Transform Your Sales Strategy: What Football Can Teach You About Winning KPIs
Are your sales KPIs falling short of your goals? Discover how the Kansas City Chiefs’ winning strategies can help you build a championship sales team.
If you want to understand how to build a sales team that consistently wins, look no further than the Kansas City Chiefs. Over the past few years, they’ve not only become a dominant force in the NFL but have also exemplified how success at every level—from the quarterback to the wide receiver, and all the way up to the ownership—can lead to championships. Since 2018 the Chiefs have racked up a 73-22 record and won three Super Bowls, including back-to-back victories in 2023 and 2024 .
Let’s explore how the Chiefs’ approach can be translated into the world of sales by structuring your team’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like a football team’s strategy.
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The Owner’s Vision: Thinking Beyond the Season
The Chiefs’ ownership isn’t just thinking about the next game—they’re focused on building a dynasty. This long-term vision is crucial for your sales leadership as well. In business, this is about setting strategic goals that will drive your company’s growth over the next few years. These are not the daily or even monthly metrics, but the overarching objectives that will define success.
Just as the Chiefs’ ownership focuses on multiple seasons and championship wins, your company’s leadership should be setting KPIs that reflect your long-term goals, such as market expansion, brand dominance, and consistent year-over-year revenue growth. This might include strategic initiatives like expanding into new markets or investing in research and development to create innovative products.
KPI Example:
Outlook/Horizon: 2-3 years
Success Measure: Year-over-year revenue growth
Cadence for Review: Annual reviews
In football, a dynasty is built over years, not just one season. The Chiefs’ focus on winning multiple Super Bowls shows how long-term vision drives short-term decisions. Similarly, in business, a clear vision of where you want to be in three years should guide your strategic decisions today.
Football Operations: Setting the Season’s Goals
For the Chiefs, every season is about more than just making the playoffs—it’s about dominating the competition. In business, this translates to setting annual goals that ensure your company is not just surviving but thriving in your industry. These are the KPIs that help you measure success over the fiscal year, ensuring that your team is hitting its targets and staying on course.
Your company’s operations team should be focused on achieving annual KPIs that contribute to the long-term strategy. This could involve setting targets for annual revenue, customer acquisition, or market share growth. It’s about translating the broader vision into specific, measurable outcomes for the year.
KPI Example:
Outlook/Horizon: This fiscal year
Success Measure: Achieving or exceeding the annual sales quota
Cadence for Review: Quarterly reviews
Just as the Chiefs aim to lead the league in points scored and yards gained every season, your business should strive to hit its yearly targets, ensuring you’re leading in your industry. Quarterly reviews act like the mid-season check-ins, allowing you to adjust your strategies and stay on track for the big wins.
The Head Coach: Game-Day Strategy
Andy Reid’s game-day decisions are crucial to the Chiefs’ success. In business, this role is mirrored by your sales managers or team leads, who are responsible for making tactical decisions that drive short-term results. These are the KPIs that need frequent monitoring, as they reflect the immediate performance of your sales team.
Sales managers should focus on KPIs that measure short-term success, such as monthly or even weekly targets. This could involve monitoring the number of deals closed, the conversion rate of leads to sales, or the average deal size. These metrics provide a clear picture of how well the team is performing and where adjustments may be needed.
KPI Example:
Outlook/Horizon: Monthly
Success Measure: Number of deals closed
Cadence for Review: Weekly reviews
In football, the head coach must make real-time decisions based on how the game is unfolding. Similarly, your sales managers need to constantly review and adjust their strategies to ensure they are on track to meet their short-term goals. This agility can be the difference between hitting targets or missing them.
Offensive Coordinator: The Drive for Results
In football, the offensive coordinator ensures that the team capitalizes on every opportunity to score, which is exactly what your sales campaigns should aim to do. The Chiefs excel in converting scoring opportunities, just as your team should excel in converting leads to sales.
Each sales campaign should be treated like a drive in football, with specific KPIs set to measure its success. These might include the conversion rate of leads to opportunities, the return on investment (ROI) from marketing efforts, or the customer acquisition cost. After each campaign, it’s crucial to review the results and refine your approach for the next one.
