When this topic matters
"What is average conversion in B2B SaaS?" — common question, but wrong one. Answer depends on dozens of variables.
Benchmarks are useful for orientation, but dangerous as targets or success measures.
What happens in practice
Company finds benchmark: "2% conversion from cold call is average." Has 1.5%. Conclusion: "we are below average, doing something wrong."
But: 1.5% conversion on enterprise with ACV 500k € may be excellent. 2% conversion on SMB with ACV 5k € may be poor. Context decides.
Why it fails
Benchmarks aggregate across incomparable contexts. Average includes: different segments, different products, different database quality, different "conversion" definitions.
Also: companies publishing numbers are not representative. Successful companies publish more than unsuccessful. Survival bias.
How to think about it
Benchmark against yourself: last month, last campaign, last operator. That is comparable.
Use external benchmarks as sanity check: "are we in reasonable range?" — not as target.
- Internal: last month, campaign, operator
- External: directional, not targets
- Context: segment, ACV, database
- Definition: what exactly are you measuring?
What you gain and what you lose
Internal benchmark: accurate comparison, clear improvement identification. But missing external perspective.
External benchmark: industry orientation, sanity check. But imprecise and potentially misleading.
When to apply
Always prefer internal benchmarking. Use external benchmarks carefully — as orientation, not target.
If you must use external benchmark, look for closest context: same segment, similar company, similar price point.
Benchmark against yourself. External benchmarks are directional, not targets — they ignore your context. "Average industry conversion" means nothing without context.