5 Numbers to Track Every Week, Starting With Sales Close Rate
Picture an owner who's proud of a 57% sales close rate, and has every reason to be. Then the quarter ends behind budget. Close rate held, but the average ticket slid and discounts crept up, so the team was winning about as often and bringing home less each time. (The example is illustrative.)
Close rate is the number most owners watch, and on its own it can't tell you that. You need 5 numbers, pulled weekly: sales per job run, close rate, average ticket, discount rate, and sales to budget. They work for any shop that sells at the kitchen table.
How to calculate each number
Here's one illustrative shop's month: 100 jobs run, 57 jobs sold, $1,026,000 in total sales, 12 discounted sales averaging $900 off, and a $1,100,000 sales budget.
Number | Formula | Example | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
Sales per job run | Total sales ÷ jobs run | $1,026,000 ÷ 100 = $10,260 | What every visit to a home brings in |
Close rate | Number of jobs sold ÷ jobs run | 57 ÷ 100 = 57% | How often homeowners say yes |
Average ticket | Total sales ÷ jobs sold | $1,026,000 ÷ 57 = $18,000 | What each sale is worth, and whether homeowners step up |
Discount rate | Discounted jobs ÷ jobs sold, plus average discount | 12 ÷ 57 = 21%, $900 average | How much margin you give up to close |
Sales to budget | Total sales ÷ sales budget for the period | $1,026,000 ÷ $1,100,000 = 93% | Whether you're ahead or behind, and what to do about it |
Check the math: 57% × $18,000 = $10,260. Sales per job run always equals close rate × average ticket.
Sales vs. revenue: Sales is what's booked at the point of sale, when the homeowner says yes. Revenue is recognized once the job is installed, which depends on scheduling and crews. Your sellers control sales, so every number on this list is built on sales.
1. Sales per job run: what every visit brings in
Start with the number that rolls up the rest. Sales per job run is total sales ÷ jobs run. It works out to close rate × average ticket, so nobody can look strong on it by winning only small tickets, or by chasing big tickets and losing the rest.
Measure it per job run, not per lead. Whether a lead turns into a job depends on marketing and your call center. Once the seller is in the home, the outcome is theirs, which makes jobs run the fair base for judging a seller.
Here's how that plays out. A comfort advisor closing 65% at a $14,000 average ticket brings in $9,100 per job run. One closing 50% at $20,000 brings in $10,000. (Both are illustrative.) The lower closer is doing more for the business, and a close rate report alone would rank them the other way.
Read this number first. When it drops, the next 2 numbers explain why: close rate, average ticket, or both.
This week: Pull sales per job run for the last 90 days, for the team and for every seller.
2. Sales close rate: the number to know cold
Close rate is the number of jobs sold ÷ jobs run. It's a count of yeses, with no dollars in it. The average HVAC close rate on residential installs was 45% in ACCA's Contractor of the Future study, so the owner at 57% in our example is well ahead of it. A 40% overall close rate leaves a lot of jobs run on the table.
Know which close rate you're looking at. Table close rate, or one-call close, counts only what sells before the seller leaves, and it commonly runs 30 or 40%. Overall close rate also counts what rehash, which half the industry calls inside sales, recovers afterward, so it runs higher. The 57% in our example is an overall number.
Two habits in ACCA's study are worth checking first. Contractors offering financing averaged a 49% close rate, versus 38% for those that didn't. Those showing 4 or more options averaged 52%, versus 42% for those showing 1 to 3.
The company number can also hide a lot. One comfort advisor at 75%, 2 at 65%, and 2 at 40% average out to 57%, if they run the same number of jobs. Lead source moves it too: in a 2025 survey of 422 homeowners, 59.2% chose their contractor through prior use or a recommendation, so a seller who gets those leads can look like your best closer whether or not they are.
Write your rules down so every seller is measured the same way. A job counts as run once the seller is in the home and has diagnosed the system, and one-leggers count. Any job a seller dismisses gets a reason code from a short list.
Judge sellers on comparable leads and at least a couple dozen jobs. A seller who sold 5 of 8 isn't a 62% closer yet.
This week: Sort sellers by close rate on paid leads alone, where nobody arrives with trust already built.
3. Average ticket: are sellers showing the full solution?
Average ticket is total sales ÷ jobs sold. A low number can mean sellers are holding back better options because they expect a fight over price.
Look at it next to option mix, the share of sales at each level from Bronze through Diamond.
Homeowners always pick Bronze: That doesn't always mean your market is price-driven. In the same survey, only 31% ranked upfront cost as their top priority. The better options may not connect to anything the homeowner said.
Hardly anyone picks Diamond: That's normal, because many homeowners won't buy Diamond. It's a problem when sellers skip it. Each option should give a clear reason to step up.
One seller sells Diamond often but closes low: That seller may be steering homeowners and losing the ones who wanted Silver or Gold.
Financing moves this number too. In ACCA's data, contractors who never offer financing see 50% of their sales as base models, versus 35% for those who always offer it. Ask whether your sellers lead with financing every time.
This week: Pull average ticket and option mix by seller, and ride along with whoever sits lowest.
4. Discount rate: what it costs you to close
Track 2 things: how often sellers discount to close, and by how much. Run it by seller, so you can see who's doing it and on which leads.
A strong close rate can come from this number, which is why the 2 belong on the same page. If a seller's close rate climbs while their discount rate climbs with it, you may be buying those sales with margin.
When a seller discounts often, look at what happens before the price comes out. Homeowners who feel heard and have real choices have less reason to push on price, and the habits that build trust are coachable: listening, personalizing, and offering real options.
This week: List every discounted sale from the last 30 days by seller, with the amount and the reason.
5. Sales to budget: are you ahead or behind?
Sales to budget is total sales booked against your sales target for the period.
If you're behind, the other 4 numbers tell you where to go. Close rate down means coaching time at the kitchen table. Ticket down means reviewing options and financing. Discounts up means asking who's approving them. If sales per job run is holding and you're still behind, you're running fewer jobs, which is a question for marketing and the call center.
Remember that the deal is often still live after the seller leaves, so check open quotes before you call a week lost. Silence often means the quote didn't carry the decision.
This week: Put your monthly sales budget into weekly targets, so you find out you're behind while there's still time to act.
Run the review in 10 minutes
Pull the 5 numbers every Monday, for the team and each seller, and ask 3 questions:
Which number moved most since last week?
Does lead source or job mix explain it?
Which seller needs coaching on which number?
Pick one seller and one habit, then check again next Monday.
FAQ
What is a good sales close rate?
ACCA's study puts the average on residential installs at 45%, so aim well above that. Published figures rarely say what they divide by, so treat them as context and compare each seller to your best on the same lead types.
Is sales per job run the same as close rate?
No. Close rate is the share of jobs run that sold. Sales per job run is the dollars each job run brings in, which works out to close rate × average ticket.
Should financing declines count against a seller's close rate?
Yes, count them as unsold, and track them separately. If one seller's declines run high, look at how financing is introduced.
How often should I review these numbers?
Weekly. Use a trailing 90 days for sellers, since a single week is too small a sample to judge anyone.
Start with the number you can't pull today
Add it to your Monday review, then work through the rest of the list one number at a time.
SmartQuote, part of Mantel's shopping and closing platform, gives managers Seller Benchmark, which shows how every seller stacks up on sales per job run against sellers nationally. Leaderboard with AI Coaching gives automated feedback after every job, so you can coach the number that's slipping.
