Glossary
What is a sales quota?
A sales quota is the target a seller or a team is expected to reach in a period, usually revenue, but sometimes meetings, opportunities or activities. Quota attainment is the share of the target actually reached. A fair quota is set from what the territory and the pipeline can realistically produce, not from the company's wish.
Published by Sellinger AI. Numbers and settings checked on 24 October 2026 against the fact register. Report an error.
What kinds of quota are there?
| Type | Measures | Typical role |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Value of deals closed | Account executives |
| Meetings | Qualified meetings booked or held | SDRs and BDRs |
| Opportunities | Qualified opportunities created | SDRs, partner managers |
| Activity | Messages or calls | Usually a poor target on its own |
How do you set a quota?
Work backwards from capacity. An example with made up numbers: if a seller can run 40 qualified opportunities a quarter, with a 25% win rate and an average deal of 8,000, a realistic quota is about 80,000. Adjust for ramp time, territory and seasonality.
Meeting quotas for SDRs should count meetings held, not booked. See count meetings honestly.
What goes wrong with quotas?
- Targets set from the board's growth plan with no link to pipeline.
- Activity quotas that reward sending, not outcomes.
- No allowance for ramp time for new sellers.
- Changing the rules mid period.
How Sellinger handles it
Sellinger does not set or track quotas. Its analytics report what quota setting needs as an input: people reached, replies, meetings booked and held, and deals won, by channel, campaign or source. See reading your analytics.
Common questions
What is quota attainment?
Should SDRs have a meetings quota?
Is an activity quota a good idea?
Sources and method
General sales practice; the example is illustrative. Sellinger analytics from the analytics help article, checked 24 October 2026.
Related: Ramp time, Win rate, SDR vs BDR, LinkedIn outreach for sales managers.
