Broken Sales Processes? Here’s Why It’s a Sales Management Problem

NOTES FROM NORTHWOOD

You know that feeling when your GPS tells you to “turn left in 500 feet” but you’re already past the turn?

You’re committed to the wrong direction, burning gas, and now you have to figure out how to get back on track. Meanwhile, your passengers are asking “Are we there yet?” and you have no honest answer.

That’s what broken sales processes feel like.

Your CRM shows deals “progressing” through stages. Your reps give you updates that sound reasonable. But somehow, nothing closes when it’s supposed to, and you’re constantly recalculating your arrival time.

The problem isn’t the destination. It’s that your directions are outdated, incomplete or just plain wrong.

The Real Problem Most CEOs Miss

Most companies think they have a sales rep problem. What they actually have is a sales management problem.

Here’s what I see everywhere: sales managers who spend 80% of their time updating forecasts and 20% developing their people. That’s backwards.

Your reps aren’t failing because they lack talent. They’re failing because nobody’s teaching them the fundamentals, holding them accountable to process or coaching them on what actually matters.

The Over Engineering Problem

Most companies build sales processes like they’re designing rocket ships. Seventeen steps. Multiple decision points. Contingency plans for every possible scenario.

It’s like having GPS directions that include every possible route, detour and alternative path. Too many options create confusion, not clarity.

The best GPS systems are simple. They tell you exactly where you are, exactly where you’re going, and exactly what to do next.

I advocate simple sales processes. No more than 4-6 stages from initial contact to closed deal. Each stage has specific milestones that must be met before advancement.

But here’s the key: your sales managers need to know how to coach to that process. Most don’t.

What Great Sales Management Actually Looks Like

Great sales managers don’t just track numbers. They develop people.

They do pre-call planning and post-call debriefs. They role-play difficult scenarios. They help reps think through strategy before big meetings.

Most importantly, they know the difference between activity metrics and leading indicators. They understand what data actually predicts success.

But here’s the problem: most sales managers were promoted because they were good individual contributors. Nobody taught them how to manage, coach, or develop other people.

The Data Behind Why Reps Fail

After working with hundreds of sales organizations, I can tell you exactly why most reps fail:

It’s not lack of motivation. It’s not the wrong territory. It’s not market conditions.

It’s that they don’t know what questions to ask, they can’t qualify prospects properly, and they’re working on deals they’ll never win.

And their managers don’t know how to fix these problems because they’ve never been taught what effective sales management looks like.

Here’s What You Need to Know

If you’re tired of missing forecasts, wondering why your team can’t execute, or frustrated that your sales managers seem more like administrators than leaders, you need to understand what actually drives sales success.

It’s not about hiring “better” reps. It’s about retooling how your sales team operates from the ground up.

Join us for a live webinar: “Retooling Your Sales Team”

We’’ll show you:

What sales managers should actually be doing (vs. what they do now)

 The real data behind why reps fail (and how to predict it)

 How process drives success (and why most processes don’t work)

 How to hire the right reps vs. common hiring myths that cost you money

This is all what we’ve learned from working inside hundreds of sales organizations and seeing what actually works.

Register here for “Retooling Your Sales Team” 

The difference between hope and predictable results is having systems and management practices that actually work.

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Questions our sales training programs? Email me at adam@thenorthwoodgrp.com