In a now-famous article published in The Wall Street Journal in 2021, author Patrick Thomas asked the question many business leaders﷽ have been wondering for a while now:

Tౠhe article touched a nerve and went viral, gettinꦆg shared over and over on LinkedIn and other platforms. 

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:The question was a valid one.

Despite high earning potential and a slew of openings, young professionals were not choosing sales as a career — and mid-careeꦅr salespeople were leaving the fie﷽ld. Sales offers a lucrative career path, but it has its challenges both as a career and as a responsibility☂ within an organization. 

Whether you’re a young professional looking to get started in sales or a veteran sales rep hoping to solve some of yo▨ur persistent c♈hallenges, this article is for you. 

Below, we’ll cover:

• The state of sales today
• Six common problems sales teams face
• How to solve them

Whether you’re aꦯ sales❀ rep, sales manager, marketing team member, or business leader, this information will help you chart your course forward. 

Let’s dive in together.

The state of sales today

The sales industry is full of myths and misperceptions. If you’ve never worked in sales, you likely have an image of a used car salesman in your head, complete with a phony smil🍸e and aggressive sales pitch.

If you have worked in sales, you know it can be a stressful job with har🔯d-to-hit monthly quotas, but it's also rewarding work that puts relationships at the center of everything.&nbs🏅p;  

In reality, modern salespeople are relationship builders. They guide and educate prospects as they move toward a purchase.

There’s a lot less pitching and a lot🍒 more listening than there might have been 2ಌ0 ♕years ago. According to , nearly 90% of salespeople say that selling today is more about listening to the customers than it is about talking to the customers.      

Sales re𒁃ps are not just listening. They're answering questions, they’re managing emotions, shaping expectations, and building trust with prospects. Taking these steps helps eliminate many sales problems from the ve🔯ry start.

To watch a good sales rep in action is to see deft e♏motional i🐼ntelligence on full display. 

Salespeople are a business’s gatekeepers

Salespeople are the face o🦩f your organization. They reach out, shake hands (often virtually), and bring customers into the fold.

In their role, they are always in the process of building relationships and providing guidance. Sales profꩵessionals who give off a pushy, arrogant, or aloof vibe make your whole company seem that way.

Sales teams that freely share the internal knowledge base of your companꦚy create bonds and build trust with their prospects and customers.

7 common sales problems (and how to solve them)

Whether they’re selling products or serv♓ices, B2B or B2C, pros everywhere face the same challenges. There’s a reason these problems are so widespread: They’re notoriously tricky and hard t⛎o solve.

Below, I’ll lay out seven common challenges, as ⭕well as the solutions we at IMPACT have found to work. 

I’m not claiming I can instantly boost all sales performance. In fact, the solutions I🗹 present take time and commitment, but they should start moving you and your sales team in the right direction.

Here are the seven common sales 💧problems — and how to solve them.

Problem #1: Each sale takes way too long

What it is

The bigger and more expensive the thing you sell, the💝 more likely that your sales process will be lꦗengthy. After all, there’s no sales process to sell a stick of gum, but bigger ticket i🐟tems come with more questions, and buyers will need more informatio🌳n and more touchpoints.

Why it’s a problem

Lonꦰg processes are a problem for a number of reasons. First off is the obiovus one, the longer a sale takes, the more time your team has to spend on it. This translates to fewer opportunities and few🏅er sales. 

But it’s not just that. 

Salespeople get emotionally bought in to every deal. They buiꦇld relationships. Some companies have sales processes that last months. For a sales rep who invests si꧟x months into a prospect only to have the deal fall through, the effect can be devastating and demoralizing.

How to solve it

Answer prospect questions ahead of time with content

The fastest way to shorten the sales cycle is with 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:sales enablement materials. Have your sales team compile a list of the most common questions they hear from customers. Then, work with the marketing team to develop resources that thorou🍰ghly answer these questions.

Sales enablement content could take many forms: blog articles, videos, buyer’s guides, research reports, pr൩oduct sta✨ts, or case studies. They should be suited to different steps in the sales process.

More broad, generalized content can be given to prospects early on, whereas 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:case studies would work well with laterℱ-stage prospects. 

But th𒆙is type of content only gets created if your sales and marketing team☂s work together on it, so get ready to collaborate.

Bonus tip: A🔜lign your sales process around buyer decision points

Your sales process should not be arbitrary.

Chart out the decisions a customer has to make in order to buy from you. Then, make sure your sales process aligns with these decision points. This will keep you from making a🍒 sales process th꧃at moves too fast or too slow.  

Problem #2: You don’t have enough leads

What it is

Every customer starts off as a lead — but noꦰt every lead becomes a customer. A healthy♈ sales funnel has leads coming in all the time so that paying customers can come out the other end. 

Why it’s a problem

You need leads to have sales, and you need sales to have revenue. ওWithout leads, your business is in rough shape. 

