What is a healthy quota attainment distribution?

A healthy distribution has 60-70% of reps hitting at least 80% of quota, a median attainment between 90-105%, and a roughly normal bell curve. If fewer than 50% of reps reach 80%, quotas are likely set too high or territories are unbalanced.

How do I tell if low attainment is a rep problem or a quota problem?

Look at the distribution shape. If the entire curve is shifted left (most reps miss), it is a systemic issue - quotas, market conditions, or product-market fit. If the curve is normal but a few reps are outliers on the low end, those are individual performance issues.

How to Run a Quota Attainment Analysis That Reveals the Real Story

Quota attainment is the most important number in RevOps, but most teams only look at the average. Averages lie. A team with 95% average attainment could have half its reps crushing it and the other half drowning. The distribution is where the real story lives.

Step 1: Build the Attainment Distribution
Step 2: Separate Systemic vs. Individual Issues
Step 3: Cohort the Data
Step 4: Feed Insights Back Into Next Cycle
Key Takeaways

Step 1: Build the Attainment Distribution¶

Pull every rep’s attainment percentage for the period and plot a histogram. Group reps into buckets:

Attainment Bucket	Rep Count	% of Team	Signal
Below 50%	3	10%	Potential PIP or territory issue
50-79%	6	20%	Coaching opportunity or quota misalignment
80-99%	9	30%	Near-target, likely solvable with support
100-119%	8	27%	Healthy performance band
120%+	4	13%	Potential sandbagging or under-quota

A healthy team looks like a bell curve centered around 95-105%. If yours is bimodal (peaks at 60% and 130%), you have a territory or segmentation problem, not a coaching problem.

Step 2: Separate Systemic vs. Individual Issues¶

Systemic indicators - the problem is your plan, not your people:

Median attainment is below 80%
More than 40% of reps miss quota
New territories or segments underperform uniformly
Attainment dropped sharply from the prior period with the same team

Individual indicators - the problem is specific reps:

Low attainment concentrated in 2-3 reps while the rest of the team is on track
The same reps underperform across multiple periods
Pipeline activity metrics (calls, meetings, proposals) are significantly below peers

If 70% of your team is missing quota, you do not have a hiring problem. You have a planning problem. Fix the system before you fix the people.

Step 3: Cohort the Data¶

Slice attainment by every dimension available:

Tenure: Are reps with less than 12 months underperforming? Your ramp schedule may be wrong.
Segment: Is the mid-market team at 65% while enterprise is at 110%? Your segment quotas are misaligned.
Territory: Map attainment to territory scores. Low-scoring territories with low attainment confirms a design issue.
Manager: Consistent underperformance under one manager signals a coaching gap.

Step 4: Feed Insights Back Into Next Cycle¶

This is where most teams stop short. Attainment analysis is not a report - it is an input to your next quota cycle. Concrete actions:

Adjust segment-level targets if one segment consistently over- or under-attains by more than 15%
Recalibrate ramp schedules using actual attainment curves from recent cohorts
Redesign territories where attainment variance exceeds 30% between comparable territories
Set realistic buffers - if historical attainment is 88%, plan for that, not for 100%

Key Takeaways¶

Plot the full attainment distribution - averages mask critical problems
Systemic misses (most reps below target) require plan changes, not more coaching
Cohort attainment by tenure, segment, territory, and manager to isolate root causes
Use attainment analysis as a direct input to next cycle’s quota-setting process