The Bridge Group puts together an annual survey of software sales teams. The 2025 survey includes data from 158 B2B SaaS companies with median ARR of $35mm and median ACV of $49k. The report is well worth the read and available at their site (bridgegroupinc.com). Below we summarize some of the parts we found most insightful.
40% of AE’s pipeline is from marketing. This includes inbound SDR support and excludes outbound sales development efforts; note this is consistent with 2024’s survey which was also 40%. That other 60% needs to be filled by outbound efforts of the AE and SDRs. Additionally, the survey found as ARR and ACV grows, marketing contributes a smaller fraction of pipeline. Note that the survey from 2022 reported 33% of pipeline was sourced from marketing, so the new figure of 40% for 2024 and 2025 is a material step up.
74% of AE’s are supported by an SDR team. This is slightly up from 2024’s 68%. Those companies with ACV’s of $100k+ are supported by SDR’s 80%+ of the time.
AE’s are self-sourcing. The larger the ACV, the more self-sourcing AE’s do. Interestingly Bridge found that more AE’s (22%) are also owning the renewal which to us means they’re servicing the customer over the life of the contract, not just handing things off to CS. It also means more of them are owning expansion efforts (34%).
Specialization of the sales effort. 51% of companies had specialized roles for SDRs, AEs, and CSMs. High-growth companies were more likely to “triple specialize” than laggards; additionally those with less than $25k of ACV do virtually no specialization.
At hiring, the average AE has 3.7 years of experience and needs 6.2 months to ramp. Note that in 2022 those figures were 2.7 years and 5.7 months. In 2024, they were 3.6 years and 5.3 months. Bridge Group has been doing these surveys since 2012 and has never seen ramp take so long.
Tenure is now 3.2 years. In 2024 it was 2.8 Years and in 2022 it was 2.2 years. So after the 6.2 months of ramp, you get 32.2 months of quality production out of good reps. This is up from 26 months in the 2020’s reports. The average tenure of 3+ years has nearly tripled since 2022.
Attrition. Median annual turnover is down to 21% (in 2024 it was 30%) split between 12% involuntary turnover and 9% voluntary turnover (aka quits). In 2024, turnover was 30% split between 19% involuntary and 11% voluntary. In 2022, the survey showed median annual turnover at 32% split between 12% involuntary turnover and 20% voluntary turnover.
AEs average 18 dials and 23 emails per day. In 2022 the figures were 18 and 25. Win rates are at 23%, a big rebound for 2024’s 19%, and back to the 23% figure from 2022.
Quota achievement is 48%, down from 2024’s 51%. In 2022 this figure was a much higher 66%.
Quota to earnings is 4.6x, up from 2024’s 4.2x. Median on target earnings are $200k which means the median quota is $920k. At 100% of quota, the median commission rate is 10% of ACV.
The slides on AI are especially interesting. AI is not being used in every part of the sale.
AI having real impact in certain areas. In others, not so much.
The report is full of a lot more data and insights than presented in this blog. Their website is https://www.bridgegroupinc.com/ if you want to download the report directly. It’s the best sales we’ve found and it’s updated annually.
Thank you for your readership. See more blogs and SaaS data at blossomstreetventures.com. Other resources we’ve built for founders include: SoftwareMultiples.com; softwareMRRcalculator.com; FounderInvited.com. Founders are always welcome to reach out to sammy@blossomstreetventures.com as well.