Same Excuses, Same Results

Welcome back to the 49th issue of Disrupting Conversations!

I've heard the same excuse for decades: "Times are tough. The selling environment is really difficult. There's so much uncertainty right now."

I heard it in 1999. I heard it in 2005, 2007, and 2008. I heard it in 2015 and in 2016. I heard it in 2021. And I'm hearing it today in 2025.

You know what I’ve never heard? “Wow, the selling environment is perfect right now.” “Everyone's eager to buy, budgets are flowing freely, and decision-makers have complete clarity about their future.” 

Why? Because that's not sales. Sales IS difficult. Sales IS uncertain. And guess what: That’s not going to change.

Now here's the part that should make everyone pause and think. While salespeople have been blaming market conditions for decades, something else has remained remarkably consistent: national closing ratios. They've hovered between 15% and 20% for over 20 years.

Think about that for a minute. Through economic booms, recessions, the internet revolution, 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, COVID, and every "unprecedented" challenge since—the results never change. Same excuses about tough times, same mediocre closing ratios. But if the results are identical regardless of external conditions, doesn't that tell us something important about where the real problem lies?

The common denominator isn't the market. It's the methods.

– Dan

Breaking Sales is my podcast to connect with those who are ready to break free from the chains of old sales methodologies that don’t work.

Title of Episode: The Myth of Sales Effectiveness

🎙️ The sales industry celebrates closing ratios between 15–20%, but those percentages only measure success with prospects who were ready to buy before you even showed up. 

In this episode, Dan and Pam expose why these conventional metrics keep us stuck in mediocrity. They explore how salespeople are taught to compete for the same small slice of pre-qualified leads instead of developing the skills to reach everyone else. This episode will make you question everything you think you know about sales success. 

If you're waiting for the perfect selling environment, you're going to be waiting forever.

I've spent the last couple of months talking to sales coaches, and you know what I keep finding? They're all teaching the same things with minor variations. It’s the same tired playbook about qualifying prospects and showing off expertise that’s been regurgitated for decades. 

And, surprise, surprise, the results haven't changed.

When you step back and look at this objectively, it becomes painfully obvious: If the same "proven" methodologies keep producing the same mediocre closing ratios year after year, maybe—just maybe—we should question whether these methodologies are actually proven at all.

The problem isn't the market conditions. The problem isn't the uncertainty. The problem is that we keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.

Sales has always been difficult. It's always been uncertain. It's always required you to navigate through challenges and adapt to changing conditions. That's not a bug in the system. It’s a feature. It's literally what you signed up for when you chose this career.

So instead of making excuses about market conditions, focus on what you can control: your preparation. The best performers don't succeed because they have perfect conditions—they succeed because they prepare better. They prep questions, practice handling objections, and plan for how to capitalize on opportunities.

There's not a single top performer in any other field who doesn't excel at preparation. That's why they can handle tough situations while everyone else is still making excuses about how hard things are. 

It's time to stop hiding behind feel-good platitudes and lazy thinking. It's time to look in the mirror and ask yourself: Are you willing to do something different, or are you going to keep contributing to that stagnant 20% closing ratio?

The choice is yours.

QUOTE

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." 
– Albert Einstein

Thanks for reading!

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