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9 min read

How to Calculate Your Sales Growth Rate – Formula and Examples

How to Calculate Your Sales Growth Rate – Formula and Examples

Let’s face it. The market only gets more intense and chaotic with each passing day. 

That being said, the ability to measure sales growth effectively is not just a metric—it’s a crucial barometer of your business’s health and trajectory in the long-term. 

Understanding your sales growth rate can provide insights into your operational efficacy and market impact. This measurement isn’t just about capturing a number; it’s about interpreting what that number means in the context of your business strategy and market environment. 

By examining how sales figures have evolved over specific periods, businesses can identify trends, forecast future performance, and adjust their strategies to better meet their objectives.

So, let’s take a moment to talk about sales growth.

What is sales growth?

Sales growth reflects the pace at which a company’s revenue expands or contracts within a specified period. 

Consider this: If a SaaS company reports revenue of $1 million in the current year, up from $800,000 the previous year, its annual growth rate stands at 25%. 

This percentage is calculated by determining the difference between the two yearly figures, dividing that number by the previous year’s total, and multiplying by 100.

Internally, this metric serves as a vital checkpoint for management, steering the company’s strategic decisions—from budget allocations to strategic hires. Externally, investors laser-focus on this figure to evaluate the company’s potential for sustained growth or to flag potential stagnation before it becomes entrenched. 

Understanding your sales growth rate in both percentages and absolute terms offers a comprehensive view of where the business stands and sets the stage for informed decision-making and strategic planning.

Why is it important to measure sales growth?

Gauging sales growth is a lot like setting a navigational course in the vast ocean of commerce. It offers a clear indication of whether a business is merely drifting or sailing towards its financial targets. 

By monitoring this growth, sales leaders can fine-tune strategies, ensuring they are not only reactive, but proactive in their market approaches.

Regular measurement of sales growth will allow you to track your progress against this ambitious goal, adapting their strategies in real-time to address evolving market conditions or internal challenges. 

For sales teams, understanding growth trajectories is not merely motivational. It provides a concrete framework within which they can visualize their direct impact on the company’s fortunes.

Furthermore, in businesses where recurring revenue is the lifeblood—such as subscription-based models—keeping a close eye on sales growth can help predict long-term financial health and sustainability. It’s also a tool for transparency and communication within the team, offering a narrative that can inspire and mobilize. 

By sharing specific growth figures, leaders can highlight successes, pinpoint areas needing improvement, and foster a collaborative environment to support overall business growth. Through such strategic oversight, measuring sales growth becomes an essential lever for business success, turning raw data into a storyline of progress and perseverance.

How to calculate your sales growth rate

Understanding how to calculate your sales growth rate is vital for any business, particularly in the dynamic realms of SaaS sales and presales processes. By deciphering your growth, you can align your sales strategies and presales processes to better serve your business goals.

Identify the net sales

The first step in calculating your sales growth is to determine the net sales for two consecutive periods, using your company’s income statements. 

For instance, if a SaaS company is looking to evaluate its performance from the first to the second quarter, it would extract the net sales figures from each quarter’s income statement. Imagine the scenario where net sales in Q1 were $500,000 and rose to $600,000 in Q2.

Calculate the difference in net sales

Once you have your net sales for both periods, the next step involves calculating the difference between them. 

This difference represents the actual growth in dollar terms. For our hypothetical SaaS company, the calculation would be $600,000 (Q2 sales) – $500,000 (Q1 sales) = $100,000.

Determine the percentage growth

To convert this dollar figure into a percentage that reflects the growth rate, you divide the growth by the net sales of the earlier period and then multiply by 100. 

Therefore, for the SaaS company, the growth rate would be ($100,000 / $500,000) * 100 = 20%. 

This percentage not only showcases the actual growth, but also contextualizes it in terms of relative performance compared to the previous period.

Sales growth formula

Now, let’s dive into the specific formulas used to measure sales growth, crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of the SaaS sales process and overall business strategy.

Sales growth rate formula

The standard formula for calculating the sales growth rate is straightforward yet powerful in providing quick insights into business performance. 

The formula is:

Sales growth rate = [(Current period sales – Prior period sales) / Prior period sales]*100

Average sales growth rate

To gain a broader perspective of long-term sales performance, calculating the average sales growth rate is essential. 

