How to avoid bad sales performance

CEOs and sales leaders often believe that poor sales performance is primarily due to a lack of sales skills.

This is only partly true.

After conducting a discovery call and reviewing their B2B Sales Maturity Self-Assessment, they're often surprised by what I find: their team's underperformance isn't just about sales skills—it stems from a basic lack of understanding of the sales process.

And in some cases, there's no clear sales process at all.

Working on large enterprise deals the last 25+ years, I have seen the transformative power of an effective sales process firsthand.

When I was at Alcatel-Lucent we have our Gate 0-5. Every milestone is clear and everyone is aligned, including the clients internal buying process. And this not only applies to large deals, but also to small and medium-sized opportunities where having a clear sales process can dramatically improve results.

If you hire sales people and send them off to sell without a clear sales process, you are setting them up for failure.

And if you are a sales person, this should be your first question, what is our sales process? Your sales process should be your recipe for success.

When you have a clear sales process, it will have a positive impact on your performance, including;

• Understanding of your customer’s buying process

• Ability to focus on the right accounts

• Annual sales revenue performance

• Win rates on forecast deals

Why you need a detailed sales process

Have you ever been on a forecast call where you're asked to explain a deal, but all you can report are the number of calls and meetings you've had?

It's frustrating for both you and your manager. You're working hard but not seeing the results you want.

Most sales process are based on a pipeline that are split into different stages, but there is no clear definition of what those stages means. It makes reporting, coaching and forecasting so difficult.

Today's buyers have instant access to extensive product information even before they ever speak with a salesperson. This shift means sellers must evolve from simply providing information to becoming true value-added consultants.

The key to success is showing how your product solves your client's critical problems-in their language.

Unfortunately, many salespeople let customers drive the process instead of leading it themselves. They rush to give demos or send proposals at the first request, without truly understanding their client's business—and then wonder why they get ghosted.

Proper qualification and discovery are essential—helping clients articulate their problems leads to crafting the right solutions. Without this foundation, seemingly promising deals often vanish at the final stage.

This lack of process makes sales forecasts unreliable. Pipeline visibility becomes murky because there's no standardised way to track each deal's progress.

When you're the Head of sales and your team is only halfway to target with two days remaining, your options are limited. This desperation leads to problematic tactics—like offering huge discounts or pulling future deals forward.

You might hit your target, but you'll wake up the next day to find you've depleted your pipeline and must start the cycle again.

Do you have a clearly understood sales process?

Download the Sales Process template here:

Sales Process Example

If you answer yes to the following questions, you would want to develop a more specfic and clear sales process.

1. Is your sales process limited to basic CRM stage names without clear definitions or expectations for each stage? When your sales rep says "proposal submitted," does that actually indicate a 90% win rate? How do you know? Or is it just a client budget exercise?

2. Do you struggle to track deal progress and find yourself constantly chasing your team for updates?

3. Do prospects frequently disappear in later stages? This often indicates insufficient discovery work early in the process. Remember: qualifying and disqualifying prospects are equally important for optimal performance.

4. Do your sales team consistently miss close date estimates? This usually happens when they accept unrealistic customer timelines without accounting for internal approvals and procurement processes.

5. Is forecasting difficult due to incomplete CRM data? Do you spend excessive time tracking down every deal or find yourself unable to trust your team's data?

Nothing feels worse than telling your CEO and board you'll hit your numbers when you lack confidence in your pipeline.

There is a better way.

Create a clear and winning sales process

Here’s how:

1. Map out your customer journey as clear and as comprehensive as possible. Use a Miro Map and get all your stakeholders aligned.

2. Define your and your client's key milestones. Here is an example of a client's sales process based on the B2B Maturity Framework—yours will differ based on your products or services.

3. Populate your sales process with detailed questions, templates, and required activities, clearly outlining what needs to happen and what clients must provide or do. Remember it’s a collaboration, a two-way exchange of information and get micro-commitments.

4. Make your sales process part of your culture. Format the final sales process document to be clear and visual. Make it your “source of truth” resource for your sales team by creating both a simplified desk reference and a detailed version for training purposes.

This document will serve as a roadmap, helping salespeople navigate deals while enabling managers to quickly assess and guide opportunities.

Why this works

• Everyone on the team speaks the same language when it comes to qualifying and closing deals. No more confusing pipeline meetings!

• It helps you stay focused on really understanding your customer's problems before jumping into solutions. That's what consultative selling is all about.

• Makes training and coaching more effective through "coaching to stages" - managers can better guide reps through specific stages

• Gone are the days of "I think this deal will close." Now you have a clear criteria for each stage, so your forecasts are based on facts, not gut feelings.

• Provides new sales teams with clear guidance while allowing more experienced sales teams to be empowered

• And the best part? You can actually predict close dates accurately because you're mapping out timelines with your clients.

Note that in enterprise sales, deals are like snowflakes—no two are ever the same. You must adapt your approach based on each account's unique situation.

What has been your experience with sales processes? Have you worked at companies with well-defined processes, or places with no process at all? Hit reply because I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for being here, see you next week.

Ren