Why Hardworking Salespeople Fail (And How to Fix Your Sales Process)

Hard work alone doesn’t close deals, and that’s a harsh truth for many sales professionals to hear. If you’re making the calls, sending the proposals, showing up prepared, and still losing deals to competitors you know you’re better than, the problem isn’t your effort. It isn’t your product. And most of the time, it isn’t price. It’s your process. In this episode of The Champion Forum Podcast, we break down why hardworking salespeople stay stuck, why buyers stall and hide behind objections like “I need to think about it,” and what top performers do differently to create urgency, clarity, and confidence at every stage of the sale.

The real reason your sales team is failing

I see many well-intentioned salespeople. They care about their company and clients. They want to win. But when they go to close the deal, they’re shut down and told that the product is too expensive. You can have a fantastic product and great motivation, but if you don’t execute the fundamentals, you will struggle to close deals.

The secret: Price is rarely the real issue.

When buyers push back on price, what they’re really saying is, ‘You haven’t convinced me this matters enough.’ Your competitors steal business not because they are better or cheaper, but because you did not clearly communicate the cost of doing nothing. Great sales professionals create competitive urgency. They help the buyer see that staying the same is more painful than making a change.

Q: Have you ever told a salesperson that price was the reason you wouldn't buy? Was it the real reason? Why or why not? What, if anything, do you think they could have done differently?

Three Key Steps of The Sales Process

1. Prospecting

The number one reason salespeople fail is that they don’t have a consistent prospecting cadence. Most sales reps hate prospecting because they’re doing it wrong, or worse, they believe the lie that it is not worth the time. Many salespeople struggle with phone prospecting because they try to sell the service on the phone, overexplain, sound unsure, or hope the prospect says yes instead of expecting them to say yes. You never sell the service on the phone. You sell the appointment. Your job is to be clear, concise, and confident. If you prepare your mindset and follow the proven script, you can succeed.

2.     Discovery

Second to prospecting is the Discovery process for being a highly effective salesperson. You must create pain to expose your prospects’ objections. Otherwise, you will feel the pain when you try to close. Start by telling the prospect why you’re there, what the meeting will look like, and what’s in it for them. Then you ask real questions that reveal their buying motives, business objectives, and risk. These questions help you identify the decision-making process. If the buyer never says, ‘I didn’t realize that,’ you haven’t gone deep enough.

3.     Requirements

Once you uncover the problem, you have to lead the buyer to a conclusion. Don’t just present the product, examine the situation. Focus your attention on a specific issue and provide evidence. Show the client how your product addresses their specific problem and gain agreement. Amplify the pain of not making a change so the buyer sees the cost of staying the same. Then you can set requirements. When a buyer agrees that a particular outcome is non-negotiable, price becomes secondary.

Q: Which of these three phases do you struggle most with? What stood out to you about this approach? What change can you make to your approach to help improve your sales success?

Sales Myths That Keep Teams Stuck

Myth #1: If they like me, they’ll buy.

The Truth: They’ll buy if they believe change is necessary.

Myth #2: Price killed the deal.

The Truth: Lack of urgency, failure to satisfy a buying motive, and presenting to the wrong decision maker killed the deal.

Myth #3: ‘I just need more leads.’

The Truth: You need better conversations.

Myth #4: They need to think about it.

The Truth: That usually means you didn’t help them think clearly during discovery.

Application Activities:

1. Come up with a few of the most common buying motives you encounter. What problem is your client facing? How does your product directly solve that problem? What is the cost of doing nothing? Write down your thoughts and create a few scripts or case studies to help you navigate those common objections.

2. Sign yourself and your team up for Sales Academy! If any of this resonates with you, you are the reason why I built Sales Academy. I don’t want to motivate you; I want to give you a repeatable, executable process from prospecting to close deal and obtaining referrals that keep your business moving. It’s an immersive experience with opportunities to role-play the strategies and master them in real-time. You’ll learn how to identify buying influences and decision-makers, how to handle objections, and how to close with confidence. For more or to sign up, visit www.jeffhancher.com/event