quota attainment
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Top 20 Reasons Salespeople Miss Quota and How to Fix it
- June 12, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Baseball and Sales, Best Top 10 Lists, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force
People have been babying me since my bypass — and sales leaders are babying their teams the same way by lowering quotas. Here are the Top 20 Reasons Salespeople Miss Quota and exactly how to fix it instead of making excuses. No more false wins. Time to run the bases the right way.
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25 Factors Indicative of a Strong Sales Culture
- May 11, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Analogies, Music and Sales, Sales Compensation, Sales Process, Understanding the Sales Force
Executives love the idea of a sales transformation until it’s time to actually change. Here are 25 proven factors that separate a truly strong sales culture from one that’s stuck making excuses.
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Why Salespeople Need Music Lessons Before They Start Selling
- January 26, 2026
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Music and Sales, Understanding the Sales Force
Just like most kids fail to learn guitar without lessons, most salespeople flop when thrown straight into the field with no real training. In this article, Dave Kurlan draws a fresh parallel from the music world: self-taught “players” rarely succeed without mastering the fundamentals—notes, scales, chords, and theory. The same goes for sales. Sink-or-swim onboarding leads to mistakes, missed quotas, and burnout, while formal sales training (including process, methodology, and role plays) delivers massive wins. Backed by data showing 14% higher quota attainment, faster ramp times, and huge ROI, Dave explains the missing ingredient most programs ignore: a repeatable sales process and methodology. If you want new reps to make real music in sales—not just noise—skip the shortcuts.
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Why 72% of Sales Reps Miss Quota: The Participation Trophy PTSD in the C-Suite
- December 5, 2025
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Categories: Sales Data and Science, Understanding the Sales Force
Why do 72% of sales reps miss quota—and still keep their jobs? Blame the participation trophy mindset creeping into the C-suite, aka Participation Trophy Stifling Determination (PTSD). From Little League fails to sales floor flops, here’s how to crush it with real accountability in 2026.
