, next to outcome metrics, never alone. The head of sales looks at them per seller, mostly in one-to-one meetings. They answer one question: when results are low, is the cause too little work or the wrong work?
If activity is low and results are low, the fix is volume and time. If activity is high and results are low, look at conversion between stages. The work happens, but deals do not move. That points to qualification, the conversation or the proposal.
Activity metrics belong on the sales dashboard, but in a small corner. Outcome metrics take the main space. Keep one or two activity counts that usually come right before a stage change, such as meetings held or proposals sent. Leave out the counts nobody acts on.
Common mistakes
- Setting activity targets and rewarding volume. Sellers then make short calls and send empty emails to hit the count. Track activity to find causes, and reward results.
- Counting everything. A screen full of activity counts hides the one that matters. Pick the activity that most often comes before a stage change and watch that one.
- Comparing sellers on raw counts. A seller with large deals makes fewer calls and holds longer meetings. Example (invented numbers): forty calls that lead to two proposals can beat a hundred calls that lead to one. Compare activity per deal moved forward.
- Trusting counts that are not logged. Once a month, check that calls and meetings in the CRM match the calendar. If they do not, fix the logging before you read the number.
NEXT STEP · TOOL
By Friday, the head of sales picks one activity count per seller, such as meetings held. Put it next to the deals that seller moved to the next stage over the last four weeks. In each one-to-one meeting, discuss the pair, not the count alone. A seller with many meetings and few moves needs help in the conversation, not more volume.
Which numbers to check every week, with one definition for the whole team.