Around this time ten years ago, the US economy was famously tanking. I remember it well as revenue at Objective Management Group dropped by more than 30%, almost overnight. During 2008 and 2009 more than half of all US sales reps were missing quota and considering the circumstances, that didn’t seem to shock anyone. But during a slow crawl back to respectability between 2010 and 2016, and soaring revenue during 2017-2018, the percentage of reps making quota has not only remained flat, but the percentage hasn’t even returned to pre 2008 rates. This article attempts to explain why.