Research
What works on real deals, in plain words. Every finding shows where it came from.
Research · Dixon & McKenna, HBR, 2022
Lost to no decision
In 2.5 million sales calls, 40% to 60% of deals ended in no decision, not a loss to a competitor.
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What works
How we cite →
Vendor research · Gong Labs, 2020
Budget on call one: 49% won; never mentioned: 7% ›
Vendor research · Gong Labs, 2025
Deals over $50K: more buyer contacts linked to more wins ›
Vendor benchmarks · Ebsta × Pavilion, 2025
36% of deals slipped past their expected close date ›
Meta-analysis · Tannenbaum & Cerasoli, 2013
Structured debriefs improved performance across studies ›
More incoming email means fewer messages get replies
Over 2 million users and 16 billion emails; observational. Study · Kooti et al., WWW, 2015
Spend the last minutes on next steps
Winning demos spent 12.7% more time on next steps. Research · Gong Labs, vendor research
Account for differences before comparing results
Methods · Rosenbaum & Rubin, Biometrika, 1983 · propensity scores adjust for observed differences
Seven wins out of ten leaves a wide range
A 95% Wilson interval runs from about 40% to 89%, assuming independent deals. Methods · Wilson, JASA, 1927
How we cite
Every finding shows where it came from.
A study, vendor data, a story or a tip, always named. If we couldn’t trace a number, we don’t use it.
Read how we cite →
See it onyour own deals.
This week’s deals, and the move each one needs. Read-only, about 10 minutes.