KPI Example:
Outlook/Horizon: Each sales campaign
Success Measure: Conversion rate from leads to opportunities
Cadence for Review: After each campaign
Just like an offensive coordinator reviews each drive and adjusts the playbook for the next one, your sales team should analyze the outcomes of each campaign, learn from them, and refine their approach to improve results.
5 Key KPIs Every Sales Team Should Track
Conversion Rate: Measure the percentage of leads that convert into customers. This KPI helps you understand the effectiveness of your sales process.
Average Deal Size: Track the average revenue generated per deal to gauge the value your sales team is bringing in.
Sales Cycle Length: Monitor the time it takes for a lead to become a customer. Shorter sales cycles often indicate a more efficient process. This also impacts the amount you need in your pipeline to meet goal.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Calculate how much it costs to acquire a new customer. Keeping this low while increasing revenue is key to profitability.
Customer Retention Rate: Focus on keeping your customers happy and coming back. A high retention rate indicates strong customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Pro Insight
Boost growth by honing in on only one of—conversion rate, deal size, or cycle length—while ensuring the others remain stable. A focused approach drives results.
The Quarterback: Executing the Play
Patrick Mahomes is renowned for his ability to execute under pressure, making crucial plays that often determine the outcome of a game. In your sales team, each rep needs to perform at a high level, consistently moving opportunities forward.
Your sales reps are the quarterbacks of your team, responsible for executing the daily tasks that lead to closing deals. KPIs for sales reps might include the number of client meetings scheduled, the number of follow-ups completed, or the sales conversion rate. These KPIs should be reviewed regularly to ensure that each rep is contributing to the overall success of the team.
KPI Example:
Outlook/Horizon: Weekly or bi-weekly
Success Measure: Number of first calls or meetings scheduled
Cadence for Review: After each set of client interactions
Just as Mahomes reviews his performance after each drive, your sales reps should be regularly assessing their own performance to identify areas for improvement and ensure they’re on track to meet their targets.
The Wide Receiver: Seizing the Moment
For the Chiefs, every catch and yard after the catch can be the difference between winning and losing. Your sales reps, like wide receivers, need to seize every opportunity to close deals and delight customers.
The final steps in closing a deal or securing customer satisfaction are crucial. KPIs here might include closing ratios, upsell rates, or customer satisfaction scores. It’s essential to track these metrics daily to ensure your team is making the most of every opportunity.
KPI Example:
Outlook/Horizon: Daily
Success Measure: Number of follow-ups or touchpoints completed
Cadence for Review: End-of-day reviews
Much like how every play counts in a football game, every follow-up and customer interaction is crucial to your sales success. Your sales reps should be focused on making the catch—securing the deal or ensuring customer satisfaction—at every opportunity.
Lagging vs. Leading Indicators: Balancing Your Playbook
The Chiefs’ success isn’t just about the final score. They consistently monitor leading indicators like third-down conversions and red zone efficiency, which directly contribute to their ability to win games. Similarly, your sales team should balance lagging KPIs (e.g., total sales closed) with leading KPIs (e.g., number of client meetings scheduled).
Leading indicators give you insights into future performance, allowing you to make proactive adjustments. Lagging indicators, on the other hand, reflect the outcomes of past actions. A balanced approach ensures that your team is focused on both achieving immediate results and setting the stage for future success.
Pro Insight
Identify which leading indicators have the most significant impact on your lagging KPIs. For example, tracking the number of product demos might give you insights into future sales success. Use this to make informed adjustments throughout the sales process.
Building a Championship Sales Team
The Kansas City Chiefs have shown that consistent success comes from having the right people in the right roles, all aligned with a clear strategy and measured by the right metrics. By structuring your sales team’s KPIs like a football team’s strategy, you create a framework that drives continuous improvement, accountability, and, ultimately, victory.
Whether you’re leading a small business or managing a large sales organization, this approach can help you create a sales team that not only meets its goals but consistently exceeds them. And just like the Chiefs, with the right strategy, your team can become champions in your industry.