Fixing What’s Running: Build a Modern Sales Process That Lasts

This past weekend, I found myself in a very glamorous role: unpaid plumber. The toilet in our house wouldn't stop running. You know the sound. That steady hiss that quietly turns into a steady bill. It's annoying, expensive, and once you notice it, impossible to ignore.

Here's what made it worse. I'd replaced every part inside that tank less than six months ago. So when it started up again, my first instinct was the same one I see in a lot of sales teams: "Forget this. Rip it out and replace the whole thing." New toilet. New parts. New everything. Problem solved, right?

Not quite. Before I went full demolition mode, I did some root cause analysis. I took the tank apart, looked closely, and found the culprit wasn't a broken system or worn-out part. It was debris. A tiny piece of gunk was keeping the valve from sealing completely.

One small obstruction, and the whole system stayed "on" when it should have shut off. A few minutes of cleanup later, the running stopped. Problem solved. Zero parts replaced. Just time, research, and investigation.

Sales Teams Are Like Mechanical Systems

Sales teams can be like mechanical systems in your house. They need maintenance. Cleanup. Use for their designed function. Sometimes repair.

The real challenge is knowing the difference between a repair and a tune-up. Sometimes in sales, you don't need to replace the entire fixture or all the parts. You don't need new salespeople, data, technology, or processes.

You need to investigate what could be adjusted to get better results from the same structure.

A modern sales process isn't magic. It's people, process, and habits built for predictable results. Clear steps from lead to close. Tools that support, not distract. When it runs clean, revenue flows steadily. When debris clogs it, you waste time and money chasing big fixes.

When Your Modern Sales Process Starts Leaking

Performance slips. Deals stall. Numbers look off. Rip it all out and replace feels right. Fire the rep. Ditch the CRM. New process from scratch.

I get that frustration. It builds fast, just like staring at my running toilet. But most leaks in your modern sales process aren't total failure. They're small blockages. Things that worked six months ago now jam because priorities shifted.

Spotting the Debris in Your Salespeople

Start with people, where most blockages hide. Reps who aren't closing aren't always bad. Sometimes they just need a little training. Picture a sharp rep who's inconsistent. They nail some calls, ghost others. That acts like debris jamming the valve.

Or one-to-one coaching. Not a full overhaul. Just 15 minutes on their stall points. Hesitation on objections. Pushing too hard too soon. Clear that mental debris, and performance turns on and off at the right time.

I've seen it dozens of times. Reps with potential but head trash blocking success. Doubts from a bad quarter. Habits from old roles. Fear timing efforts wrong. These aren't fireable. They're adjustable. A conversation. A role-play. A tweak. Suddenly, they close as they should.

A sales team can look broken when it's just obstructed. Low activity isn't always laziness. It can be confusion, fear, or no daily plan. The system is mostly fine. It's just not sealing.

Debris in Your Processes and Tools

Processes drift, too. You built them for a reason. They worked at launch. Now qualification slips. Scripts get ignored. Follow-ups drop because cadence feels stale.

Data clogs next. CRM holds gold, but reps treat it like a graveyard. Half-done entries. Wrong stages. Ignored filters. Pipeline looks thin when it's not.

Technology fits here. Tools adopted with fanfare now gather dust. Sales engagement platform? Unused. Prospecting software? Overcomplicated. Not bad choices. Just not tuned for today. Cleanup beats swap.

As sales leaders, we feel this most. One clogged rep drags the team. One sloppy process kills momentum. It affects performance across the board.

My Challenge to You

Here's my challenge to you as sales leaders and reps. Whether facing team issues, individual performance problems, or something else, don't just look for rip out and replace.

Look for the tweak. Adjustment to people, process, or training that unleashes success. A slight adjustment can be the difference between total success and abject failure from being too heavy-handed.

Investigate your sales organization's problem. Understand the root cause. You may not need rip out and replace. Clear trash. Remove impediments. Tighten screws and bolts. Tweaks to people, process, and training give sustainable performance.

If performance breaks down at the top of the funnel, conversion, or deal velocity, ask what single behavior corrected creates lift. Look for debris clogging execution: unclear expectations, inconsistent coaching, sloppy qualification, weak follow-up, fuzzy accountability.

Take my plumbing issue. Time, research, analysis. Zero parts. Apply that to your modern sales process. Disassemble. Inspect. Clear blockage. Reassemble. Watch it run.

Why Modern Sales Processes Win Long-Term

Sales leadership in a nutshell. Resist going nuclear. Don't assume new hires, comp plan, tech stack, process, or leadership. Sometimes yes. Often, find the small blockage keeping the system from working as designed.

Small adjustments compound. Heavy-handed solutions create new problems while solving old ones. My fix cost time, attention, and humility. Not money. No new parts. Just a diagnosis. Your sales team might need the same.

A modern sales process built this way scales. Adapts. Reps onboard faster with clear steps. Leaders spot issues early with clean data. Revenue grows steadily.

Contrast rip and replace. New CRM means migration pain. Fresh reps need ramp. Overhauled processes confuse. Fix one leak, create three.

My toilet proved it. Six months post-parts, debris undid everything. Investigation saved it. Your team deserves that approach. Patience prevents pain.

How I Help and Where to Go Next

I help sales leaders make these diagnoses and adjustments. We dig into real numbers, spot blockages, and build modern sales processes that scale.

Join the B2B Sales Lab too. Sales pros tackle clogged pipelines together. Peer fixes for debris in processes. No fluff. Real results.

Investigate before rebuilding. That small tweak might be your path to sustainable wins.