Q1 2024 Report
RepVue
Cloud Sales Index
q1 2024
As we get our first look into how 2024 is going thus far, it’s clear the long-awaited recovery will not come as quickly as many had hoped. Quota attainment has largely moved sideways for a year now, with only gradual improvements. But on closer inspection of different sub-industries and deal-size cohorts, we continue to see areas for optimism which might be leading indicators of a broader recovery.
The RepVue Cloud Sales Index (comprising 214 companies with ~33,000 quota carrying sales professional ratings and over 900,000 data points), 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
Elevator Down, Stairs Up
Sales professionals in the RepVue Cloud Sales Index are slowly returning to better selling environments where they’re more able to hit their quotas. The Cloud Sales Index shows that still only 43.5% of sales professionals hit quota in Q1-2024. When compared to the 43.6% quota attainment rate in Q1-2023, we've been moving sideways for more than a year now.
The crash from mid-50s quota attainment to low-40s happened relatively quickly, falling precipitously over four quarters. It looks like there will be a long, slow grind to return to a reality where, on average, 50% of sales professionals will be able to hit quota within their respective organizations. In Q2-2024 it will be important to look for progress — though limited — and not more lateral stagnation.
02
No Sub-Industry has rebounded fully — but Finance & ERP, HR Tools and Sales Tools show YoY growth
Every sub-industry in the RepVue Cloud Sales Index remains below 2022 highs, but some saw YoY progress relative to Q1-2023.
49.95%Q1 23
48.74%Q1 24
2.4%Data & AI
39.31%Q1 23
40.37%Q1 24
2.7%Finance & ERP
46.37%Q1 23
45.66%Q1 24
1.5%Marketing Tools
46.85%Q1 23
48.8%Q1 24
4.2%HR Tools
47.53%Q1 23
43.61%Q1 24
8.3%DevOps & Developer Tools
43.54%Q1 23
42.71%Q1 24
1.9%Productivity & Collaboration Tools
40.77%Q1 23
37.35%Q1 24
8.4%Cybersecurity
43.54%Q1 23
40.15%Q1 24
7.8%Vertical Industry Software
38.99%Q1 23
42.25%Q1 24
8.4%Sales Tools
The marginal improvement in quota attainment at the aggregated level is not evenly distributed among the sub-industry cohorts. Finance & ERP, HR Tools and Sales Tools all showed YoY Growth, with Sales Tools rising the most from its Q1-2023 low. In absolute terms, Data & AI and HR Tools have the best current outlook for sellers with 48.8% attainment. In contrast, Cybersecurity saw a new low, down 8.4% YoY with only 37% of sellers able to reach their individual quotas.
It will be interesting to follow Sales Tools into Q2-2024 to see if the industry can build on its momentum.The Sales Tools sub-industry’s gains may be a leading indicator to the broader Cloud Index, as GTM teams across all sub-industries reinvest in their tech stacks to realize revenue 2024–2025 targets.
03
Enterprise Deals first to begin recovery
Sellers with average deal sizes $100K+ seeing the most improvement.
Deals of $100K–$200K and $200K+ saw promising YoY growth in quota attainment relative to Q1-2023, with deals $200K+ rising to 46.2% attainment and bettering the overall Cloud Sales Index by 3%. These deals often encompass more strategic initiatives by buyers and would be less subject to headwinds given the prioritization needed for solutions commanding this price tag. The $10K–$100K range saw greater challenges, declining YoY, suggesting continued budgetary pressure, as well as more competition relative to larger deals.
Deals under $10k
0.79%
Deals $10k - $50k
1.88%
Deals $50k - $100k
2.41%
Deals $100k - $200k
1.91%
Deals $200k+
3.59%
04
Small Deals getting less scrutiny?
Smaller deal sizes see accelerating average sales cycle length.
The smallest deals within the Cloud Sales Index — those under $10K — saw material improvement in average sales cycle length, decreasing 17.5% YoY to an average of 33 days. Perhaps more pressure to close business and flexibility with discounting has afforded these deals the necessary impetus for closing faster. At nearly 7x the sales cycle length, deals $200K+ remained flat at 230 days to close. Interestingly, those selling in this range are seeing the highest quota attainment rates, despite navigating the long and complex sales cycle.
Deals under $10k
17.51%
Deals $10k - $50k
2.9%
Deals $50k - $100k
0.67%
Deals $100k - $200k
3.14%
Deals $200k+
0.64%
05
Enterprise deals see ACV expansion
Key Account and Enterprise sellers see larger deal sizes.
Sellers focused on SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise, and Key Account buyers have largely maintained their average deal sizes within historical ranges. On a YoY basis, all of these sellers saw progress relative to Q1-2023, with SMB and Key Accounts increasing more than 10%. Over a longer timeframe, Enterprise and Key Accounts have established a gradual increasing trend in average deal size, whereas SMB and Mid-Market are more choppy and only now returning to 2022 levels.
06
Included Companies
We created the RepVue Cloud Sales Index by aggregating ratings data from 214 companies and categorizing them into SaaS sub-industries. This report comprises ~33,000 ratings from quota-carrying sales professionals who worked at these organizations.