Talk-to-listen ratio
What the talk-to-listen ratio is, how to calculate it, which benchmarks (like 43:57) hold up, and how to track your own ratio live on sales calls.
The talk-to-listen ratio, or talk ratio, is the share of a call’s speaking time that one person spends talking. In sales, it usually means the rep’s share versus the buyer’s. On discovery calls, a lower rep talk ratio means the buyer is telling you more about their problem, and that’s exactly what you need to build the right offer.
How to calculate it
Your talk ratio is your speaking time divided by the total speaking time on the call. Silence doesn’t count. If 30 minutes of the call are spoken and you talk for 18 of them, your talk ratio is 60%. Written as a talk-to-listen ratio, that’s 60:40.
It’s hard to gauge on your own. Most people underestimate how much they talk, especially when they know their product well.
Benchmarks
The number you’ll see quoted most is 43:57: the rep talks 43% of the time, the buyer 57%. It comes from Gong’s analysis of 25,537 B2B sales calls, recorded in the first half of 2016 and published in 2017.
Gong published a new analysis in 2025 of 326,000 sales calls of at least 10 minutes. The average rep still talked 60% of the time. Won deals averaged 57% rep talk time, lost deals 62%.
Treat these as reference points, not targets. They average across many kinds of calls, and the right ratio depends on where you are in the deal.
Why it matters in sales
Discovery is about understanding the buyer’s problem. Every minute you talk is a minute the buyer isn’t telling you about it. A high talk ratio at this stage often leads to proposals that miss what the buyer actually needs.
Later stages are different. On a demo or when you walk through pricing, you’ll naturally talk more.
How Loqui shows it
Loqui measures your talk ratio live, keeping your microphone separate from the meeting app’s audio. In the bar at the top of your screen, a small meter shows the last two minutes. If your share goes above 70%, or you talk for more than about 45 seconds straight, Loqui gives you a quick nudge. Your post-call feedback shows your talk ratio for the whole call.
Questions.
How do you calculate your talk-to-listen ratio?
Divide one person’s speaking time by the total speaking time of everyone on the call. If the rep talks for 18 of 30 minutes, their talk ratio is 60%, or 60:40.
What is a good talk-to-listen ratio for sales calls?
The most-cited benchmark is 43:57, from Gong’s analysis of 25,537 B2B sales calls (recorded in 2016, published in 2017). Gong’s 2025 update of 326,000 calls found an average of 60:40, with won deals at 57% rep talk time and lost deals at 62%. There’s no single right number. On discovery calls, the buyer should do most of the talking. On a demo, it’s normal for the rep to talk more.
What does 43:57 mean?
The rep talks 43% of the time and the buyer talks 57%. Gong reported it as the talk-to-listen ratio tied to the best results in its 2017 analysis of 25,537 B2B sales calls.
The right answer, live on the call.
The call coach that listens in and shows you the answer from your own docs, right when you need it.
Download free for Mac