Account Penetration Ratio

It is used to measure or evaluate either the success or limitations of salespeople. It takes into account the percentage of accounts from which each person on a sales team is able to secure or close a sale. Managers look at if a salesperson is working a designated territory in a systematic way. Having an estimate of account potential gets you only halfway there. Account penetration is therefore the ratio of the current annual sales to the estimate of account potential.

This method of evaluation is most generally used in sales organizations where quota-driven order-taking dominates true selling. Properly targeted selling normally allocates time according to sales potential. However, with quota-driven compensation this means that the comp scheme must usually be adjusted as well.