What are the biggest frustrations you have as a sales professional?

Being in sales, we experience challenges on a daily basis. One of the bigger frustrations is having a great quarter or year and then seeing the dial goes back to zero, knowing you need to start all over again. It’s what we all sign up for, but that doesn’t make it any easier of a pill to swallow. As a sales leader, one of the biggest challenges can be motivating reps to maintain consistency. Keeping reps motivated to successfully climb the mountain each quarter is not a one size fits all approac ...Read More

From a mental perspective burnout is definitely a real challenge in sales. I answered another question in how to handle burnout, as a career in sales is a marathon not a sprint. From a tactical perspective, one of the biggest frustrations I have experienced as an AE are constant book-of-business (BoB) or territory changes. AE's can really hit their stride when they can consistently work their BoB, and sudden, unexpected changes can be disruptive to productivity and revenue. Building a strong BoB ...Read More

One of the biggest frustrations in sales is handling all the requests and tasks you have, which compete for your time and attention: You need to do what your prospects/customers require so you can move the deal forward. You need to do what your manager has asked of you (all those CRM updates, KPI measures you need to hit, etc.) You need to do the things to progress your career or continue your personal development. When making decisions on how to prioritize my time, I have found that if I can ta ...Read More

My biggest frustration is hearing exactly what a customer needs and not being able to deliver it instantly. I’m not a one-person engineer/design/GTM team, and even in fast-moving companies there will be delays, technical complexity, sequencing, security reviews, resourcing, etc. That said, I’ve learned an important reframing: You’re selling the company, not just the product. Buyers are betting on the team’s ability to execute, not only what exists today. So you have to manage reality without thr ...Read More