Revenue is usually the first number a print shop looks at when evaluating sales performance. It matters, but revenue alone cannot tell you whether your sales process is healthy. It tells you what happened, not why it happened.
A shop can hit its revenue goal while quotes are sitting untouched, existing customers are ordering less often, or new accounts are disappearing after their first job. Those problems may not become obvious until revenue starts declining.
The right print sales metrics provide an earlier and more useful view of performance. By tracking the activity behind the final revenue number, owners and sales managers can identify where opportunities are stalling, which accounts need attention, and where the sales team can improve. These sales KPIs can turn sales reporting from a scorecard into a tool for making better decisions.
Quote-to-Order Conversion Rate
Your quote conversion rate measures how many quotes ultimately become orders. If your team produces 100 quotes and 35 become jobs, your conversion rate is 35%.
This metric becomes particularly valuable when you break it down by salesperson, customer type, product category, or quote value.
A low conversion rate could point to pricing issues, poor qualification, slow follow-up, or competitors consistently winning certain types of work. A high rate might indicate strong sales performance, but it could also suggest your team is only quoting easy-to-win opportunities and not pursuing enough new business.
Tracking the rate over time gives you a clearer picture of whether your quoting process is becoming more or less effective.
Read this full article on Printing Impressions, a publication of PRINTING United Alliance, ASI’s strategic partner.
