What is a sales audit?

The usual definition of a sales audit is an objective review of the sales organisation, to separate real strengths from the weaknesses that limit growth. It is also called a sales diagnostic or, in tech companies, a revenue audit.

In a transaction (investment, acquisition or disposal), the analysis covers the target’s market position, the strength of its pipeline and the reliability of its business plan.

The objectives of a sales audit are almost always the following:

• give a factual picture of the sales organisation
• explain a performance gap or a growth plateau
• identify gaps in skills, processes or tools
• prioritise growth levers by impact and feasibility
• secure a decision such as an investment, a funding round, an expansion or a hiring plan

A full sales audit examines six areas of the sales organisation.

• Strategy: targets, positioning, offer, revenue objectives
• Processes: sales cycle, prospecting, qualification, closing, account follow-up
• Teams and skills: profiles, command of sales methods, line management
• Tools: CRM, reporting, data quality and use
• Management and performance tracking: rituals, pipeline reviews, coaching, forecasts
• Performance: results, conversion, cycle length, target attainment

Sales audits differ by who runs them and in what context:

• the self-assessment, run by the company itself, often with a sales audit questionnaire
• the third-party audit, more objective, based on data, interviews and observation
• the internal and external audits, which look respectively at the organisation and at its market
• commercial due diligence, run during a transaction for an investor or a seller

The sales audit is often confused with other audits. A marketing audit covers demand generation (positioning, campaigns, channels), and a financial audit covers the accuracy of the accounts.

Executives use it at turning points: preparing a funding round, rapid expansion, building a modern sales force or an unexplained performance plateau. Investors use it before or after signing a letter of intent, then after the investment to validate their growth hypothesis and reduce execution risk. A sales audit is also a sound step before investing in a larger team.

Whatever the method, a sales audit follows four main phases:

• scoping: objectives, scope, access to data and teams
• collection: figures, interviews, field observation
• analysis: cross-checking findings, identifying gaps and their causes
• reporting: report, prioritised recommendations and action plan

Each step is detailed in our article How do you run a sales diagnostic?

A sales audit report serves to make decisions. It usually includes:

• a gap analysis, area by area
• a clear map of strengths and areas for improvement
• a detailed action plan, with owners and tracking metrics
• recommendations prioritised by impact and feasibility

At Atscale, the Revenue Audit has been carried out in more than 100 companies, whatever their growth stage, sector and investment context. The organisation is assessed against 8 critical pillars. The method, designed by former sales leaders, combines data room analysis, in-depth interviews from individual contributors to senior executives, and live observation of sales calls, pipeline reviews and sales leadership meetings.

You receive a gap analysis by building block, a map of strengths and areas for improvement, a 100-day action plan and high-return recommendations.