Verified corrections · 15A Academy library

These claims are repeated widely in sales training. Use the verified version. Drill 34 in the academy blueprint is built from this table (LIB 102).

Commonly repeated	Verified version
"Only 7% of Relationship Builders were star performers"	Relationship Builders were 7% of high performers; Challengers were nearly 40%
The 53% loyalty figure came from the 6,000-rep Challenger study	It came from a separate CEB survey of about 5,000 B2B customers (2008 to 2009); vendor research, teach with caveat
Training 47 reps in closing cut success by about 10%; a photo-store chain lost sales	Secondary only: drop the numbers. Teach the publisher-confirmed finding that closing techniques do not help, and can hurt, in large sales
SPIN need-payoff questions can be asked at any point	They extend needs the buyer has already stated; successful sellers limited situation questions
Gap Selling's problem chart has five parts; the author is "Jim Keenan"	Columns are Problem, Impact, Root Cause; the five-part list is the separate current-state map; credit "Keenan"
Sandler's up-front contract ends in "yes, no or a scheduled next step"	Founded 1967, franchising from 1983; five elements, with "it's OK to say no"; some offices teach four
Command of the Message has a "Mantra"	Owner wording: why buy at all, why buy from you, why buy now, why us. "Mantra" not found; no primary MongoDB credit
Voss's mirroring is proven to work in sales	Labels and "that's right" are confirmed by the method owner; the only controlled evidence is on behavioural mimicry in MBA negotiations
Blount's turnaround is "anchor, disrupt, ask again"	The book has "push pause with a ledge"; "anchor" is not supported; exact step names need the book text
Roberge's churn-quartile pay plan cut churn by 70%	One set of book notes only. The prepay plan (2.5 to 7 months) is corroborated twice
Moore's template reads "For [target] that need [need]... Unlike [competitor]..."	Moore's original: "who are dissatisfied with [the current market alternative]... we have assembled [key whole product features]"
Lavender says 50 to 125 words at a 3rd to 5th grade reading level	Lavender says 25 to 50 words and links mobile-friendly formatting with 83% more replies (vendor data); 50 to 125 is a 2016 figure from another vendor; no source for the reading level
A sales methodology raises win rates 27% (Korn Ferry)	26% higher win rates and 21% higher quota attainment for best-in-class process (2023); 15% and 21% at over 75% adoption (2025); no samples published (vendor data)
Mutual action plans lift win rates 26% (or 60% against 29%)	No independent evidence; the figures are untraceable or self-selected. Teach plans for slippage, with no uplift figure
Habits take 21 days, or exactly 66	A median of 66 days, range 18 to 254, in one small study. Say "about two months, varying widely"
The 95:5 rule is a budget split	An illustrative share of buyers in market, never formally measured. Say "roughly 5% of buyers are in market at any one time, on the LinkedIn B2B Institute's estimate"
"84% of sales training is forgotten within 90 days"	No primary study; often wrongly pinned on Ebbinghaus. Forgetting varies from about 0% to 94% with how people learn; retrieval practice and spacing reduce it (Thalheimer, 2010)

Two further corrections belong to other chapters: a competitor's out-of-date product and price line (battlecards) and the engagement data question (proof and guardrails).