It wasn’t long ago that fans of the National Basketball Association could be excused for turning off a game if a team was leading by 15 to 20 points in the first half. Such leads were mostly insurmountable, even with a half to play.

No longer.

The latest regular season, which ended in mid-April, featured a record 38 comeback victories by teams that trailed by 20 points or more during a game. The previous record for victories after trailing by 20 or more was 30, set last season.

Sales managers whose teams fell well short of first-quarter revenue goals take heart. If NBA squads can reverse course and come out on top when trailing by 20 with only half the game left, it’s possible, even in the world of complex B2B sales, to make adjustments and still meet this year’s sales targets.

Sales slumps are a certainty. How sales managers and sales reps respond to them impacts a slump’s length and severity. Sales management veterans we spoke with and others who have commented on the internet state that a prolonged drop in sales should be viewed as an opportunity to review a B2B company’s go-to-market strategy from start to finish.

Does a marketing campaign need to be refreshed? Is lead generation falling short? Are reps failing to secure enough initial meetings? Is low motivation a problem?

If you’re losing market share to a competitor, it’s imperative to figure out why — fast!