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It feels like your team’s close rates are stalling or at least not climbing the way you’d expect with the effort going in. One quarter, deals are flowing. The next? Crickets. And you’re not alone. Across industries, sales leaders are asking the same thing: “Are we improving, or just standing still?”
Here’s the truth, close rates are shifting, but not in one clear direction. Some teams are thriving. Others are treading water. And what’s driving that split comes down to a few key trends: how well your marketing and sales teams are aligned, the quality of your leads, and how much you’re leveraging existing customer relationships.
We’ve dug into the most recent data and trends shaping 2025’s close rate landscape, and in this article, you’ll get a clear snapshot of where things stand, why they’re moving the way they are, and what you can do about it.
Whether you’re feeling uncertain or just want to benchmark your performance, this guide will give you the answers you’re looking for.
2025 Sales Statistics Snapshot
Here’s some data (and what it means) in 2025 for sales:
- Average close rates are steady around 19–22%: In a turbulent market, consistency is a mark of system strength, not stagnation.
- Top performers consistently close ~30% or more: Breakthrough performance stems from repeatable systems, not random luck.
- Warm leads close 6–8× better than cold outreach: Quality beats quantity by miles, especially in the mid-funnel.
- Referrals dominate with 25–60% close rates: Referrals have the power to reshape the funnel itself, and if you’re not taking advantage of them, you’re likely missing out on significant revenue opportunities.
How to Calculate & Benchmark Your Sales Close Rate
Your close rate is one of the simplest and clearest ways to measure sales performance. But before you dive into tools or dashboards, it’s worth getting comfortable with the manual calculation.
Here’s the formula:
Let’s put it into context. Say you received 50 leads this quarter and closed 15 deals. Your close rate would be:
(15 ÷ 50) × 100 = 30%
Easy, right? And now that you know how to calculate it, here’s where it becomes useful… benchmarking.
As mentioned earlier, the average close rate across industries is around 20%.
So if your close rate is sitting at, say, 15%, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re underperforming. But it does mean you’ve got room to optimise.
How to Improve Your Sales Close Rate
If your close rate is flat, or even slightly falling, don’t panic. Small, targeted changes can create meaningful lifts.
Here’s where to focus:
1. Align Sales and Marketing with Shared Metrics
Get both teams working toward the same definitions and goals:
- What does a qualified lead really look like?
- Are you both clear on who your ideal buyer is?
- Are marketing’s leads closing at the same rate as outbound ones?
Set regular check-ins, build a feedback loop, and agree on shared targets. That’s how you raise lead quality and your close rate.
2. Prioritise Referral Programmes
Referrals close better, faster, and cheaper. Make it easy for customers to refer others:
- Offer a reward (credit, discount, or even just a thank-you)
- Ask at the right time, like after a successful onboarding
- Equip your team with referral scripts or templates
This is one of the lowest-cost, highest-return strategies available.
3. Double Down on Lead Qualification
Every bad lead you chase wastes time you could spend closing a good one. So qualify harder:
- Use a scorecard or checklist to weed out unfit leads early
- Don’t be afraid to disqualify gently. “No” early saves time later
- Align qualification criteria with your marketing team
When you stop wasting energy on cold or mismatched leads, your close rate improves by default.
What is HubSpot’s AI Prospecting Tool and How Does It Work?
4. Optimise Your Pipeline Stages
Where do deals fall apart? Find the leaks and plug them:
- Are you losing too many in the demo stage? Maybe your demo needs reworking.
- Are follow-ups lagging? Introduce reminders or automation.
- Is pricing killing deals late in the process? That’s a sales script issue.
Fix the friction, and more leads will naturally flow to “closed won.”
Comprehensive Guide: Creating a Customer Journey Map for Sales Enablement
So, What’s Next?
Here’s what to do next:
- Calculate your current close rate. Use the simple formula.
- Compare it to your industry benchmark. Around 20% is average, but your space might trend higher or lower.
- Audit your lead quality. Are your marketing and sales teams aligned? Are you getting referrals? What sources drive your best leads?
- Pick one improvement area. Don’t try to fix everything at once. Start with qualification, alignment, or referral strategy, and test it.
Remember: small, consistent changes move the needle. A 2–3% lift in close rate doesn’t just look good… it can mean serious revenue over time.
Next, check out this 9 word email strategy that we used to increase close rates.
How to implement the 9-word email in your sales strategy