Sales managers should routinely check on each sal🌌es rep’s pipeline. While it’s exciting to see late-stage deals move closer to closing, it’s critical to pay attention to the other end of the funnel, too, to make 🥃sure good-fit leads are coming in.

How to solve it

Generate better leads with high-quality content — both on and off your platform

There’s no silver bullet to bring in more leads. Many marketing teams will seek to boost organic web traffic, hoping more traffic will mean more leads. Unfortunately, this often leads to fluffy content that might drive traffic, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:but not the kind yo൲u’re looking for. 

Marcus Sheridan, author of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:They Ask, You Answer, started his career as a pool installer. He found that he could get thousands of visits to a blog post titled “Top 10 games to play at your pool party”, but this was not traffic with buying intent, so the h💮ighಞ numbers didn’t really matter, from a revenue standpoint.

Instead, he found that thoroughly answering buyer questions was a better tactic. So, instead he’d write something like “Fiberglass pools vs. concre�ꦐ�te pools: An honest comparison for your project.”

Sure, the traffic numbers weren’t as high, but the second article drove real leads to his ✤website an☂d gave his sales team a solid foundation. (As a secondary benefit, the same piece of content could be used with prospects already in the funnel.)

The key is being unbi🌞asedꦜ in the content, and presenting the information fairly.

You shouldn't just rely on your website, though. Social media is more important every year. So is YouTube. And don't forget about 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:short-form video content for 🥂YouTube Shorts, Instagram, LinkedIꦦn, TikTok, or any other spot your ideal customers spend time.

Presenting the sꦰame content in multiple formats can serve a wider audience. 

This is that same pool article I mentioned above, this ti🅺me presented in a video:

Problem #3: Your leads are unqualified 

What it is

Sales success depends on a steady stream of qualified leads. That is, leads who:

• Can afford what you sell
• Are ready to buy 
• Are decision-makers for the organization (in the B2B world)

Unqualified leads are just the opposite, and if your sales funnel is full of peoplꩵe who aren't going to buy from you, all your other efforts will be for nothiꩵng.

Why it’s a problem

You can do everything right — great sales calls, good rapport, smooth presentation — but if the prospect can’t afford you, you’re not going to get the saജle.

How to solve it

Commit to buyer education

The biggest factor in lead qualification is budget. If someone can’t afford what you’re selling, it’s best for everyone to know that as early as possible. Yet, thousands of companies are reluctant ♑t☂o address pricing on their websites. 

As a result, potential customers enter the sales process without knowing if they ♈can actually buy the thing they’re looking at.

And it’s not just price.

Buyers have questions. The more questions you can answer on your website, the fewer unqual🏅ified leads you’ll have. Those who are not a good fit for what you’re selling will opt out and stop wasting your sales🃏 team’s time. 

Problem #4: You’re wasting your effort on bad-fit prospects

What it is

It’s often pretty easy to spot an unqualified lead. They usually can’t afford what you’re selling or they’re simply not ready to buy. Bad-fit prospects are a little different.

T🥂hink of a bad-fit prospect as a person who is sure to become an unhappy cusဣtomer. They might have the money and the inclination to buy, but the fit just isn’t right.

Maybe they have unrealistic expectations. Maybe there’s a cultural misal💜ignment. A bad-fit prospect might seem good on paper, but it’s just not going to be the right relationsh♊ip for either of you. 

Why it’s a problem

Happy, satisfied customers build your b﷽rand and spin your flywheel, talking about your organization with friends and colleagues.

They leave positive online reviews.

They bring you referral business. 

Unhappy customers do just the opposite. Selling to someone who will steer others away from your brand is worse than not mak🀅ing a sale at all.

How to solve it

Know exactly what you sell — and who it’s for

It’s tempting to say that what you s🐻ell is the right solution for everyone, but we𒉰 all know it’s not true.

• A pickup truck is the right vehicle for some buyers but not others.
• An adjustable-rate mortgage is perfect for certain homebuyers but a nightmare for others.

And so on.

Every🅘 business needs to determine what it s🤡ells and who it sells to.

You never want to force prospects to buy something that’s not right for them — and the sooner you’re aware of a bad fit, the sooner your sales team can counsel💃 them out of the sales process. 

Doing so benefits the prospect and your busin🍨ess, which will see an increased customer lifetime value.

At IMPACT, we teach our client♓s to produce “product/service fit” materials that sales reps can share with prospects. 

Look at this example from a busin🅷ess called Office Interiors. 

The video explains the product and provides information, but it doesn’t go for a hard sell. Instead, it explains who would (and would not) be a good fit🐓 for what they’re selling:

Problem #5: You’re spending too much time on low-value tasks

What it is

According to research from InsideSales, most sales reps spend only . 

Why it’s a problem

Sales is a numbers game. If you want more sales to happen, you need to have more of everything that comes before a sale: more leads, more sales calls, more opportunities. This is not blanket permission to spray and pray — just♑ a reminder that more time spent not selling translates into fewer sales. 

On top of that, your sales team is compensated based on the deals they close. With 🐻limited opportunities comes limited earning potential — and this leads to anxiety, frustration, and resentment, compounding any sales problems greatly.