This measure smooths out the volatility in yearly growth rates, providing a more stable view of performance over time. The formula is:

Average annual sales growth rate = (Sales growth rate A + Sales growth rate B + Sales growth rate C)/ Total number of periods 

Using an example, let’s say a SaaS company had the following yearly growth rates:

  • 2019: 25%
  • 2020: 10.71%
  • 2021: 25%

To find the average annual sales growth from 2019 to 2021:

(25%+10.71%+25%) / 3 = 20.23%

This average helps the company assess its performance in a stable manner, making it a valuable metric for strategic planning and aligning the SaaS sales process accordingly.

Sales growth rate example

Okay, now let’s apply the sales growth formula to Microsoft. 

For simplicity, let’s consider a fictional scenario where Microsoft wants to track its growth in cloud services over two consecutive quarters.

Step 1: Identify net sales

Suppose Microsoft reported net sales for its cloud services at $10 billion in the first quarter and $12 billion in the following quarter.

Step 2: Calculate the growth in net sales

Using the sales growth formula, we first determine the difference in net sales between the two quarters:

$12 billion – $10 billion = $2 billion

Step 3: Determine the percentage growth

Next, we calculate the growth rate percentage:

Percentage Growth = $2 billion/$10billion * 100 = 20%

This 20% growth illustrates a significant increase in Microsoft’s cloud services revenue, showcasing an effective presales and sales strategy, crucial in maintaining its competitive edge in the SaaS market.

Tips to improve your sales growth

Improving sales growth is essential for any business looking to expand.

So, here are several strategies that can significantly influence your company’s revenue trajectory.

Understand your present sales scenario

A deep dive into your current sales metrics and processes can unearth valuable insights. 

Are your SaaS sales processes aligned with your customers’ needs? Is your team consistently meeting their targets? 

By examining these areas, you can identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies. For instance, if your SaaS solutions are technically complex, enhancing the presales process with better demo tools or more detailed consultations might boost conversion rates. 

Consider a scenario where a company evaluates its dashboard usability. Feedback might reveal that users find certain analytics features complex. Simplifying these features or offering targeted training sessions can directly enhance usability, leading to improved customer satisfaction and increased sales.

Optimize how your company generates revenue

For SaaS companies, the journey from free trial to paid subscription is a critical conversion path. 

It’s essential to understand which aspects of your product or service resonate most during the trial period. What features do users engage with most? Where do drop-offs occur? Strengthening these touchpoints can significantly enhance conversion rates. 

Moreover, consider implementing tiered pricing strategies that cater to different user needs. This can help in upselling and expanding your market reach. 

Provide training to your sales team

Continuous training for your sales team is indispensable. 

It equips them with up-to-date knowledge about product enhancements and evolving sales techniques. For SaaS businesses, in-depth understanding of the presales process is critical—it often determines whether a prospect converts to a customer. 

For example, many B2B companies invest heavily in ongoing training programs that not only cover product updates, but also teach sales reps about emerging market trends and customer success tactics, ensuring they are well-prepared to engage with prospects effectively.

Make customer satisfaction your priority

In the competitive SaaS industry, customer satisfaction is the cornerstone of sustained business growth. 

Satisfied customers are more likely to upgrade their services and become advocates for your brand. Implementing regular feedback loops and maintaining a responsive support team are essential strategies. Personalize customer interactions to make users feel genuinely valued and understood. 

Increase sales through effective product demos

Effective product demos are vital in the SaaS industry. They allow potential customers to see the real-time value of your software, helping them understand how it addresses their specific challenges. 

Ensure that your demos are not only clear and concise but also specifically tailored to highlight the functionalities most relevant to the audience’s needs. 

For example, successful companies don’t just show how their products work. They demonstrate how their software can be integrated into various workflows, from digital marketing to graphic design, effectively addressing a wide array of business problems.

Increase your sales growth using interactive product demos

Interactive product demos are a cornerstone of effective SaaS sales processes. 

They not only showcase your product’s capabilities, but also engage potential customers in a hands-on manner, allowing them to experience the benefits directly. 

For SaaS companies, especially where the product’s functionality can be complex, Walnut interactive demos serve as a bridge between customer curiosity and commitment, effectively boosting the conversion rates. 

By integrating responsive elements, these demos can adapt to user inputs, providing personalized experiences that highlight how the software can meet specific user needs. This not only improves the sales process, but also significantly enhances customer satisfaction and trust in the product.

It also goes without saying that the strategic application of interactive demos exemplifies the power of effective communication and customer engagement in the presales process. 

By continuously refining these interactions and ensuring they are as informative and engaging as possible, companies can not only witness a direct increase in sales growth rates, but also build lasting relationships with their customers.

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