The math says 60% of sales professionals suck at their jobs. Since only 40% of you reported hitting quota last quarter, the rest must suck — right? 

Here are all the reasons why not hitting quota is *definitely* your fault:

It was *your* decision to raise quotas

The decision to raise quotas for the quarter was *obviously* up to low- and mid-level sales reps. Reps at those levels probably didn’t hit quota last quarter either, so *of course* it makes sense to increase quotas again this quarter. Unreasonable expectation? Pfft…

It was *your* decision to hire 10 more AEs in a crowded territory

The team you’re on has never sold more than $X million in the territory, so the *only* thing to do is put 10 more AEs into the territory. Never mind that the serviceable obtainable market (SOM) is maxed out or the numbers on the serviceable addressable market (SAM). The *total* addressable market numbers say only good things will come from putting a bunch more AEs in there.

It was *your* decision to cut back on marketing spend 

Cutting the marketing budget *never* effects sales, anyway. Inbound or outbound, a lead is a lead, right? You can just get some more outbound leads if the inbound numbers drop. That shouldn’t be a problem. 

It was *your* fault that product is lagging behind 

The features prospects need and have been asking for are still in the backlog, but you can *definitely* go ahead and make the sale. Just promise that we’ll be implementing those features soon, then the product team can prioritize it once the contract is signed. If I know anything, it’s that customers won’t have any problem spending thousands or millions of dollars before seeing the features they need.

It was *your* fault there’s been 3 VPs of sales in the past 5 years 

You know *every* VP of Sales has the same priorities and management style. Why would a new VP affect your day-to-day as a rep? 

What You Actually *Can* Do to Hit Quota

All jokes aside, I can also assure everyone reading this that 60% of you definitely don’t suck at selling. Most that I engage with are pretty good.

But, I’ll also be the first to admit that sales professionals can almost always do more to get to the number:

• Making those extra calls 
• Turning around deliverables faster
• Crafting better proposals or follow ups
• Spending more time perfecting your demo pitch 
• Following up on those closed and lost deals from six months ago

*Almost* always. It’s essential to ask whether the quota number you’ve been given is actually attainable. If it’s challenging or a stretch to hit your number, that’s okay. If it’s impossible, that’s different. 

If you think it’s impossible, take a look at quota attainment across your org. When the vast majority of reps in your org aren’t making quota, it might be time to make a move. 

There are plenty of orgs where most reps hit their numbers — including a few over 90%. (They probably rank highly for product-market fit and culture, too.) And in those orgs, you can really see how good a rep you really are.