Curious as to what "productive" means. How can someone in 4.5 months be "productive" if only 50% hit quota? 
 
Does it mean it takes 4.5 months to make the 1st sale? Then the average sales is made in 3 months (a reduction of a 1.5 months) 
 
The reason I ask is because how long do you wait before you start looking for a new sales rep? According to the numbers 50% are not productive therefore you have to hire 50% more to make the company goal. Maybe that is why the growth in inside sales people is so high because the productivity is so low. 
 
If you are start up company this is a sobering thought as customer acquisition would be very high. (therefore raising prices which makes the sales cycle longer) 
 
With sales 2.0 technology you would think productivity and quota attainment would grow not shrink. It looks to me that hustling and cold calling are still the only way to go.

Jonathan, great questions but perhaps you are confusing productivity with achievement of goal - two separate issues. 
 
Productivity in this instance is about ramp. How quickly can an inside sales person assimilate all the information they need, both internal and external, that will allow them to effectively do their job. On average that ramp to productivity period is 4.5 months. 
 
Achievement of goal is another topic. Many things impact achievement – the goal can be unattainable, the product might not work, the market might not want the product, marketing efforts are non-existent or ineffective or… the rep can be non-productive. 
 
Finally, Sales 2.0 technologies do not guarantee attainment of goal. If you people are wrong and your process not appropriate to the buying cycle, all the bells and whistles in the world won’t help. But, if they are in alignment, then the implementation of the right technologies at the right time can dramatically increase your likelihood of success. 
 
Thanks for commenting – as always you made us stop and think!  
 

Quotas go up, and the ability of individuals to achieve quotas goes down. Assuming: 
 
1. Sales management is competent 
2. Sales people are properly trained and are motivated with a solid compensation plan 
3. Marketing is aligned with sales and not wasting time/resources with "branding" and other warm & fuzzy initiatives.  
 
Did the C-Suite set the right quotas? 
 
Assuming the C-Suite did set the right quotas, which of the three previous assumptions are not valid? 
 

@Joseph 
 
In our experience, it's usually #3.  
 
Did you notice the trend in the report that sales reps are making 43 percent less phone calls to their marketing-generated leads?  
 
Our research shows that action alone is likely a big part of the problem.  
 
Another problem is that lead management is in this "fuzzy grey area" that neither marketing nor sales really "owns." It's a huge issue in getting marketing and sales aligned.