Understanding Quota Attainment and Participation in Sales Teams

PLAYBOOK TAKEAWAYS:

• Aim for 70% attainment and 70% participation to create a winning culture.
• Avoid feast-or-famine environments where only a few reps succeed.
• Use historical data to set quotas based on pipeline, win rates, and deal size.
• Every quota increase must be backed by an investment in pipeline, win rates, or deal size.
• Revisit quotas once per year, unless there’s a massive skew in attainment.
• Communicate quota changes with transparency and clear justification.
• Avoid high attainment with low participation, which creates resentment and turnover.
• Quota planning should be a business decision, not just a sales decision.
• Keep top reps busy before adding more headcount to avoid diluting pipeline.
• Simple, fair comp plans drive engagement and motivation.

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