5 Reasons Why Your Sales Team Isn’t Closing

Laura Quick

Crafting and steering teams that drive revenue, or what many millennials and Gen Z-ers refer to as “salespeople” as if it were a term to be avoided at all costs, certainly isn't a walk in the park, is it? My own journey spans over 17 years in the field, and I've found that with each passing day, the layers of complexity and nuance only deepen.


In my early days as an eager salesperson, my eyes were firmly set on smashing sales targets. Yet, I was fortunate to grow within nurturing environments, under the guidance of leaders who genuinely cared. Remarkably, during my initial, formative years in the sales arena—as a driven, single mother striving in the sales profession—I had the privilege of working under two exceptional mentors. My role in a fire restoration company, which inherently demanded empathy, played a crucial role in shaping my approach. There, my duties extended beyond traditional sales; I often found myself switching from flashy stilettos to fire boots, offering a shoulder on some of the darkest days of our clients' lives—their homes had been engulfed in flames. Balancing the drive to secure sales with profound empathy for the homeowners' plight, I believe, was key to my rapid ascent to becoming the top salesperson across seven countries within a year.


I entered the job confident in my sales abilities, yet the position challenged me to elevate the clients' needs above my own ambitions. This philosophy of prioritizing the prospective client's well-being over mere deal-closing has guided my approach for over 16 years and is something I endeavor to pass on to every naturally gifted salesperson I encounter.


Since 2009, I've had the opportunity to train and lead over fifty sales professionals, work with diverse teams, and offer consultancy to organizations valued between $50 million to $1 billion, focusing on refining their sales processes and enhancing client experiences. Despite the variances in organizational needs and team dynamics, the core 'WHY' driving the most successful sales teams remains constant. Here are the key principles, in order of importance:


  1. Belief in the mission. Top salespeople are true believers in the solutions their companies offer, recognizing the meaningful impact of their work. This conviction in the company's vision and its value proposition is a common trait among high achievers.

  2. Precise audience targeting. Successful salespeople thrive when they know exactly whom they're selling to, making it easier to identify and connect with key prospects and influencers.

  3. Confidence in delivery. Elite sales professionals trust that what they sell will be delivered with excellence, reinforcing their confidence in the promises they make, which in turn, boosts their sales performance.

  4. Collaborative mindset. The best salespeople are proactive in seeking improvements, drawing on frontline insights to suggest enhancements in partnership with their leaders, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.

  5. Understanding urgency. Exceptional sales talent knows how to close deals by genuinely conveying the necessity of immediate action, a skill that significantly shortens the sales cycle.


If you're encountering obstacles with your sales team, it might be time to reassess these foundational aspects:


  • Do your products and services inspire belief?
  • Is your target audience clearly defined for your team, including key contacts and entry points?
  • Does your team have unwavering confidence in your company's ability to deliver with excellence?
  • Is there a culture of collaboration encouraged by sales leadership?
  • Does your team grasp how to create genuine urgency in closing sales?


Navigating the complexities of leading high-performing sales teams is undeniably challenging, with no shortcuts to exceptional leadership. However, revisiting these fundamental principles can provide invaluable insights. For those seeking further guidance, the Good Grit Agency offers workshops that might serve as an excellent starting point, especially since they boast an expert who's particularly passionate about refining sales processes.

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Audit workshops are one of my favorite team exercises, and I've been facilitating them for over a decade. At Good Grit, we approach each client as an expert in their field, positioning ourselves as learners at the start of our partnership. My role initially is to listen and ask questions, fostering an interactive environment with whiteboards and dry erase markers for all participants. The goal of these sessions is to uncover productivity and revenue roadblocks and identify where confusion may exist within the organization. This confusion often translates externally, affecting client relations and clarity.

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Just as the pandemic had us taking to our individual home offices—which for many of us meant kitchen tables or coffee tables—our office implemented two meetings per week. Attendance was ALWAYS required unless they were dead or on vacation. Dramatic? Maybe. But keeping a team together when we were all navigating the unknown of a pandemic—and on some level worrying about making it as a company—well, it felt like the right requirement. More than two years later, we are still having two meetings per week—both still with required attendance (unless of course you are dead or on vacation). The kick off meeting always happens on Monday morning. The purpose of this meeting is strategy—we are diving into what we finished lined last week, and what is on deck for this week. It ranges from 60-90 minutes, but normally runs just around one hour. Our internal traffic manager runs this meeting, and we prioritize based on biggest projects due that week. On Fridays though, things look different. We have a morning meeting that is just about checking in. Typically we watch a TED Talk during the week, and we discuss what we learned from it or how it challenged us—but then each teammate checks in. The epiphany I had during the pandemic was what my team REALLY needed from me: consistency. As an entrepreneur who has had to grow and earn the title CEO, consistency is not natural. I have made it a habit over the last several years to hire incredible humans that are all leaders. I know how rare it is to have a team full of people who are self-motivated, solution-oriented, make-it-happen humans. I know it’s rare because I’ve worked on many teams where that wasn’t the case. Truly, I think this exact team has grown into those characteristics because they feel so supported. Interdependent, and yet autonomous. Launching two meetings each week is something I think we will do forever. And listen—I’m the CEO that HATES meetings about meetings, or meetings that totally could have been a text—but these meetings are purposeful and create incredible momentum and impact. Today I wanted to focus on our Friday meeting, which is all about CULTURE. And if you are a leader, you already know this—culture is in the top three currencies your employees or future employees are using to measure whether they want to work with you or continue working for you. As leaders who are leading other leaders who are leading teams of people vital to our organization, we need to be fluent in what creates a culture worth staying in for the long haul. Here are the two most powerful culture building questions leaders can ask their teams: 1. What did you/your team accomplish that is worth celebrating? Encouraging our teams to see even the smallest victories is so important. If we don’t count the small wins, we could end up missing the really big ones too. By asking this question consistently, your employees will know it’s coming—and they will want to have something to share WORTH celebrating. I love this question because it forces all of us to focus on what went well, what problems we actually solved, and how even a small thing moved the needle. When we focus on these positive wins, we are reenforcing a culture of not just seeing it in yourself or your team, but in one another. As a CEO, it is incredible insight hearing how my leadership team spent their week by how they articulate their wins. 2. Who on our team is your hero this week, and why? Who is the Most Valuable Player to you and why? I cannot tell you how this has enriched our company culture. They know this question is coming every week, and it never gets old. Because it is NORMAL in our company to brag on a teammate for kicking butt, pitching in, hitting tight deadlines, and a myriad of other things. When your team becomes accustomed to finding the gold in the people they work with and calling it out, MAGIC HAPPENS. I can’t give you a real statistic on what percentage of change you will have if you consistently, weekly, ask these two powerful questions, but I promise it’s significant. The hardest part will be making space for a meeting dedicated just to connection. The second hardest part will be YOU, the leader, showing up, leading the charge, and participating. Challenge yourself to try it for a month, and then email me and let me know how it goes! I would love to hear from you!

