Your Sales Managers Are Scoreboard Watchers
Your sales manager just sent you the weekly forecast update.
Pipeline looks good. Activity metrics are up. Everyone hit their call numbers.
But your close rate hasn’t moved in six months.
Here’s why.
Your sales manager is a scoreboard watcher.
They’re tracking results. Not fixing the behaviors that create them.
What Scoreboard Watching Looks Like
I was working with a company last year. Mid-market SaaS. About $12M ARR.
Their sales leader ran a tight ship. Weekly pipeline reviews. Forecasts were always accurate. CRM was spotless.
But when I asked to sit in on deal reviews, here’s what I heard:
“Where’s this deal at?”
“When do you think it’ll close?”
“What’s the next step?”
“Why did this one push?”
Every question was about the outcome. Not the process.
The rep would say: “They need to think about it.”
And the manager would say: “Okay, follow up next week.”
That’s scoreboard watching.
The manager saw the problem (deal stalled). But never dug into why it stalled.
They never asked:
What did you learn in discovery?
How committed are they to solving this?
Who else needs to be involved?
What happens if they don’t solve it?
Did you protect the deal after they said yes?
They just looked at the score and moved on.
What Real Coaching Looks Like
Real coaching happens before and after the call.
Before the call, you’re asking: “What do you need to learn in this conversation? What questions are you going to ask?”
After the call, you’re debriefing: “What did you learn? What’s missing? What do you need to go back and find out?”
You’re not asking where the deal is. You’re asking if your rep ran the right process.
I worked with a sales leader a few months ago who changed how he ran his one-on-ones.
He stopped asking about pipeline. Started asking about behavior.
“Walk me through your last discovery call. What questions did you ask?”
“Show me the deal you’re most confident about. Tell me why you’re confident.”
“What’s the weakest deal in your pipeline? Why is it still there?”
His close rate went from 24% to 41% in four months.
Same team. Same market. Same leads.
He just stopped watching the scoreboard and started coaching the game.
The Difference Between Results and Behavior
Results tell you what happened. Behavior tells you why.
If your rep’s close rate is 18%, that’s a result.
But why is it 18%?
Are they talking to unqualified prospects? Are they pitching too early? Are they losing deals at the demo stage? Are they giving up margin to close?
You can’t fix 18% by staring at it. You have to fix the behavior that’s creating it.
Most managers don’t do this because it’s harder.
It’s easier to ask “Where’s the deal?” than to role-play a discovery call.
It’s easier to review pipeline than to listen to a sales call and give feedback.
It’s easier to send a motivational email than to sit with a rep and work through why they’re struggling.
But easy doesn’t fix your close rate.
Here’s What This Means For You
If your sales managers spend more time in spreadsheets than in coaching conversations, they’re scoreboard watchers.
If they can tell you exactly what’s in the pipeline but can’t tell you why deals are stalling, they’re scoreboard watchers.
If they’re asking “Where’s this deal?” instead of “Walk me through your last call,” they’re scoreboard watchers.
And your close rate isn’t going to improve until that changes.
Start asking your managers: “How much time did you spend coaching this week?”
Not reviewing pipeline. Coaching.
Pre-call planning.
Post-call debriefs.
Role-playing.
Listening to calls and giving feedback.
If they can’t answer that question, you’ve got a problem.
Adam
