67% of Sellers Didn’t Reach the Finish Line
It’s tough out there for business developers.
Performance analyses of B2B sales teams have shown real struggles – a study by Salesforce showed that 67% of B2B sellers failed to meet their sales quotas in 2025, and that’s after downward quota adjustments by many of the companies studied.
That’s alarming.
Analyses by many other firms show the same poor results – anywhere from 65% to 83% of B2B sellers failing to reach quotas. The only thing that rivals this chasm was my experience as an account manager for two sub-prime wholesale mortgage lenders in 2006 and 2007. I was on the ground floor of The Great Recession, and I’ve got stories.
I have been in B2B business development leadership for 15 years and I will tell you that most executives I’ve worked for point the finger at the individual seller for missing their quotas. They shake their head and say, “they didn’t work hard enough,” or “they can’t close deals,” or “maybe they just aren’t cut out for this.”
However, the reasons for sellers falling short is much more complex, and stem from combinations of:
Lack of training and development: Sellers get hired, are given a few days of product and service overviews, are assigned a territory, then tasked with convincing a skeptical and sophisticated audience that they are the answer to their business challenges. In-depth training with continual reinforcement is critical for success. I am partial to Bunnell Idea Group’s “Grow BIG” methodology, but to overlook proper sales training is akin to sending warm bodies onto the battlefield.
Unrealistic quota setting by the c-suite: “Whatever your quota was last year plus 20%” – ever heard that one?? Many times, quota increases come without any incentive increases either, effectively requiring more from sellers to get paid the same amount. The economy is also vastly uncertain due to the constantly shifting governmental economic policies, as well as the ongoing (and brand new) conflicts around the world. Uncertainty means less spending. Forecasting has never been more difficult – especially in the dawn of the AI Age. The challenge is real.
Focusing on short-term wins over long-term growth: KPIs not only set goals; they drive behavior. A former mentor of mine used to say, “the problem with incentives is that they work.” To reach a monthly quota, a seller might make false promises to a client just to get a contract signed, or commit to projects that the company cannot satisfy just to close a deal. Monthly bonuses might be attained and quarterly earnings reports might look positive, but this sacrifices long-term success for the seller (in jeopardizing client relationships) and the company (in brand reputation or even litigation).
Racing to the bottom on price: Desperation leads to downward pressure on price just to secure the sale. I worked for a firm that did this as standard practice, then seemed perplexed about how tight margins had become. You’ll make sales, but you’ll need more of them. Without counter-concessions from the client, you will devalue your offerings permanently.
New competitors on the flanks: With the continual trend of mass layoffs from large companies to meet quarterly KPIs (January 2026 saw record reductions-in-force), a flood of talent is hitting the market every quarter, and a lot of those people are forming small businesses with all the knowledge of the big companies with a fraction of the overhead. Established companies will continue to diversify their offerings and gain entry into areas they previously didn’t serve, too, such as marketing agencies doing executive coaching, or management consulting firms doing PR/comms, thus increasing the competitive pressure on already recognized firms.
But this is not a doomsday scenario. This is solvable.
If you are a seller…
Understand clients’ shifting challenges. Read the trades. Attend sector conferences. Ask your clients what new pressures they are under. Seek to help them, not to sell at them. Realize that the sale is actually the biproduct of this trust. And know the rationale behind your pricing so you know when you can and should discount.
Seek training and development. If it’s not readily available, find some vetted courses and seek reimbursement. Better yet, find a peer to take it with you so you can have an accountability partner.
Choose your clients wisely. Make sure the clients you target have challenges you can solve and they have interest in what you are selling. The best sales techniques in the world are of no avail if there is not a match between what the client needs and what you can provide.
If you are a sales leader…
Train and develop your sellers. Find a methodology that’s vetted and proven for your type of business. Send a small cohort to pressure test it for your company. Run it for six months, tweak it as needed, then scale it. It will change your culture and their performance for the better when everyone has a shared process.
Get help to set quotas. Please, for everyone’s sake, don’t just add a percentage to last year’s quota and call it done. You’re busy, and this is complicated, so hire a consultant to help. They can be impartial and tell you what’s realistic. Plus, you can make them do all the laborious research and analysis, and you can develop insights together.
Manage up and down on KPIs. Talk to your superiors early about expectations and potential growth opportunities, but also what you and your team are seeing in the market that could affect that – good and bad. Create KPIs that encourage the right behaviors, not just results. Praise publicly, criticize privately. And always seek to understand.
The quota crisis isn’t about lazy sellers. It’s about systems that haven’t caught up to a changing market.
And that’s where real leadership—and real opportunity—lives. Reach out if you’re facing these challenges. I’d love to help you solve them.