Q3 2023 Report
RepVue
Cloud Sales Index
q3 2023
There has been a massive shift in technology organizations over the past two years as organizations have shifted from a 'grow at all costs' mentality to a more measured approach which targets efficiency and cost effective growth.
This shift has had a significant impact on B2B sellers, go-to-market (GTM) leaders, and revenue organizations. The RepVue Cloud Sales Index (207 companies with ~25,000 full sales professional ratings each month), enables us to provide a clear breakdown of where sales professionals are succeeding, which organizations are outperforming their peers, and other deep insights into the B2B sales landscape.
01
Hitting Quota in Tech Has Become Increasingly Challenging
Over the past seven quarters, sales professionals in the RepVue Cloud Sales Index have had a harder time hitting quota, with 53.0% of sales professionals hitting quota in Q1 2022, dropping to 42.8% in Q3 2023.
This trend is indicative of the market challenges including but not limited to macro economic shifts, increased competition due to over-saturation in SaaS verticals, and tightening of buyer budgets. A slight uptick in Q2 2023 hinted at potential recovery, but the following quarter witnessed a dip again, indicating challenges to SaaS companies may be persistent.
02
No Sub Industries Have Been Fully Resilient
Across the board, all nine Cloud sub industries in the RepVue Cloud Index have experienced a decline in the percent of B2B sellers that have been able to attain quota over the past 7 quarters.
57.87%2022
53.02%2023
8.4%Data & AI
44.91%2022
40.63%2023
9.5%Finance & ERP
50.66%2022
45.8%2023
9.6%Marketing Tools
54.48%2022
47.76%2023
12.3%HR Tools
52.34%2022
43.7%2023
16.5%DevOps & Developer Tools
50.08%2022
41.82%2023
16.5%Productivity & Collaboration Tools
48.38%2022
39.83%2023
17.7%Cybersecurity
51.26%2022
41.48%2023
19.1%Vertical Industry Software
51.26%2022
41.48%2023
19.1%Sales Tools
While the overall trajectory has been downward, it's noteworthy that certain verticals have faced steeper declines than others. For instance, while sectors like Data & AI and Finance & ERP have demonstrated resilience with a more gradual descent, verticals such as Sales Tools have exhibited a more pronounced dip. This variation between verticals underscores the unique challenges and market dynamics each one faces, even within the broader context of a challenging SaaS sales environment.
03
Higher Ticket Sellers Impact Muted
The ability for a B2B sales professional to attain quota across different deal sizes provides insights into the impact that macro conditions have had on segments such as SMB/commercial, mid-market, and enterprise.
Comparing Q3 2023 vs. 2022, we see a clear trend emerge that sales professionals focused on smaller deals are experiencing a more significant impact than those focused on larger deals. There are several factors at play here, such as more scrutiny for smaller deals in challenging macro-economic cycle, while larger deals not only already had higher scrutiny, but may be more strategic and less likely to be influenced by broader macro-economic conditions.
Deals under $10k
18%
Deals $10k - $50k
18%
Deals $50k - $100k
18%
Deals $100k - $200k
11%
Deals $200k+
12%
04
Tracking Sales Cycle Length Moving Forward
RepVue started to collect sales cycle length data (measured in days) in 2023 to benchmark trends in this key metric as it relates to segment performance and quota attainment in tech.
Deals $200k+
Deals $100k - $200k
Deals $50k - $100k
Deals $10k - $50k
Deals under $10k
RepVue started collecting this data after a significant change in the macro economic conditions. We will continue to monitor this data point and provide insights on how sales cycle lengths are normalizing across segments.
05
Largest Deal Sizes Increasing in Value
Average deal sizes across all segments increased in Q4-2023 compared to the previous quarter, with the largest deals making the most significant gains.
Over the last two years, average deal sizes have seen a bump across all segments during Q4. But the size of deals for Key Accounts jumped 16.9% YoY, and average deals for Enterprise Accounts were up 7.9%. Inflation may be a factor, or businesses may be increasing their margins for larger deals to offset challenges at other price-points.
06
Included Companies
We created the RepVue Cloud Sales Index by aggregating ratings data from 207 companies and categorizing them into SaaS sub-industries. This report is comprised of ~25,000 ratings from quota-carrying sales professionals who worked at these organizations.