Here's the uncomfortable truth your company won't admit: they stopped investing in people.
Only 42% of reps hit quota in 2025. Your sales leader keeps rejecting your shortlists. The CFO is questioning your hiring ROI. 2026 is looking tough already
And everyone's acting like better AI tools will fix it.
They won't.
No AI tool does the job of being a good salesperson. No automation replaces proper hiring, training, and enablement. But your company spent the last two years throwing money at technology while cutting corners on the fundamentals: hiring better people and developing them properly.
Now sales leadership blames "the wrong hires." And guess who takes the fall? You do.
Even when Sales approved them. Even when you followed their brief.
The Problem: Your Company Stopped Investing in Hiring
Your company has been running the wrong playbook for years.
They cut training budgets. They rushed hiring processes to "move fast." They gave sales leadership vague mandates to "scale the team" without investing in proper hiring infrastructure or enablement. Then they bought AI tools and acted like that would fix everything.
It didn't.
Because here's what actually matters in sales:
- Hiring better people. Not faster, not cheaper. Better.
- Training them properly. Real onboarding that develops skills, not just product demos.
- Enabling them continuously. Coaching and skill development that doesn't stop after month one.
These fundamentals haven't changed. AI doesn't replace them. AI amplifies them.
A great rep with AI tools becomes exceptional. A weak rep with AI tools is still weak, just faster at being ineffective.
But your company skipped the fundamentals. They hired quickly based on outdated criteria. They under-invested in training. Now quota attainment is stuck at 42%. And you're the one getting blamed.
What Actually Predicts Success
Our analysis of 500+ B2B sales organisations shows four traits predict first-year quota attainment better than experience or past performance.
These aren't "AI skills." These are the traits that make someone trainable.
Curiosity. Curious reps ask better questions, understand buyers faster, and actually absorb training. They want to learn your product, your market, your methodology. Non-curious reps just repeat what worked at their last company.
Coachability. Coachable reps take feedback, adjust their approach, and improve continuously. Uncoachable reps blame the product, the pricing, the leads, and never look in the mirror.
Grit. Persistence through the learning curve, through skill development, through the months where they're not yet at quota because they're still ramping. Reps without grit quit before they become productive.
Communication. The ability to explain complex ideas clearly, listen actively, and adapt messaging. This is what separates transactional sellers from consultative ones.
These traits determine whether your investment in hiring and training actually pays off.
A curious, coachable, gritty rep with clear communication can learn your product in 30 days and your methodology in 60. They'll absorb training. They'll implement coaching. They'll get better every quarter.
An experienced, confident rep without these traits will coast on old methods, resist feedback, and plateau immediately.
But your current hiring process doesn't measure these traits.
The Real Cost When Sales Hiring Goes Wrong
When the hire fails, Sales tells the CEO: "TA isn't delivering." Your credibility takes the hit.
But the actual problem is deeper: your company hasn't built the infrastructure to hire and develop sales talent properly. They want results without investment. They want great reps without great process.
And they've made that your problem to solve.
How to Fix It
Stop trying to fill a broken brief. Start fixing the brief.
Reframe the intake conversation. When Sales says "We need someone with 5+ years of experience," ask: "What specific situations will they face in their first 90 days? What skills predict success in those situations? How will we develop them?"
This shifts the conversation from credentials to capabilities and development.
Introduce trait-based screening. Share the four traits framework: "Research shows curiosity, coachability, grit, and communication predict quota attainment better than years of experience. These traits determine whether our training investment pays off. Should we screen for these?"
Use structured scorecards. Send shortlists with evidence: "Candidate A scored 8/10 on coachability based on specific examples of absorbing feedback and changing approach."
This protects you when hires fail. You had evidence. The decision was data-driven.
Build assessment into your process early. Use psychometric tests to identify learning agility before you invest interview time. Use video screening to assess communication clarity. Filter out confident candidates who can't demonstrate the four traits.
Where meritt Fits
We help companies invest properly in sales hiring fundamentals.
Yes, we use AI for sourcing efficiency. But the real value is our methodology for assessing trainability.
Psychometric assessments identify learning agility before you invest interview time. Video screening reveals communication clarity and structured thinking. Structured scorecards focus your interviews on evidence-based assessment of the four traits.
The result: you spend your time on final assessment of shortlisted candidates who've already demonstrated they're trainable. No more drowning in 200 generic applications.
We've helped companies reduce time-to-hire by 35% while improving first-year retention by 60%. By identifying candidates who will actually absorb training and develop skills.
Your Next Move
Your sales leader is about to start another req. You have two options:
Option one: Execute that brief. Send candidates who interview well. Take the blame when they don't work out 6 months later.
Option two: Lead the shift to proper sales hiring. Introduce the four-trait framework. Screen for trainability, not just credentials. Force the company to actually invest in people, not just tools.
Here's the reality: No AI tool does the job of being a good salesperson. The fundamentals still matter. Hiring better people. Training them properly. Enabling them continuously.
Companies that invested in these fundamentals are seeing results in 2026. Companies that skipped the investment and bought tools instead are stuck at 42% quota attainment.
Your company took the shortcut. They under-invested in hiring and development. They're paying for it now.
The question is whether you'll keep executing broken briefs and taking the blame, or whether you'll lead the fix.
meritt helps TA teams build credibility through structured hiring that works. Our process identifies curiosity, coachability, grit, and communication—the traits that determine whether your training investment pays off. We reduce time-to-hire by 35% and improve first-year retention by 60%.