4 Reasons Deals Slip Away — and How a Living Sales Playbook Can Prevent It

Overview

In today's competitive market, a prolonged sales cycle or a series of lost deals can significantly impact a company's bottom line. Many sales teams are finding it increasingly difficult to close deals efficiently, leading to frustration and missed opportunities.

These statistics underscore a critical issue: the traditional methods of selling and sales coaching are no longer enough to close deals in a timely manner.

This blog will delve into the common pitfalls that slow down your sales cycle and hinder your ability to close deals. From poor communication and targeting the wrong decision-makers to relying on outdated sales playbooks, we’ll explore the challenges sales teams face today.

We’ll also examine the role of insufficient deal information, manual CRM updates and a lack of personalized sales coaching in prolonging the sales process. Additionally, we’ll highlight how the absence of updated CRM data, lack of past call knowledge and inability to handle objections effectively can further delay sales efforts.

Why is your sales cycle dragging on, or why are you struggling to close deals?

A sales cycle typically includes stages like prospecting, qualifying leads, making presentations or demonstrations, handling objections, closing the sale, and following up. The length of a sales cycle can vary depending on factors such as the complexity of the product, the industry, and the specific buyer’s journey.

Here are some of the most common reasons why a sales cycle is taking too long or your reps are not able to close deals:

Poor Communication

One big reason sales cycles drag on is poor communication, both within the team and with clients. Miscommunication can cause:

• Missed follow-ups,

• Misunderstandings, and a

• General disconnect between what the customer needs and what the sales team offers

If reps don’t clearly explain the product’s value or how it solves the client’s problems, it creates confusion and delays decisions. Internal misalignment can also lead to a disjointed approach, with different team members not on the same page. These breakdowns slow down the process and lower the chances of closing deals. But with AI-driven sales coaching, teams can streamline communication, stay aligned, and keep prospects engaged, making the sales journey smoother and faster.

Targeting the wrong person - not a decision maker

Another reason your sales cycle might be dragging is targeting the wrong person—someone who isn’t the decision-maker. When you’re pitching to people without buying power, you’re stuck in a loop of endless emails and meetings, waiting for them to get approvals or pass things up the chain. This not only wastes time but also risks losing momentum. The fix? Make sure you’re reaching out to the right people—the ones who can actually say "yes." AI can help here by pinpointing key decision-makers, so you can focus your energy where it counts and close deals faster!

Outdated or shelf-ware sales playbook

Moreover, the reason for low rep performance and stalled deals is using an outdated sales playbook. It’s like the playbook gets written, then forgotten on a shelf! When reps try to use it, they find it’s missing the latest updates on messaging, product details, marketing strategies, or even the value proposition. This leads to repetitive and less effective discovery calls. To boost performance and close more deals, your sales playbook needs regular updates to keep up with the ever-changing sales landscape so your reps are also up to date with it.

Here are a few more ways this could hurt your sales process:

1. Lack of deal information: Your rep has a call today and they need every piece of information that is required to attend this discovery call. There are questions to be asked, objections to handle, and understanding the ICP thoroughly when they speak. All of this needs updated info on the ICP, product and deal stage. To be able to get this updated info, they sift through various tools and documents at the end minute. Which leaves them in a hassle and confused while they attend the call.

2. Updating the CRM manually: Updating the CRM manually after every call can be time-consuming. Imagine if reps could just focus on having great conversations, while AI takes care of keeping every call and deal updated in the CRM. This time-saving approach not only streamlines their workflow but also boosts their motivation to close more deals, allowing them to concentrate on what truly matters: meaningful conversations and in-depth discovery.

3. Changes in value proposition of the product: The value proposition of a product is key when talking to potential customers - it’s what sets your product apart and shows them how it’s just what they need. But, if the marketing team updates this info and it’s not reflected in the sales playbook, it can leave sales reps scratching their heads. Keeping everything aligned ensures everyone’s on the same page and makes those conversations smooth and impactful.

Lack of personalized sales coaching

Another important reason why sales cycles drag on or deals stall is the lack of personalized sales coaching. When reps make calls, there might be a few hiccups that need tweaking. Sales managers usually review these calls and provide tailored feedback, but this can be time-consuming and energy-draining. Plus, even with the best intentions, not all of that personalized coaching always sticks with the reps. It’s like trying to make the perfect recipe—sometimes you need just the right mix to get it right!

Here are some situations where it makes the biggest impact:

1. No past call knowledge can be a challenge: even with the best sales playbook and training, it’s tough to remember everything perfectly. That’s why having access to past call recordings or references can be a game-changer. They provide valuable insights and reminders to help reps stay sharp and on track!

2. Unable to handle objections: At some point in every sales or discovery call, handling objections with finesse is key. That’s where recordings of top-performing reps come in handy. By learning from the best, newer reps can up their game and handle objections like pros. The result? More deals getting closed and a faster-moving sales process all around!

How to advance your deals faster

Just in time actions is what you need as your ultimate AI sales coaching tool.

This is beneficial for you as a sales manager, a sales leader and even an account executive.

For the Sales Managers: Say goodbye to endless hours of reviewing call recordings and providing one-on-one coaching. Zime takes care of that for you, delivering timely actions to your reps so they can prepare confidently and pinpoint areas for improvement.

For the Account Executives: Reps will breathe easier with an action checklist delivered straight to their messaging channel. Plus, they get valuable snippets from top performers to speed up their learning and sharpen their focus on deep discovery.

For the Sales Leaders: You get a comprehensive win-loss analysis and a scorecard for each rep, offering a clear view of their strengths, weaknesses, and current deal status. With everything in one dashboard, you’ll know exactly where each deal stands, what’s holding it up, and how to move it forward.

Let’s get started

If you’re ready to improve your sales playbook adoption, here’s what your next steps would look like:

Pilot for 21 days - no fees, no training till you see results.

No more shelf-ware playbook or a graveyard of call recordings!

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a sales cycle and how long does it take to close a deal?

A sales cycle is the series of steps or stages that a company follows from the initial contact with a potential customer to closing the sale. It typically includes stages like lead generation, qualification, proposal, negotiation, and finalizing the deal. The length of a sales cycle can vary widely depending on several factors, including the industry, the complexity of the product or service, the size of the deal, and the sales process used. In some industries, a sales cycle might be just a few weeks, while in others—especially those with high-value or complex deals—it could take several months or even longer.

How does Zime help as an AI sales coaching tool?

Zime makes personalized sales coaching a breeze with just-in-time action checklists delivered straight to sales reps’ communication channels. This way, reps can prepare thoroughly for their upcoming calls, dive deep into clients’ pain points, and close deals faster. Zime also provides scorecards for each rep, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement. For sales leaders, it offers a clear overview of the sales cycle, showing where things might be stuck and what steps to take to move deals forward.

How does AI sales coaching help in advancing a deal?

This is how AI sales coaching can help in advancing a deal:

• Personalized and Real-time Feedback: AI offers personalized feedback and real time suggestions before and after calls aiding reps in defining their approach, handling objections, and adjusting their pitch to keep the deal progressing.

• Deal Forecasting and Performance Tracking: AI evaluates data to forecast deal outcomes and spot potential obstacles. It also monitors performance enabling sales teams to focus on high potential deals and adjust strategies based on insights and trends.

• Automated Follow-ups and Training: AI streamlines follow ups and reminders to ensure timely actions through the sales reps. Additionally, it provides customized training content based on individual needs, speeding up skill development and enhancing deal advancement.

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