Sales

Troubleshooting Sales – Top Factors Why a Sales Team/Rep is Not Selling

What may be a reason that when you hire new sales reps and one or a couple are not selling effectively?  Companies are often left wondering what is not working and I thought I’d share a couple of factors that may help you determine the root causes. Over the years, I put together a list that you can refer to and understand what may not be working out on your team.

Note that there in the SaaS industry, if the product is not competitive or lacks product-market fit or quality then in such case your entire sales team may less effective or generally ineffective. Additionally, if you don’t have a known brand then that will also play a role in creating obstacles and challenges for your entire sales team.  This doesn’t mean that you cannot win customers but it just means that the % Win Rate will be far below its potential. Other than that, here are some other reasons that individual sales reps may not be closing deals:

 

  • Not making the effort / not working hard (sometimes, may be just plain “lazy”)
  • Ineffective in their effort / working on the wrong things / wrong priorities
  • Not smart enough / doing right things but not doing them intelligently or effectively
  • Not skilled enough / not coached and trained to sell effectively
  • Not delivering the value proposition well
  • Bad lists / Bad quality of lists
  • Not enough marketing help / no leads
  • Bad product or solution / Not Must-have
  • No Market for the product or solution
  • Very long sales cycles
  • Bad attitude / Lacking confidence or conviction

This article is primarily about troubleshooting why reps are not closing deals and not winning sales. But if your reps are closing yet missing their quota consistently then it’s a different problem and I’d then add another reason (which may be standalone or can act in combination with the ones above) but the quota may be set too high or incorrectly.