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I had two conversations that were in stark contrast to one another.

The first was with an executive who told me that the company must have their salespeople selling more consultatively to better differentiate themselves in the global market, so they began training on SPIN selling – a year ago. I told him that was a good start and wondered if they experienced the same thing as most companies that train on SPIN selling – it is a great questioning strategy but their salespeople simply can’t apply it or execute it.

According to FreeDictionary.com, the original definition of Methodology is, “the theoretical analysis of the methods appropriate to a field of study or to the body of methods and principles particular to a branch of knowledge.” Over time, the definition has changed and one present day version is, “A body of practices, procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline.”

Spoiler Warning: This article is about my company and its new product. Stick around though and I think you’ll realize that it’s just as much about your company as it is mine.

The statistics are staggering. In some sectors, fewer than 25% of all salespeople will make quota in 2012. Even best-in-class companies are lucky when fewer than 80% of their salespeople make quota. Are you OK with it when your own salespeople fail to make quota? There are a number of possible reasons for this widespread mediocrity and failure and, depending on the company, some or all of them may apply.

Selling has changed more in the past 5 years than ever before.

With all that, shouldn’t the quality of sales, sales management and sales leadership candidates be on the rise?  Yes, it should.

But there’s a problem.  The quality has not risen.  It seems to have worsened!