I don’t have many clients asking me this question in public. It’s most often in a private moment or in a period of quite frustration. So many variables, so many fingers to point. One of the better hypotheses I’ve come up with lately is youth.

Think about it. What company is not asking their salespeople to go higher and wider in their client organizations? They’ve equipped them with messaging, proven training and a validated sales process. So what’s missing?

For the answer I go back to 1984. As a sophomore trying to break the starting lineup as a catcher, I was told I needed more time at the position. I was sent to the bullpen to catch every pitcher, from freshman hopeful to the hot hurling senior. Rationale - “You don’t have enough innings behind the plate at this level, Walton”. As I started to form the B of Bull…. (you know the word), I caught myself. Coach was right.

So what’s the problem with sales organizations? To sell their solution in the competitive context of a business problem, their reps don’t have enough innings in the game. Not too many people can go toe-to-toe with a CFO who has 10 years in the job. Besides managing the finances and risk of their company, their roles have typically expanded to communicating financial performance of the company to shareholders. Can someone with a little more than 5-7 years of business experience really make a connection? Our experience is that the good reps can get the meeting, get through initial conversations, but that’s about it.

So what’s needed? Business Acumen training for salesforces. This training is a must and must be focused on the verticals that your company sells into.