75% of companies missed their 2025 sales targets, RD Station finds

Three in four Brazilian companies failed to hit their sales targets in 2025, according to a survey by RD Station, the marketing automation platform owned by TOTVS. The same study found that 62% of companies do not monitor conversion rates inside their own sales funnel (the staged path a buyer follows from first contact to purchase).

The two numbers point to the same root cause, according to Ronnie Girardi of NordWert. He argues the problem lies less in demand generation and more in what happens after the first contact. In his assessment, companies keep spending to attract leads but lose deals in the later stages of the funnel, where follow-up, qualification and closing discipline decide revenue.

Why the funnel, not the leads, is breaking

The data supports that reading. If 62% of companies cannot measure conversion between funnel stages, they cannot identify where prospects drop out. That blind spot makes target-setting largely arbitrary. A company that generates demand but ignores post-contact behavior will keep missing goals regardless of marketing budget.

Girardi's framing shifts the diagnosis from acquisition to execution. Demand generation produces the top of the funnel. Revenue depends on what sales teams do after the first touch, and that is precisely where most firms in the survey lack visibility.

The finding matters for B2B marketing leaders because it ties measurement gaps directly to performance gaps. Conversion tracking is table-stakes technology, not an advanced practice, yet nearly two-thirds of companies in the TOTVS-owned platform's study operate without it.

Where demand still converts: consortium credit letters

One sector shows what functioning post-contact execution looks like in the current rate environment. One company sold more than R$ 35 million in credit letters (the financial instrument that grants a consortium member the right to buy an asset) in the first days of the month, driven by a Black Friday campaign.

The result came after the Copom, Brazil's monetary policy committee, held the Selic benchmark rate at 13.75% per year. It also coincided with a 37.1% rise in real estate consortium quota sales nationwide through September, according to ABAC, the sector association.

High rates normally push consumers toward financed alternatives. Consortium quotas, which do not charge interest in the conventional sense, gained ground as credit became more expensive. The R$ 35 million figure shows targeted campaign execution converting that macro shift into sales.

What the numbers say about 2026 planning

The RD Station survey implies that fixing measurement will outperform adding spend. Companies that track funnel conversion can locate losses and act on them; the 62% that do not will repeat 2025's results. The consortium example shows the payoff when demand, timing and post-contact execution align, even with the Selic at 13.75%.