SalesGlobe Signals

SalesGlobe Signals #9: Where Have All the Babies Gone? Declining Youth and Your Revenue Growth.

Mark Donnolo — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:14:54 +0000

In this month’s Signals, Mark examines how declining youth population growth is beginning to reshape long-term revenue potential. With fewer young consumers entering the economy, demand expansion is slowing, shifting growth reliance toward pricing, productivity, and share capture. Learn how demographic trends are becoming a structural constraint on revenue growth, not just a background macro factor.

Chapters

(00:00:01) - Declining Youth and Revenue Growth
(00:01:23) - America's Baby Bust Is Real
(00:06:58) - Population Growth is Slowing and Geography Matters
(00:09:31) - Signs of Population Growth in America
(00:13:58) - Signal 4 Immigration Impact
(00:25:06) - The Birth Rate Impact on Profits
(00:29:22) - 10 Questions about Your Customer Strategy for a Declining Youth Market
(00:31:32) - Demographics: How to Plan for a Younger America

SalesGlobe Signals #8: Housing Affordability? It’s About Supply. What it Means for Your Revenue Growth.

Mark Donnolo — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 17:00:02 +0000

In this month’s Signals, Mark makes the case that housing affordability is fundamentally a supply issue, not simply a financing challenge. National housing inventory has fallen sharply relative to population growth, tightening supply per capita and sustaining elevated home prices.

Chapters

(00:00:01) - Sales Globe Signals: Housing Affordability
(00:01:10) - Home Prices and Ownership: Signs of a Recession
(00:02:59) - Signs Around Supply for Residential Revenue Growth
(00:07:17) - Signs of Housing Supply Absurdity
(00:14:39) - Regulatory reform and construction innovation drive housing production
(00:17:22) - Signs of a Housing Market slowdown

SalesGlobe Signals #7: A Credit Christmas? The Rising Cost of Getting Less.

Mark Donnolo — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 17:24:44 +0000

In this month’s Signal, Mark highlights how consumer holiday spending is rising in nominal terms while real (inflation-adjusted) spending has plateaued since 2021, signaling that price increases, not increased purchasing power, are driving revenue growth. The widening gap between high credit costs and underlying demand makes current revenue growth more fragile and sensitive to economic shifts.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Sales Globe Signals
(00:01:15) - Market signals for revenue growth in 2021-2026
(00:04:37) - Signal 2: Savings Directed to Credit
(00:07:48) - Signal 3 the Spread between Short Term and Long Term Borrow
(00:10:15) - 10 Questions about Your Customer Strategy for a High Consumer Credit Market

SalesGlobe Signals #6: A 50 Year Mortgage? Is the Next Gen Going to Live Life-as-a-Service?

Mark Donnolo — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:00:00 +0000

In this month's SalesGlobe Signals, Mark Donnolo looks at some signals on the 50 Year Mortage and how life-as-a-Service is a trap that you and future generations want to avoid.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - A 50 Year Mortgage
(00:04:02) - Signal 2 First Time Home Buyers Are Turning 40
(00:05:49) - Mortgage Rates: How Will They Impact Homeownership?
(00:06:53) - Signal 4 Homeownership Affordability Has Changed
(00:09:09) - Homebuyers: The Cost to Buy
(00:12:29) - Different Motivators Homeowners vs Landlords
(00:15:16) - Serving Homeowners: Life as a Service
(00:18:47) - 10 Questions about Your Company's Customer Strategy for the Housing Market
(00:20:41) - Homeownership: Under strain

SalesGlobe Signals #5: The AI Infrastructure Build: What Does It Mean for You and Your Customers?

Mark Donnolo — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 14:33:17 +0000

In this month's SalesGlobe Signals, Mark Donnolo looks at some signals on the AI infrastructure build that may be impacting your customers. Then let's explore how you can create value and expectations for your organization.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - The AI Infrastructure Build
(00:01:06) - What Does the AI Infrastructure Build?
(00:04:59) - Which Customers Should You Target for the AI Infrastructure Build?
(00:14:30) - 10 Questions about Your Customer Strategy for the AI Infrastructure Build

SalesGlobe Signals #4: Labor Econ 101: How Might Worker Supply, Employment Demand, and Labor Cost Impact You and Your Customers?

Mark Donnolo — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:37:35 +0000

In this month’s SalesGlobe Signals, Mark Donnolo cuts through the noise around rate cuts and headline jobs numbers to focus on the mechanics: supply, demand, and price of labor. The workforce is still expanding, but hiring demand has cooled. Layoffs are up and unemployment has ticked to 4.3%—still within the “full employment” range—while quit rates have settled. Labor costs have stabilized as the “war for talent” eases; wages and benefits are rising more slowly, even as productivity gains haven’t fully kept pace and inflation has eroded some of the wage growth of recent years. Sector stories diverge: leisure, hospitality, construction, and professional services continue to add headcount; manufacturing, finance, and parts of tech are tightening and leaning into automation and early AI adoption.

