Sales-Acid-Test: Uncover the sales strategy issues that
obstruct your attempts to improve sales performance

Below is a summary of the top 20 sales strategy killers PBC has come across. Any one of these will impair a company’s overall sales strategy and many companies may suffer a combination that inhibits any attempts to improve sales performance.

See also Business Acid Test for the top 20 business issues.

Top 20 Sales Strategy Killers (in no specific order)

Note: “client” is used below to represent prospects or customers

Ten More Generic:

1	Poor returns from presentations, demos, trials, proposals or bids.
2	Regular sales forecast slippage or forecast order value reduction.
3	Suffering late stage frustration with key forecast opportunities.
4	Difficulty getting in front of key influencers or decision makers.
5	Pricing or terms are too often compromised in sales negotiations.
6	Salespeople frequently requesting client discounts or concessions.
7	Sales reluctance to involve management in key client meetings.
8	Inconsistent or weak sales strategy failing to gain enough traction.
9	Some salespeople failing to meet expectations or sales targets.
10	Inconsistent overall sales performance leading to feast or famine.

Ten More Client Specific:

11	Some clients become unresponsive after proposals are submitted.
12	Difficulty in gaining client commitment to progress to next steps.
13	Reluctance of existing clients to see us on a regular enough basis.
14	Being used for free consultancy by people with no intent to buy.
15	Investing time bidding on client projects that fail to gain funding.
16	Clients holding us at arm’s length preventing any real relationship.
17	Clients not keeping us well informed of changes that impact us.
18	Clients not being straight with us, withholding information or lying.
19	Clients see us more as a product supplier than a strategic partner.
20	Clients expecting our key value-add at little or no additional cost.