Most rep principals can tell you their commission income to the dollar. Far fewer can tell you whether their revenue per employee, collection cycle or operating margin is ahead of the pack or quietly falling behind. That gap — between knowing your own numbers and knowing how they stack up — is exactly what AIM/R’s benchmarking program with CoMetrics closes.

Take 2024. Across the 66 firms in the benchmark, the measures that matter most aren’t the ones that hinge on your business model — they’re the ones that apply to every rep, whether you carry inventory or work purely on commission. The typical agency generated roughly $275,000 of revenue per employee and collected its receivables in about 17 days. Both are real structural strengths of the rep model, and both travel across firms of any product mix.

Profitability is where the spread is widest. Operating margins run from firms barely breaking even to the strongest well into the double digits, with the typical firm near 7%. On your own, “we’re profitable” can feel like enough. 

Next to your peers, a single-digit margin — when the best-run firms earn far more on the same revenue — may be a signal to act. The same is true of what a principal takes home: the benchmark’s compensation question shows the range running from roughly $200,000 at the lower quartile to half a million at the upper, and past seven figures at the very top. Seeing where you land is its own kind of perspective.

If you’ve not yet completed the survey for 2025 — you still have time!

Introducing CoScore

A single number, without peer context, can point you in exactly the wrong direction. That’s the entire value of a structured benchmark.

Benchmarking protects you from your own numbers. On its own, a figure is just a figure. $275,000 of revenue per employee, a 17-day collection cycle, a 7% operating margin — are those good? Strong? Quietly slipping? You genuinely can’t tell in isolation. The same margin can be a hard-won win for a firm climbing out of a tough stretch or a warning sign for one whose peers are doing far better. Your own statements tell you what happened; only peer context tells you whether it was good.

Available in year two, for participants with both 2024 and 2025 submissions, the CoMetrics CoScore puts that context in one place — combining growth, profitability, expense control and cash management into a single comparable score. Many firms land in the 50s and 60s, and the strongest clear the low 80s. The dashboard lets you see exactly where you sit. Nothing like a leaderboard to inspire friendly competition!

From the 2025 early birds: How reps are using AI

The 2025 submissions are arriving, and the first 38 firms look healthy and remarkably steady. Revenue per employee is holding — if anything, a touch higher than last year — collections remain tight at under three weeks, and early indicators point to consistency rather than upheaval. The full, live figures — and your own firm’s standing against them — will be published in the CoMetrics Dashboard and updated automatically as more members report. One honest note: this is an early, partial read, with strong performers still to come. Treat it as a preview, not the final benchmark.

For the first time, we asked members where artificial intelligence (AI) has landed in their operations. The early answer: it’s a front-office tool, not yet a back-office one. Marketing content (61%), administrative work (61%) and lead adoption, followed by project tasks such as bidding and scheduling (45%) and training content (39%). Finance (24%) trails and shipment tracking sits at 0%.

The pattern is telling. Reps reach for AI where the payoff is fast and low-risk. That 0% on shipment tracking is a good example of why a single number needs context: about a quarter of members are pure commission firms that never take title or ship product, so for them it’s simply not applicable. The real opportunity is narrower — the firms carrying meaningful buy/sell volume and fulfill orders, where proactive order-status tools head off the “where’s my order?” call.

Why the survey is worth an hour or so

The firms that get the most from benchmarking treat it as a management tool, not a survey. Is my comp load too heavy for my margin? Are my receivables aging faster than my peers’? Am I behind on the tools my competitors are adopting? Every one of those questions has an answer in the data — but only if your firm is in it.

The task is simple. Block 60 to 90 minutes, pull your year-end statements and get your numbers in. That’s how you unlock the dashboard and see where you stand. The more firms that participate, the sharper every comparison becomes.

Your numbers know more than you think. Benchmarking with CoMetrics is how you find out.

Paul Giudice is the chief executive officer of CoMetrics.