The KPI Trap: Why Just Tracking Turnover Isn’t Enough

By Alison Fell
Practice Partner, SalesStar

The constant CEO complaint rings true: “My sales team don’t know what activity to do“. Their sales activity is completely reactive, focusing only on “what’s urgent?” instead of “what moves the needle“. This leads to managers coaching based on opinion, not data.

If your team is only focusing on monthly turnover targets, you’re missing the forest for the trees. Turnover (revenue) is a lagging indicator, a historical result of past actions. To change the future, you must change the present.

The Shift: Setting Leading KPIs

A reactive team needs a clear, step-by-step roadmap. The critical step for moving from reactive to predictable sales is to Shift From Reactive to Planned Sales Activity. This is accomplished by Setting Leading KPIs (Not Just Lagging Ones).

A leading KPI is an activity metric that directly influences the lagging revenue goal. The core action is to reverse-engineer your revenue target into daily/weekly activity.

For example, if you know your average deal size and win rate, you can calculate how many qualification calls or pipeline reviews (your leading KPIs) must happen each week to hit your target.

• Measurable Impact: The Hackett Group’s research shows that companies that use a balanced approach to KPIs, linking activity to strategy, are up to 30% more likely to be top performers. Defined KPIs give managers real visibility and real control.
• Predictable Performance: They allow managers to coach effectively, focusing on the specific, high-leverage activities that need improvement, not just the final result.

The focus shifts from sales people ‘winging it’ to executing consistently within a defined process.

The Solution: Make It Visible, Coachable, and Accountable

You must make your leading KPIs visible, coachable, and accountable. This is underpinned by two key actions: Implement a Best-Practice Sales Process (defining each stage and the required activity) and Introduce weekly rhythms, structured coaching, and proactive pipeline management.

This clear structure ensures your team is always working on “what moves the needle”.

SalesStar’s One Page Sales Plan addresses this by providing a simple, streamlined strategy focused on achieving measurable success.

This clarity is crucial for establishing and monitoring strong leading KPIs, allowing you to measure progress accurately, identify specific areas for improvement, and focus your valuable time and energy on implementing the strategy that drives those critical forward-looking metrics, ultimately leading to predictable revenue growth.

Here’s to a bold, aligned, and high-performance 2026.

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