Why 57% of Salespeople Miss Quota, and What No One Teaches Them

Rewriting the blog post with named companies included. Why 57% of Salespeople Miss Quota, and What No One Teaches Them The number Forbes covered Salesforce's third annual State of Sales report under the headline "57% of Sales Reps Missed Their Quotas Last Year." Forbes The figure is from 2018, but it has not gone away. A 2025 report found that 57.31% of SaaS sales reps missed quota in Q2 2025. quotapath The numbers from Salesforce and Forbes were published years apart, in different markets and conditions, and they sit in the same range. That points to a system problem, not a people problem. The chain behind the number Missed quota is the last link. The causes sit further back: Level What it looks like Result 57% miss quota (Salesforce, reported by Forbes) Revenue performance No clear process, no real-time tracking, no coaching Learning and development gap Training is an event, not a system. Reps are not taught how to sell in their own market Education gap Schools and colleges teach theory. Almost none teach selling or how to execute in a business Level 1: A revenue performance problem Quota is a lagging indicator. It reports achievement at the end of a period, so by the time the number arrives it is too late to course-correct. crunchbase Teams that rely on quota alone find out late and fix late. The alternative is the system from our earlier blogs: real-time insight, detection within 24 hours, and resolution within 72. Level 2: A learning and development gap Most organisations do spend on L&D, but the spend often goes into: • One-time induction and product training • Occasional workshops • Generic content not linked to the job What is usually missing is learning tied to daily work: • A playbook juniors can follow • Coaching based on live data • A structured ramp-up • Ongoing support on real deals Heavy spend with weak results usually means the spend is not connected to execution. Level 3: The education gap behind it all This is the root. A new salesperson usually arrives with a degree, but not with: • Selling skills • Customer conversation skills • Understanding of how a business earns revenue • Habits of execution: follow-up, discipline, time use Education prepares people to know. Business needs people to execute. Companies then try to close this gap in the first few weeks of a job with a short induction. That is too little, too late. The market gap Today What is needed High L&D spend L&D linked to daily execution Training as an event Learning as a continuous system Education without selling skills Practical sales and execution education Quota checked at quarter-end Performance managed in real time Organisations are paying for a gap that the education system created and that their own L&D has not closed. What leaders can do 1. Audit where L&D spend goes and whether it changes daily behaviour 2. Build the playbook, so learning is part of the work 3. Coach from live data, not quarterly reviews 4. Treat ramp-up as a designed programme, not a hope 5. Invest in practical sales education, not only product knowledge Final thought The Salesforce study reported by Forbes is not a verdict on salespeople. It is a verdict on how we prepare them. Fix the preparation, through education, learning and coaching, and the number moves. How SalesSyllabus can help SalesSyllabus is a learning and development platform for revenue teams. We close the gap between training and execution, with playbooks, coaching systems and practical sales education built for real revenue work. 👉 Is your L&D spend improving performance? Visit salessyllabus.com and start with a diagnosis.