How to solve it

Sales reps need to guard their calendars

The statistic above should be a call to action for all businesses. Yes, there are always going to be meetings, training, and administrative work. But the fact is that your sales team likely spends 63% of its time not selling. 

• For sales representatives: Advocate for yourself and guard your calendar. If you need time for prospecting, block it off on your calendar. Doing research ahead of a call? Block it off. If someone books time with you during prime selling hours, ask to reschedule. Your time is a vital asset. Don’t let other people squander it. 
• For sales leaders: You will need to run point on this. Is there a meeting that could be an email? Could training and feedback come asynchronously? Could that 60-minute huddle be completed in 30 minutes? Take a fresh look at your team’s calendars. Get creative about how you can give your team its time back.

Problem #6: You're not getting the training you need 

What it is

The success of a business rests with its sales team. But sales teams are over-stressed,๊ undertrained, and subject to high turnover. 

According to data from , nearly 70% of all salespeople say they have not received any formal training in sales. Instead, the🌠y describe themselves as “self-taught social sellers.”

Why it’s a problem

An under-trained sales t🔴eam is less likely to be successful. They stumble in front of buyers, creating a poor impression of the brand they represent. And, in turn, the customer experience suffers. 

Research shows that 58% of buyers say that sales reps . In the ♏B2B space, it’s even higher, with 82% of buyers reporting that sales reps are unprepared.  

How to solve it

Make time for training

I know what you're thinking — Didn't you just say "guard your calendars"?

Yes, but there's a difference between unnecessary meetinඣg⭕s and highly-necessary training. If you really want to improve sales performance, it's not just about getting more at-bats. It's about coaching, mentorship, and a positive culture of feedback. 

The best sales training is 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:perso꧅nalized, continual, and supportiv🌠e.

Some of the biggest problems sales reps face can be solved by putting thꦓe customer at the center of the whole buying process. 

Problem #7: You're struggling to prepare for meetings

What it is

Sales reps' time is precious, but with a calendar full of meetings, it can be hard to find the tim𓃲e to prepare for each one.🥀 

Why it’s a problem

An underprepared sales rep is an unsuccessful sales rep. You always want to give yo♎ur buyer the impression that you're very well-versed in what you're selling and who you're selling to.

How to solve it

Use AI to improve your prep work.

Here in the AI revolution, you can f෴ind tools to help make your preparation more efficieꦡnt.

My colleague Chris Duprey, an experienced sales coach, shared this list of AI-based task🦋s and ac♒tivities for sales reps. 

• Call review with AI. AI tools like  and  will automatically record and sort your Zoom calls, and then provide detailed insights that range from the high level (think: how much time did I have my slide deck up during that one-hour meeting?) to the specific (how clearly did I articulate the ‘next steps’ at the end of the call?)
• Role-play with AI. We all know that role-plays work — and we all know that people often don’t like doing them. With a few prompts, you can create a basic role-play scenario with .
• Ask for feedback on a presentation. If you’ve been staring at the same text for an hour, AI can see your work with fresh eyes. Put the text from your slides into a chat and ask for feedback. Are there holes in your logic? Do you belabor certain points? Let a tool read the slide deck before you show it to a client.
• Use an AI slide builder to create a rough draft presentation that you can fine-tune. I use .
• Research a company’s website. If you don’t have time to pore over dozens of pages, ask AI to do it. Use a ChatGPT plugin to access the internet and put in a company’s URL. It will come back with takeaways you can research further.
• Write outreach emails much quicker than before. If you train AI on your voice and style, smart composers like  or  can crank out emails that you’ll just need to polish.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are AI tools that can speed up any time-consuming task🔥 on your plate.&nbs🧜p; 

Empowering your sales team for success

Today, buyers are more savvy and well-informed than ever. Unfortunately, some sales teams are holding on to outdated sales techniques that don’t fit the way today’s customers make purchases. They’re still stuck in the hard-sell mindset that’s tur🍸ning off buyers — and causing so man🅺y young professionals to resist going into sales. 

The antidot🌜e to the vast majority of sales prob🧸lems is education:

• When we focus on buyer education, some of our most persistent sales chall🍨enges vanish. We shorten the sale cycle, build trust, and weed out bad-fit prospects.
• When we focus on our own education, we stay up to date on new technology that can help us do our job better. But that’s not all. Education keeps us open to feedback, willing to grow, and more likely to collaborate. 

Befor😼e the internet changed how people buy, sales reps held all the information. This led to distrust and unhappy customers. Today, education can free the buyers and the sales reps from that highly flawed model. 

When b🌄usinesses commit to solving the most persistent sales problems, it benefits ꦬboth seller and buyer. 

At IMPACT, we train businesses to put their customers at tꦏhe cente🙈r of their marketing and sales efforts.

If you want to begin to see what’s poꦅssible, take our free course: . Suddenly the sales outcomes you’re shooting for will not seem so out of reach.