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By Haley Chambers • September 5, 2024
At Good Grit, one of our core values is being proactive communicators. But what does that really mean, and how do we live it out?

Clear Expectations = Healthy Company Culture

By Laura Quick • August 16, 2024
Audit workshops are one of my favorite team exercises, and I've been facilitating them for over a decade. At Good Grit, we approach each client as an expert in their field, positioning ourselves as learners at the start of our partnership. My role initially is to listen and ask questions, fostering an interactive environment with whiteboards and dry erase markers for all participants. The goal of these sessions is to uncover productivity and revenue roadblocks and identify where confusion may exist within the organization. This confusion often translates externally, affecting client relations and clarity.

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By Laura Quick • May 2, 2024
Just as the pandemic had us taking to our individual home offices—which for many of us meant kitchen tables or coffee tables—our office implemented two meetings per week. Attendance was ALWAYS required unless they were dead or on vacation. Dramatic? Maybe. But keeping a team together when we were all navigating the unknown of a pandemic—and on some level worrying about making it as a company—well, it felt like the right requirement. More than two years later, we are still having two meetings per week—both still with required attendance (unless of course you are dead or on vacation). The kick off meeting always happens on Monday morning. The purpose of this meeting is strategy—we are diving into what we finished lined last week, and what is on deck for this week. It ranges from 60-90 minutes, but normally runs just around one hour. Our internal traffic manager runs this meeting, and we prioritize based on biggest projects due that week. On Fridays though, things look different. We have a morning meeting that is just about checking in. Typically we watch a TED Talk during the week, and we discuss what we learned from it or how it challenged us—but then each teammate checks in. The epiphany I had during the pandemic was what my team REALLY needed from me: consistency. As an entrepreneur who has had to grow and earn the title CEO, consistency is not natural. I have made it a habit over the last several years to hire incredible humans that are all leaders. I know how rare it is to have a team full of people who are self-motivated, solution-oriented, make-it-happen humans. I know it’s rare because I’ve worked on many teams where that wasn’t the case. Truly, I think this exact team has grown into those characteristics because they feel so supported. Interdependent, and yet autonomous. Launching two meetings each week is something I think we will do forever. And listen—I’m the CEO that HATES meetings about meetings, or meetings that totally could have been a text—but these meetings are purposeful and create incredible momentum and impact. Today I wanted to focus on our Friday meeting, which is all about CULTURE. And if you are a leader, you already know this—culture is in the top three currencies your employees or future employees are using to measure whether they want to work with you or continue working for you. As leaders who are leading other leaders who are leading teams of people vital to our organization, we need to be fluent in what creates a culture worth staying in for the long haul. Here are the two most powerful culture building questions leaders can ask their teams: 1. What did you/your team accomplish that is worth celebrating? Encouraging our teams to see even the smallest victories is so important. If we don’t count the small wins, we could end up missing the really big ones too. By asking this question consistently, your employees will know it’s coming—and they will want to have something to share WORTH celebrating. I love this question because it forces all of us to focus on what went well, what problems we actually solved, and how even a small thing moved the needle. When we focus on these positive wins, we are reenforcing a culture of not just seeing it in yourself or your team, but in one another. As a CEO, it is incredible insight hearing how my leadership team spent their week by how they articulate their wins. 2. Who on our team is your hero this week, and why? Who is the Most Valuable Player to you and why? I cannot tell you how this has enriched our company culture. They know this question is coming every week, and it never gets old. Because it is NORMAL in our company to brag on a teammate for kicking butt, pitching in, hitting tight deadlines, and a myriad of other things. When your team becomes accustomed to finding the gold in the people they work with and calling it out, MAGIC HAPPENS. I can’t give you a real statistic on what percentage of change you will have if you consistently, weekly, ask these two powerful questions, but I promise it’s significant. The hardest part will be making space for a meeting dedicated just to connection. The second hardest part will be YOU, the leader, showing up, leading the charge, and participating. Challenge yourself to try it for a month, and then email me and let me know how it goes! I would love to hear from you!
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