Author: Jerry More Nyazungu
Author’s role: Author and sales leadership educator, The Chartered Vendor
Key takeaway
Use interviews, funnel data and direct observation to identify where customers stop moving. Assign process fixes and targeted training to the causes supported by evidence.
Find where the customer stops moving before booking a workshop that solves the wrong problem.
A sales manager in Harare sees a falling win rate and reaches for the familiar answer: “My people cannot close.” The workshop is booked, the agenda is full of objection handling and negotiation tips, and everyone expects a better month afterwards. Then someone opens the CRM and discovers that proposals are reaching people who cannot authorise purchases.
That is why sales team diagnosis matters. Training may be exactly what the team needs. It may also be the wrong treatment for weak leads, missing stock, unrealistic pricing, slow internal approvals or a sales process that never identifies the true decision-maker. Start with the cause, not the course catalogue.
Challenge: revenue is a symptom, not a diagnosis
A drop in revenue does not tell management which step failed. It could reflect fewer qualified opportunities, a longer customer decision cycle, declining product availability, weak discovery, poorly timed quotations, or management delays after the salesperson has done their work.
The streets do not reward effort alone. They reward an organisation that helps a real buyer move from a recognised problem to a well-supported decision. Before spending on sales training, ask exactly where customers stop moving.
“Show me where the customer stops moving, then show me what the salesperson did at that point.”
Approach: start with three sources of truth
1. Interview salespeople, managers and customers
Use a structured set of questions, then compare the accounts. Ask representatives where deals stall, managers what evidence supports each CRM stage, and customers which step felt slow or confusing. Include lost prospects and “no decision” outcomes where practical.
Ask for a specific opportunity, date and next action. “Customers are difficult” is an opinion. “The quote reached operations, but finance approval was never identified” is a testable problem. Do not turn the review into a complaint forum; use each interview to create a hypothesis for investigation.
2. Inspect 90–180 days of funnel data
Use a time window long enough to show the normal buying cycle, adjusting it for seasonal products or long procurement decisions. Segment by representative, lead source, customer type, location and product. Otherwise, an unproductive campaign can make skilled salespeople look weak, while one large inherited account can flatter an average performer.
At a minimum, measure lead-to-meeting conversion, meeting-to-qualified-opportunity conversion, proposal rate, win rate, median days per stage and reasons for loss or no decision. Define each denominator consistently. One team that counts “no decision” as lost and another that quietly excludes it cannot produce a meaningful comparison.
A stage conversion rate equals the number of opportunities advancing from that stage divided by the number entering it, multiplied by 100. For win rate, use closed-won deals divided by decided opportunities, and document exactly how you classify no-decision outcomes.
3. Observe the work
Listen to real sales calls, watch meetings where permission is granted, inspect proposals and follow the internal hand-off to operations or finance. Use a short scorecard covering preparation, discovery, qualification, buyer mapping, value explanation, next-step agreement and CRM notes. Management coaching should be scored too.
Observation matters because a clean CRM field does not prove a useful customer conversation happened. Equally, a confident presenter is not necessarily strong at identifying who controls the purchase decision.
Match the symptom to the corrective action
| Evidence | Possible root cause | First response |
|---|---|---|
| Few qualified meetings | Wrong leads or weak opening | Review targeting, lead source and call discovery |
| Proposals stall after meetings | Missing decision-maker or approval map | Introduce buyer-mapping and proposal gates |
| Quotes wait internally | Slow pricing or authorisation | Fix hand-off and approval ownership |
| Customers request unavailable stock | Inventory or fulfilment gap | Repair stock visibility and promises |
| Deals close once, then churn | Delivery or onboarding problems | Inspect post-sale service before more training |
| Skills fail in observed calls | Repeatable behaviour gap | Deliver targeted practice and coaching |
Case illustration: the “closing problem” that was not closing
An illustrative Zimbabwean B2B distributor plans objection-handling training after its proposal-to-close rate declines. Meetings are still converting into proposals, but deals spend longer in the buyer-approval stage. Call reviews show that representatives ask reasonable discovery questions yet never record the economic buyer or approval process.
The first fix is to require a named buyer, documented decision path and mutually agreed next action before an opportunity enters proposal. Managers should review these details in the pipeline meeting. Targeted stakeholder-mapping training may follow if observation shows the team lacks the skill. A general motivational workshop would treat the symptom.
Second illustration: training cannot sell an empty shelf
A Zimbabwean retailer has courteous, knowledgeable staff but weak conversion. Observation shows that customers repeatedly request popular items that are unavailable. The owner blames selling technique because sales are flat. The proper first response is a lost-sale log, accurate stock status and a replenishment review. Train selling skills later if conversion remains weak once customers can actually buy what they request.
The same logic applies to slow quotations, unreliable deliveries and credit policies that salespeople cannot explain. Process problems require process owners. Skills problems require practice and coaching. A serious diagnosis keeps them separate.
Make the diagnosis actionable
Produce a one-page findings sheet with the observed bottleneck, supporting evidence, owner, corrective action and success measure. Every recommendation should have a clear test: if you change the process, what improvement should become visible? If the answer is only “more training attendance,” the diagnosis is incomplete.
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Define CRM stage entry and exit criteria, including required customer evidence.
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Assign each bottleneck to the person who can change it: sales, finance, operations or leadership.
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Use focused practice for verified skills gaps—discovery, buyer mapping, negotiation or follow-up.
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Measure behaviour change and the affected conversion stage after intervention, not just attendance.
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Review whether the same problems recur across territories, products or managers.
A 30-day diagnostic sequence
In the first week, agree the problem definition and extract a clean funnel sample. In the second, conduct interviews and observe customer conversations. In the third, test explanations against real deals, price approvals and fulfilment records. In the fourth, rank the root causes, assign fixes and create a short scorecard for the next sales review.
The conclusion may be that you need training. That is a good outcome—because now you know which skill, which people and which part of the funnel the training must improve. The conclusion may instead be that the business needs better leads, quicker approvals or more reliable stock. That is useful too.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know whether my sales team needs training?
Look for a consistent behaviour gap in observed calls and deal reviews. Rule out lead quality, product fit, approval delays, stock availability and other process constraints first.
Which sales metrics should be checked?
Review lead-to-meeting conversion, qualification, proposal rate, win rate, median stage age, losses and no-decisions. Segment the data so averages do not conceal the cause.
How much CRM history should a diagnosis use?
Often 90–180 days is a useful starting point, but longer cycles and seasonal businesses may need more history. Data quality is more important than a rigid period.
Can training improve win rate?
Yes, when poor performance is linked to a skill the team can learn and practise. Training cannot independently fix unavailable stock, uncompetitive offers, inappropriate leads or internal approval bottlenecks.
THE CHARTERED VENDOR | NEXT STEP Before you book the next sales workshop, inspect the interviews, funnel and actual customer conversations. Find the problem that is blocking a purchase, then invest in the correction that addresses it. The Chartered Vendor can support a practical sales audit and targeted training plan built around the evidence your business already has.
