Hal Becker’s Ultimate Sales Book

LESSON 9Why Salespeople Fail

Most salespeople fail. It may seem hard to believe, but the majority of salespeople today don’t make the grade. Walter A. Friedman, in the 2004 article “Birth of the American Salesman” published by Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge, states that in the year 2000, roughly 16 million salespeople were selling in the United States, and studies show that most salespeople are average or below average. That means only very few performed above expectations. When someone says to me, “Hey, Hal, I made quota this month,” what that really means is that he or she just moved up from below average to average. That’s like a baseball player saying, “Hey, Hal, I hit 150 last month.” That doesn’t impress me.

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