The takeaway: look at labor through a segmentation lens. Where demand is growing, help customers scale and offset rising people costs. Where hiring slows or cuts mount, lead with efficiency, productivity, and offers that supplement teams. Stabilizing labor costs create room to plan—use it to sharpen value propositions by segment and point sales toward the industries most likely to move.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Sales Globe Signals: Higher Wages, Lower Revenue
(00:01:13) - What Are the Market Signals?
(00:03:05) - Signs That the Market Is Tightening
(00:12:03) - Strategic opportunities for business and consumer markets
(00:13:33) - 10 Questions about Your Customer Strategy for the Labor Market
(00:15:07) - Sales Globe Signals: Future Growth

SalesGlobe Signals #3: How Will Interest Rate Changes Impact Your Customers and Your Opportunities?

Mark Donnolo — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:35:26 +0000

In this month’s SalesGlobe Signals, Mark Donnolo looks past the headlines to ask a sharper question: how do shifting interest rates actually change your customers’ behavior—and where should you point your team next?

With the Fed Funds Rate still elevated relative to 2020–2022 but showing signs of easing, the story isn’t just policy—it’s impact. Lower borrowing costs can relieve pressure on highly leveraged businesses, jump-start capex and M&A, and unlock projects that stalled at higher rates. On the consumer side, even modest mortgage and credit rate declines can thaw housing activity, free up spend via home equity and lower APRs, and feed the wealth effect—while retirees and cash-heavy households see a different set of trade-offs.

The takeaway: not all segments benefit equally. Mid-to-large borrowers, capital-intensive industries, distributors carrying inventory, and rate-sensitive consumer categories may move first. Now’s the moment to refine segmentation, tighten value propositions by segment, and align quotas and incentives to the customers most likely to accelerate if rates drift down.

Chapters

(00:00:01) - How Will Interest Rate Changes Impact Your Business?
(00:01:01) - Signs of Interest Rate Reduction Prior to the September Fed Meeting
(00:05:51) - Business Customers and Consumers: Impact of Interest Rates
(00:09:56) - 10 Questions about Your Customer Strategy for Fed Rate reductions
(00:11:27) - Fed Rate Reduction: Which Customers Should You Target?
(00:16:24) - Benefits of a Fed Rate Reduction for Consumer Spending

SalesGlobe Signals #2: Why is Inflation a Big Deal for Your Customers and What Should You Do for Them?

Mark Donnolo — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:30:16 +0000

In this month’s SalesGlobe Signals, Mark Donnolo breaks down why inflation still matters — even as the headlines suggest it’s cooling.

While the rate of inflation has slowed from its peak, its effects remain persistent. Over the past four years, cumulative inflation has erased much of the purchasing power gained in the two decades prior. That means your customers — both businesses and consumers — are still feeling the squeeze.

For B2B organizations, higher input costs and tariff pressures continue to challenge margins. For consumer-facing companies, incomes haven’t kept pace with rising prices, forcing difficult trade-offs. Both trends influence how customers buy, what they value, and how much they can spend — creating ripple effects across pricing, quotas, and sales performance.

Mark also explores how slowing sales and profit margins, combined with stabilizing unit costs, point to pricing pressure rather than pure cost inflation. The question for leaders now isn’t just what inflation is doing — it’s what you’re doing in response.

This edition of SalesGlobe Signals helps you look at inflation through your customers’ eyes and identify the actions that protect your margins, sharpen your value proposition, and drive profitable growth in a tighter market.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Inflation: What Does It Mean for Revenue Growth?
(00:01:09) - Inflationary Impact on Revenue Growth
(00:04:33) - Inflationary Direction
(00:05:39) - Market Signals

SalesGlobe Signals #1: Tariffs- Who Will Pass Through Costs in Prices and How Might That Impact Quotas?

Mark Donnolo — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:27:34 +0000

In this month’s SalesGlobe Signals, we take a look at how tariffs are beginning to ripple through the economy — and what those signals mean for growth, pricing, and sales quotas.

Manufacturing, Wholesale, and Retail are seeing the sharpest rise in cost expectations, even as manufacturers’ actual costs remain steady for now. Many companies are bracing before the storm — anticipating future increases and deciding how much they can realistically pass through in prices.

Our analysis shows companies expect to pass along between 47% and 62% of new costs to customers. Larger retailers and wholesalers lead the way in price passthroughs, while smaller firms and service industries may be forced to absorb more in their margins. That uncertainty could soon reach sales organizations, where shifting demand and thinner margins raise new questions about quota setting and performance measures.

This edition of SalesGlobe Signals takes a broader look at what tariffs could mean for profitable revenue growth — from cost structures and price elasticity to how organizations align quotas with changing market opportunity.

Chapters

(00:00:01) - Sales Globe Signals
(00:01:03) - Tariffs and inflation: Market signals
(00:03:56) - Who Will Pass Through Costs and Prices?
(00:05:49) - Cost Increase Scenarios by Company Size and Industry
(00:06:42) - What Does This Mean for Profitable Revenue Growth?
(00:09:35) - Tariff Pass Throughs and Quotas
(00:13:16) - Signs of Growth in the Near Term