Why Most B2B Sales Strategies Fail Before the First Conversation

The senior leadership problems this solves

I recently wrote a report on the B2B Growth landscape. This was designed to share the insights from our live campaigns across the globe. Some key takeaways came out of this, most importantly the things senior leaders are quietly frustrated by but rarely articulate publicly.

I am going to touch on a few of the key areas that are discussed.

“We’re doing a lot… but growth feels fragile”

The issue:

• Activity is high
• Teams are busy
• Pipeline looks healthy on paper
• But revenue feels unpredictable quarter to quarter

What the insight solves:

It reframes the problem away from effort and towards foundations.

Senior leaders stop blaming:

• Sales capability
• Individual performance
• “Market conditions”

And start seeing:

• Poor data
• Weak targeting
• Late-stage engagement
• Misaligned sales and marketing

Leadership relief:

“This isn’t about my team underperforming - it’s about us starting in the wrong place.”

“Why do opportunities stall for no obvious reason?”

The issue:

• Opportunities progress, then slow down
• Stakeholders go quiet & ghost you
• Decisions drag on without clarity
• Forecast confidence erodes

What the insight solves:

By explaining non-linear buying behaviour and buying groups, you give leaders a rational explanation for stalled momentum.

From the report:

• Buyers loop back and forth between validation, consensus and justification
• Sales pipelines don’t reflect buyer reality

Leadership relief:

“The problem isn’t our close rate - it’s that we’re engaging too late and too narrowly.”

“We keep ending up in tenders where price wins”

This is very interesting as I recently joined Mike Lander on his podcast, Mike has a senior procurement background, and we discussed the reactive state businesses are in responding to tenders. The reality is they have little – no understanding of the opportunity therefore it is mostly price driven and to be honest the client has usually already decided who to use.

We talk about client and prospect intimacy but this should flow through to your opportunities too, how intimately do you know your pipeline?

The issue:

• Late-stage tenders dominate new business
• Procurement controls the process
• Differentiation disappears
• Margins get squeezed

What the insight solves:

The “tender trap” framing gives leaders a clear diagnosis:

• The commercial battle was lost before the tender was released

Leadership relief:

“We’re not losing tenders - we’re failing to influence earlier.”

This opens the door to:

• Earlier engagement
• Intelligence-led outreach
• Sales and marketing alignment

“Our sales strategy feels disconnected from reality”

The issue:

• Strategy documents look good
• Execution feels messy
• New tools get added without removing old ones
• Teams feel overloaded

What the insight solves:

The Ground Zero reset legitimises stopping, stripping back, and rebuilding.

It gives leaders permission to:

• Kill redundant activity
• Simplify workflows
• Focus on what actually moves buying decisions

Leadership relief:

“We don’t need more tactics - we need clarity.”

In summary:

Most B2B sales strategies don’t fail because sales teams can’t sell, they fail because organisations start in the wrong place.

When data is weak, targeting is vague, and engagement happens too late, even strong teams end up:

• Chasing the wrong opportunities
• Entering deals after buying criteria are set
• Competing on price instead of value

This creates the illusion of activity without the confidence of predictability.

The organisations that grow consistently aren’t working harder - they are building sales strategies on stronger foundations.

Key Takeaways for Senior Leaders

1. Activity is not the same as progress

High levels of sales and marketing activity can mask weak foundations. Without clarity on who to target, when to engage, and why buyers act, effort does not translate into predictable revenue.

2. Most sales problems are structural, not personal

Stalled deals, missed forecasts, and tender-led losses are rarely caused by individual performance. They are symptoms of late engagement, poor intelligence, and misaligned workflows.

3. Engaging earlier reduces risk later

When organisations influence buyers before procurement and formal processes take control, they:

• Protect margin
• Shorten sales cycles
• Increase win rates

4. ‘Ground zero’ is a leadership decision

Resetting sales strategy requires leaders to step back, simplify, and rebuild from first principles. Adding more tools or tactics without removing friction only increases complexity.

5. Predictability comes from foundations, not forecasts

Accurate forecasting is the output of a well-designed sales engine, not something that can be fixed in isolation.