How many sales do I need to make $100k?
The answer is a funnel, not a single number. Start from the income you want and work backwards: how many deals does that income require, how many meetings do those deals require, and how many calls do those meetings require. The math is commission per deal = deal size × commission rate, then deals needed = income goal ÷ commission per deal, then divide by your close rate to get meetings, and by your show rate to get calls.
The funnel: calls → meetings → closes
Every sale you close had to come from a meeting, and every meeting had to come from outreach. So the required activity compounds: a modest goal can still demand a lot of calls because two conversion rates sit between you and the close. Your show rate is the share of your calls that turn into a real meeting; your close rate is the share of those meetings that close. The lower either rate is, the more calls you need for the same income.
The rates are conventions, not data
A common convention range is a 70–80% show rate and a 15–35% close rate — but treat these as starting assumptions, not facts. Real outbound numbers vary wildly by industry, product, and lead source. Cold, unqualified outreach converts far below these figures; warm referrals convert far above. The honest way to use this calculator is to tune your own rates from your actual history, then read the required activity.
Subtract your base
The income goal here is the commission income you need, not your total pay. If you earn a base salary, enter only the gap between your base and your target. A rep with a $60k base who wants $100k total should enter $40k, not $100k — otherwise the calculator roughly doubles the work required.
Use it to check whether a plan is real
This is the same math used to size a territory. Run it on a job offer you're considering: is the quota actually reachable at a realistic close rate, or does hitting it require an impossible number of calls a week? When the required activity looks unreasonable, that is information — about the quota, not about you.