Activity-Based Selling

What is Activity-Based Selling?

Activity-based selling is a methodology that focuses on the specific activities that drive sales results, rather than just tracking outcomes.

Traditional sales management emphasizes results: "Hit your quota or else." Activity-based selling asks: "What activities, performed consistently, will achieve quota?"

Core Philosophy:
Results are outputs. Activities are inputs. You can't control outputs directly, but you can control inputs.

The Activity Equation:
(Activity Volume × Activity Quality × Conversion Rate) = Results

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Why Activity-Based Selling Matters

Sales outcomes feel random when you don't track activities. Activity-based selling brings predictability.

Benefits:

• Predictability: Consistent activities → consistent results
• Coaching: Activities reveal what needs improvement
• Process Improvement: Identify which activities drive highest ROI
• Ramp Time: New reps follow proven activity patterns
• Motivation: Control effort, not just worry about results

The Pareto Principle in Sales:
20% of sales activities drive 80% of results. Activity-based selling identifies and focuses on that vital 20%.

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Core Sales Activities

High-Value Activities

Prospecting:

• Researching target accounts
• Building prospect lists
• Personalizing outreach

Outreach:

• Sending cold emails
• Making cold calls
• LinkedIn engagement

Pipeline Advancement:

• Discovery calls
• Product demos
• Proposal presentations
• Follow-ups

Pipeline Management:

• CRM updates
• Deal strategy
• Stakeholder mapping

Low-Value Activities

Administrative:

• Excessive CRM hygiene (beyond what's useful)
• Unnecessary meetings
• Report generation with no action

Busy Work:

• Reorganizing pipelines without purpose
• Researching already-qualified prospects
• Perfecting materials that don't impact conversion

Activity-based selling maximizes high-value time.

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Defining Sales Activities

Activity Categories

1. Lead Generation Activities

Activity	Daily Target	Time per Activity
Research accounts	10-15	5 min each
Build prospect lists	20-30 prospects	30-45 min total
Personalize outreach	10-15 emails	5 min each

2. Outreach Activities

Activity	Daily Target	Time per Activity
Cold emails	30-60	2-3 min each
Cold calls	30-50	3-5 min each
LinkedIn touches	10-20	2 min each

3. Pipeline Activities

Activity	Weekly Target	Time per Activity
Discovery calls	10-15	30 min each
Demos	8-12	45 min each
Follow-ups	20-30	10 min each

4. Management Activities

Activity	Weekly Target	Time per Activity
CRM updates	Daily ongoing	15-30 min/day
Deal review	5-10 deals	15 min each
Pipeline strategy	1-2 hours	-

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Activity Benchmarks

By Sales Role

SDR/BDR Activities:

Metric	Ramping	Fully Ramped	Top Performer
Emails/Day	30-50	50-100	100-150
Calls/Day	20-40	40-60	60-100
LinkedIn/Day	10-20	20-40	40-60
Meetings/Week	3-5	8-15	15-25

AE Activities:

Metric	Ramping	Fully Ramped	Top Performer
Demos/Week	3-5	5-10	10-15
Proposals/Month	2-4	4-8	8-12
Deals Closed/Month	1-2	3-6	6-10

Activity Conversion Rates

Outreach to First Meeting:

Activity	Typical Conversion
Cold Email	1-3% reply, 0.5-1.5% meeting
Cold Call	5-15% connect, 2-5% meeting
LinkedIn	10-30% accept, 3-8% meeting

Meeting to Pipeline:

Activity	Typical Conversion
Discovery Call	50-70% to next stage
Demo	40-60% to proposal
Proposal	25-40% to close

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Implementing Activity-Based Selling

Step 1: Define Your Activities

Identify the specific activities that drive pipeline for your business.

Questions:

• What activities do top performers consistently execute?
• Which activities correlate with closed deals?
• What's the minimum viable activity level?

Step 2: Set Activity Targets

Establish daily, weekly, and monthly activity goals.

Principles:

• Start conservative (achievable builds confidence)
• Increase gradually as reps ramp
• Account for non-selling time (meetings, admin)
• Differentiate by role and experience level

Step 3: Track Activities

Measure activity execution consistently.

Tracking Methods:

• CRM automation (auto-log calls, emails)
• Sales engagement platforms (sequence tracking)
• Manual check-ins (for offline activities)
• Activity dashboards (real-time visibility)

Step 4: Coach to Activities

Use activity data for targeted coaching.

Coaching Scenarios:

• Low email volume → Prospecting block scheduling
• Low connect rate → Call script and timing review
• Low demo conversion → Discovery and demo skills practice

Step 5: Iterate and Optimize

Continuously refine based on results.

Review Questions:

• Which activities predict success most strongly?
• Are activity targets appropriate?
• Where are reps wasting time?
• What activities should we add/remove?

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Activity Quality vs. Quantity

Both matter. High volume + low quality = spam. Low volume + high quality = insufficient pipeline.

Quality Indicators:

• Personalized vs. generic outreach
• Research depth before contact
• Relevance of messaging
• Follow-up persistence
• Stakeholder targeting precision

Balance Formula:
(Quantity × Quality) = Effectiveness

Example:

• 100 generic emails × 1% quality = 1 positive response
• 25 researched emails × 10% quality = 2.5 positive responses

Fewer, higher-quality activities often outperform volume without quality.

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Common Mistakes

Activity for Activity's Sake:
Tracking activities that don't impact results. Focus on high-leverage activities only.

Ignoring Quality:
Measuring email volume but not personalization. Reps game the system with low-value activity.

One-Size-Fits-All:
Setting identical targets for all reps regardless of experience, territory, or role.

Static Targets:
Not adjusting activity targets based on seasons, market changes, or feedback.

Activity Without Context:
Tracking activities but not helping reps improve. Data without coaching is useless.

Short-Term Focus:
Driving activities that hit this month's quota but damage long-term relationships.

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Key Takeaways

• Activity-based selling focuses on inputs that drive outputs
• Track specific activities: emails, calls, demos, proposals
• Set activity targets: emails/day, demos/week, calls/month
• Balance quantity with quality
• Coach to activities, not just results
• Use activity data for pipeline predictability
• Focus on high-leverage activities (Pareto principle)
• Track activities consistently in CRM
• Iterate targets based on what actually works
• Activities you control → Results you achieve

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Related Terms

• Sales Cadence - Structured sequence of activities
• Pipeline - Results of your activities
• SDR - High-activity sales role
• Forecasting - Predicting results from activities