A VP of Ops cornered me last week with this question: “What’s the one KPI that actually matters for new salespeople?”
Here’s what I told him: Revenue to cost-neutrality.
Not activity metrics. Not pipeline coverage. Not how many discovery calls you logged in Salesforce.
Cold, hard revenue that covers your salary, benefits, and that overpriced company car.
Why? Because the moment you become cost-neutral, you transform from “expensive experiment” to “profitable team member.” The pressure from finance drops. Your manager sleeps better. Stakeholders stop asking uncomfortable questions about headcount.
It’s brutally simple math:
- Your fully loaded cost is $X
- Generate $Y in recognized revenue converting into $Z contribution margin. $Z ≥ $X
- Congratulations, you’re no longer a liability
This applies to managers too. Your team hits cost-neutrality faster? You become the hero who “makes rain” instead of the person who “burns cash.”
The beautiful thing about this KPI: It forces you to focus on deals that actually close, not just pretty pipeline numbers that make your forecast look optimistic.
Want to know if you’re winning? Stop counting activities and start counting dollars that hit the bank.
Everything else is just keeping score.
