The short version
2026 editionKey takeaways
Each takeaway links to its canonical data row. Reported figures belong to their cited producer; modeled results are labeled as calculations.
- Surveyed reps: selling share of workweek: 40% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Surveyed reps: workweek share for customer meetings: 22% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Surveyed reps: workweek share for prospecting: 18% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Surveyed reps: workweek share for quote preparation: 17% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Surveyed reps: workweek share for planning: 16% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Surveyed reps: workweek share for manual data entry: 13% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Sales survey: customers place greater importance on measurable roi: 69% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Sales survey: customers take longer to decide: 57% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Sales survey: team lacks cold-outreach capacity: 47% (August–September 2025 survey; 2026 report edition).Salesforce Research
- Manual data entry: modeled hours in a 40-hour workweek: 5.2 (Scenario using August–September 2025 survey shares).Workspace369 calculation
How do sales reps divide their workweek?
Customer meetings occupy the largest individual share in Salesforce’s workweek chart. Quote preparation and manual entry are separate categories; neither represents all CRM usage.
| Work activity | Reported workweek share |
|---|---|
| Customer meetings | 22%Self-reported time allocation |
| Prospecting | 18%Self-reported time allocation |
| Quote preparation | 17%Self-reported time allocation |
| Planning | 16%Self-reported time allocation |
| Manual data entry | 13%Self-reported time allocation |
| Training | 11%Self-reported time allocation |
| Other work | 3%Self-reported time allocation |
Chart labels were checked visually. The chart includes prospecting in selling, although the adjacent narrative calls prospecting nonselling; this table follows the chart classification.
Primary source: Salesforce Research — checked September 12, 2026
How much time is spent selling versus other work?
Salesforce’s chart assigns less than half of the workweek to selling. Its remaining category includes necessary preparation and training, so it must not be described as wasted time.
| Chart category | Reported workweek share |
|---|---|
| Selling | 40%Self-reported time allocation |
| Not selling | 60%Self-reported time allocation |
These two totals overlap the activity breakdown above. They are not additional hours.
Primary source: Salesforce Research — checked September 12, 2026
What pressures do sales professionals report?
Respondents describe demands on explanation, personalization and outreach capacity. These are perceptions of their work, not independently measured changes in buyer behavior.
| Reported pressure | Respondents agreeing |
|---|---|
| Customers place greater importance on measurable ROI | 69%Survey perception |
| Customers place greater importance on personalization | 67%Survey perception |
| Customers need extensive education | 67%Survey perception |
| Customers take longer to decide | 57%Survey perception |
| Team lacks cold-outreach capacity | 47%Survey perception |
Comparisons with the previous year reflect respondents’ answers, not a matched longitudinal buyer panel.
Primary source: Salesforce Research — checked September 12, 2026
What do the time shares mean in a forty-hour workweek?
Applying each reported share to a fixed workweek produces an illustrative time budget. It does not measure the working hours of the respondents or the amount software could eliminate.
| Work activity | Modeled hours per week |
|---|---|
| Customer meetings | 8.8Illustrative calculation |
| Prospecting | 7.2Illustrative calculation |
| Quote preparation | 6.8Illustrative calculation |
| Planning | 6.4Illustrative calculation |
| Manual data entry | 5.2Illustrative calculation |
| Training | 4.4Illustrative calculation |
| Other work | 1.2Illustrative calculation |
The fixed workweek is a Workspace369 assumption. No wage, revenue, saved-time or return-on-investment claim is inferred.
Primary source: Salesforce Research — checked September 12, 2026
How should a team use these benchmarks?
Use the categories to design a local time audit, then compare like-for-like work. Record preparation, review and correction effort as well as customer-facing time. Test a specific workflow before attributing a change to automation.
A sales survey cannot establish the effect of Workspace369 or any other CRM on revenue.
How this report was built
Methodology and limitations
- Salesforce’s seventh-edition report is the source for the selected survey observations. The collection window and sample are on page 3; question-specific denominators are retained where available.
- Workspace369 transcribed the time chart and selected capacity questions, then calculated a fixed-workweek translation. The downloadable rows preserve exact locators and input IDs.
- The reported selling totals and the component activities describe the same budget. Do not add the summary totals to the individual activities. The original contribution is the explicit workweek calculation, not a new survey.
What these numbers cannot tell you
- Vendor-sponsored panel responses may differ from measured behavior. These figures do not isolate small businesses, one country, or Workspace369 customers.
- Survey averages do not specify what any individual rep should spend. Administrative work may be essential, and reducing it does not automatically increase sales.
- The edition is reviewed in 2026, but the time-allocation observations come from the earlier survey window.
Freshness and corrections
Maintained by the Workspace369 editorial team. Review quarterly and when a cited producer releases a replacement study. Next editorial review: December 2026. Retain historical model versions and observation dates. The edition date changes only when the evidence or content is substantively reviewed; it does not change the underlying observation period.
First edition: . Data extraction, source attribution and arithmetic checked for this edition. No independent peer review is claimed.
Found an error or a newer primary release? Send a correction with the source and affected statistic. Confirmed corrections should be recorded in the revision history before republishing.
Primary sources and provenance
Every reported numeric cell links directly to its producer. The downloads include exact table or workbook locators, observation periods, access dates, formulas and input references.
- Salesforce ResearchState of Sales, seventh edition (2026 report; August–September 2025 survey) ↗Publication date not recorded; see the original source. Accessed September 12, 2026.Selected factual observations paraphrased with attribution. No source report, chart, participant data or proprietary database is redistributed; source rights remain with its producer.
Made to be checked, then cited
How to cite this report
For a source-reported statistic, credit the original publisher and link to the exact row here when using our compilation. For a modeled result, cite Workspace369 and include the assumptions. Linking to this page does not make us the original producer of third-party data.
Workspace369. (2026-09-12). Sales Productivity and CRM Admin-Time Statistics. https://workspace369.com/research/sales-productivity-crm-admin-statistics/. Primary sources and observation periods as listed in the report.
The downloads are English-language reference datasets, including on translated pages. Source rights remain with their producers. Attribute Workspace369’s compilation and calculations; consult each source’s reuse terms.