This photo above made me chortle.

But for most sales managers who run sales teams it is an ever-present problem, and no laughing matter.

Many sales professionals think that prospecting is about selling. Prospecting is about qualifying to see if a prospect is indeed the right fit for your organisation.

Essentially, it is about disqualifying a prospect.

The challenge for most sales professionals is that they have KPIs to achieve. And, these KPIs are setting them and their organisation up for failure.

Two of them are:

• A certain number of appointments per month.
• A certain number of proposals per month.
• And, obviously to hit their number.

Because they want to keep the sales manager happy and to hit their KPIs, sales people are essentially forced to game the system. Some of them don't even know that they are gaming the system.

But some know. They see prospects that in their heart of hearts they know they shouldn't be engaging with.

They write proposals that they know aren't going to be accepted.

Essentially, they pad the pipeline.

It's better to be seen to be busy, isn't it?

The benefits of padding the pipeline are that they can say they have hit their target for appointments and they have 'forecast' of x amount of money in the pipeline.

It keeps the sales manager happy, until it doesn't.

We all know that it will come out in the wash down the line that the forecast numbers are never going to materialise.

This messes up the sales forecasts because what is in the pipeline is not real.

And, padding the pipeline wastes a lot of time and money.

What if sales professionals were also measured on how many people they disqualified?

What if they spent five minutes on a phone call rather than one hour on an online or in-person sales call?

It would take less than five to 10 minutes to qualify whether the prospect is a fit. And, if the prospect is not a fit, then there is no point in wasting more time on that prospect is there?

What are the ramifications of not qualifying a prospect properly?

Essentially, three things: lost time, lost money and lost opportunity.

Time: Let's say that you travel to the prospect. It's generally an hour in a meeting (sometimes more). With traffic being what it is, you may spend 45 minutes getting to the prospect, and 45 minutes getting back to the office or to your next prospect. Then, there's another hour of preparing a proposal. That's three and a bit hours on one prospect. (You're smart enough to know these are just number. Figure out what is true for you - they may be more or less.) The principle stands, you have wasted time on a prospect that will never buy. But, you've kept your sales manager happy (for now) and gone a way down the line to hit your KPI.

Money: There is a cost to acquiring a customer. There is an hourly cost for the sales person. Let's say that you are worth R1000 per hour. One unqualified prospect that will never buy from you, just cost you R3000 and a bit. If that were your own money and not the company's, would you waste it like that?

Opportunity: There is an opportunity cost. If you are seeing the wrong prospects, you are losing valuable time on seeing the right prospects - those that will buy. Could you be spending your time better? Like prospecting and qualifying the right prospects into the pipeline?

What are possible solutions?

• Perhaps disqualifying a prospect can be a KPI? Stop wasting time on those that will never buy. Hope and 'just maybe they might buy' is not a strategy.
• See less prospects, but make sure the ones you do see are quality? Qualify (disqualify heavily) so that you don't waste precious time.
• Set up a lead scoring system, so that when you do eventually get an appointment, at least it is with someone who is interested in buying what you have to sell. The marketing department and sales department should work hand-in-hand here. If marketing can disqualify the 'tyre kickers' so that only those prospects who are really interested get the nod from a sales person, then it makes life easier and more profitable for all involved.

If you have any more ideas on this subject, please share them in the comment section.

Padding the pipeline with prospects that will never buy is never going to be a great call. And, perhaps that's why the Chally Group who interviewed 27 000 sales teams came up with this statistic: 80% of your sales team only achieves 42% of its sales target.

If you're a sales manager and that statistic doesn't keep you up at night, then you have a stronger constitution than I do.

Inbox me if Chally's figure is true for your team and scares you. I can help realign your sales strategy and your team so that you close more deals more consistently.