The Silent Threats Undermining B2B Sales: Tech Overload and the Remote Work Dilemma

Struggling to hit sales targets despite leveraging the latest technology and remote work strategies? Regardless of all the fancy technologies and remote setups, you have been sold a bill of goods. Here's why your B2B sales efforts might be missing the mark.

The Downside of Relying on Tech in B2B Sales

The last three decades have seen sales organizations marching to the constant drumbeat of technology. The promise of the tech stack was described as efficiency. But after decades of the supposed improvements in efficiency, salespeople are facing some of the worst numbers ever. From this vantage point, tech’s efficiency has turned out to be a major problem in B2B sales. While win rates, quota attainment, and stalled deals are still going in the wrong direction, the only KPI that is growing is pipeline coverage. You have a tank full of gas in a car with no tires.

Data-Driven Sales: Why More Isn't Always Better

We were promised that a data-driven sales process would lead to better outcomes, but it hasn’t. You can walk into a sales manager’s office and find data on the number of phone calls (an activity) and the booked meetings, but this isn’t a complete picture of a sales team’s performance. Much of this data is noise because it cannot tell you anything about how effective your sales team’s activity is. Unless you are using this data to create meaningful engagement, you cannot fully understand what you need to. Staring at the scoreboard is not the same as ensuring you and your team are winning the game.

The Myth of Quota Coverage: Why 10X Strategies Fall Short

In the last decade, we have put our trust in the strategy of 2X, 4X, and even 10X quota, with some sales organizations building what might be called “a fortress pipeline.” Despite this emphasis, too few sales reps are reaching their quota. It turns out that this strategy also fails to provide the promised results. Excessive quantity cannot make up for poor quality.

The Lasting Impact of the Pandemic on Sales

For four years, we have sold as if the pandemic is still with us. The experts suggest it will always be with us, but in a form less than what we experienced. We sit in front of one screen for hours, and when we walk away from that, we pick up another screen. Instead of sitting down with our clients and our should-be clients, we choose to stare into a screen that separates us from each other.

This is often true even if the client is in the same city. During the pandemic, this became the norm, but it turns out that many clients prefer video meetings, making it more difficult to gain commitment to a face-to-face meeting. True influence and persuasion are done better when you look your client in the eye.

Remote Work's Hidden Costs: The Decline of Tribal Sales Knowledge

Many salespeople work from home instead of going to an office. The strategy assumes that the salesperson lives in their territory, making it easy for them to drive to see their clients. There is, however, a downside, one that harms experienced salespeople and, especially, young sales reps. Some may not know what a sales floor is or how it improves the effectiveness of the sales force.

When a number of salespeople are all working in the same place, you hear what others are doing to book first meetings and how top salespeople close deals. When reps work at home, they are deprived of the tribal knowledge that would speed up their results. This can significantly slow down their growth and effectiveness.

The Velocity Myth: Why Inaction, Not Time, Kills Deals

For as long as I can remember, sales leaders have sought velocity. You might be familiar with the old chestnut time kills deals. First, know that time doesn’t kill deals, but time with no activity will. In times when we find our clients afraid to make a decision, speed is not your friend. If you are unable to provide the confidence and certainty that your client needs, your odds of winning the client’s business are essentially zero. There is a difference between speed and urgency. Urgency is better than velocity.

Why Clients Reject Second Meetings: Root Causes and Solutions

In the last year, no fewer than five companies have confessed that they can’t book second meetings. The only reason a client will reject a second meeting is that the salesperson failed to create value for them in the first. This is usually apparent in the first five minutes of a sales call. There are a number of possible root causes for not being able to secure a second meeting: poor training, lack of value, or a weak sales methodology or approach.

You would hope that the salesperson’s sales manager would join their reps to uncover what they need to change to command a second meeting. Ultimately, you need to deliver obvious value in the first meeting if you want a second meeting.

The Decline of Human Relationships in Sales: A Warning Sign

All of the threats to B2B sales also seem to cause a decline in human relationships. Some of us value our relationships over almost everything else. Others are becoming untethered from what is most important, like relationships. In sales, this also means neglecting your role in solving the client’s problems and providing the counsel, advice, and the recommendations to ensure they succeed. This decline in human relationships should be a warning sign that we are losing sight of what leads to success: trust, value, and connection.

Do good work, and I will see you tomorrow!