CROs know the drill. Targets are set, forecasts are made, and yet, quarter after quarter, the same performance issues resurface. Reps aren’t closing enough. Managers are stretched too thin. Coaching happens inconsistently, if at all. And when deals slip, leadership scrambles to patch revenue gaps instead of addressing the root cause.
Bob Tharp has spent 35+ years leading and advising sales teams, and he’s seen it all: what works, what doesn’t, and the blind spots that keep CROs in an endless cycle of revenue shortfalls. In a recent conversation, he broke down why most sales organizations keep missing the mark and how to fix the underlying issues once and for all.
Here’s what every CRO needs to know.
You Can’t Fix What You Can’t Diagnose
Most sales organizations focus on lagging indicators (quota attainment, win rates, pipeline coverage) but few stop to analyze why performance is inconsistent. Tharp describes himself as a “revenue detective,” approaching sales performance the same way a consultant would analyze a struggling business.
Before jumping to solutions, you need to diagnose the actual breakdown. Is it a talent issue, a coaching gap, or a structural misalignment between sales, marketing, and operations? Are managers holding reps accountable, or are they stuck playing super rep? If you’re not systematically identifying the gaps, you’re solving the wrong problem.
Sales Managers Are Overwhelmed—And It’s Costing You Deals
Most frontline managers didn’t sign up to be coaches; they were promoted because they were top-performing reps. But in the transition, they often trade closing deals for managing spreadsheets, running forecasts, and firefighting rep issues. As a result, coaching is either neglected or reduced to a rushed deal review.
This is a critical failure. “You can’t build a strong sales team if your managers are just chasing numbers,” Tharp warns. Coaching isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s the mechanism that transforms inconsistent performers into reliable closers. But most managers:
- Don’t know how to coach effectively.
- Avoid hard conversations about rep performance.
- Are drowning in administrative work that keeps them from developing their team.
CROs who want to scale revenue need to fix this by giving managers both the time and the tools to be effective coaches. That means rethinking their workflows, eliminating unnecessary reporting, and giving them structured coaching frameworks that actually drive improvement.
Control the Controllables: How Great Reps Own Their Performance
One of the biggest mistakes sales leaders make is allowing reps to blame external factors (bad leads, weak brand awareness, pricing issues) for poor performance. While some of these are valid challenges, Tharp makes it clear: top performers find a way forward.
The best salespeople operate with urgency. They control the controllables: how much effort they put in, how well they prepare, and how effectively they execute. They don’t sit back and wait for marketing to generate demand; they proactively create opportunities by diagnosing customer pain and positioning solutions accordingly.
If your reps are stagnating, ask yourself:
- Are they accountable for their own success?
- Do they actively seek out new business, or just work what’s handed to them?
- Are they closing gaps in the sales process, or just pointing fingers?
CROs need to build a culture of ownership. That starts with leadership reinforcing expectations, every day, in every coaching session.
Most Sales Teams Have an Accountability Problem
It’s one of the biggest challenges in sales leadership is holding people accountable without micromanaging. Too often, managers hesitate to confront underperformance, fearing they’ll push reps away. But avoiding tough conversations only extends the problem.
According to Tharp, accountability works best when it’s based on undeniable facts rather than personal opinions. When coaching a struggling rep, he recommends starting with data:
- “Here’s your pipeline coverage over the last three months.”
- “You’ve had 10 discovery calls but only converted one to a demo.”
- “Your outbound activity is half of what your peers are doing.”
Then, make them part of the solution. Instead of dictating what to do next, ask:
- “What’s going on here?”
- “What do you think needs to change?”
- “What can I do to help you improve?”
Accountability isn’t about pressure; it’s about clarity. High performers want feedback. The ones who resist it might not belong on your team.
AI Won’t Fix Bad Coaching, But It Can Make Coaching Better
With the explosion of AI-powered sales tools, many organizations assume that better insights will automatically lead to better outcomes. Tharp disagrees. “AI tools like Gong and SixSense are great, but they don’t replace coaching,” he says. “Data without action is just noise.”
AI can surface performance patterns, identify risks, and provide recommendations. But managers still need to do the work of coaching reps to improve. Without structured follow-up, insights get ignored, and behaviors don’t change.
CROs should think of AI as an amplifier, not a replacement, for strong sales leadership. The real value comes when technology simplifies coaching, making it easier for managers to focus on what matters—developing their people.
CROs Must Break the Cycle of Reactive Leadership
At the end of the day, most revenue leaders are caught in a vicious cycle. They chase quarterly numbers, react to deal slippage, and patch gaps without ever fixing the underlying issues. The best CROs break this pattern by:
- Building a strong coaching culture—where managers develop reps, not just inspect deals.
- Prioritizing accountability—ensuring underperformance is addressed, not ignored.
- Using AI as a tool, not a crutch—leveraging technology to enhance coaching, not replace it.
- Driving ownership across the team—where reps and managers take responsibility for outcomes.
Sales performance issues don’t fix themselves. If you’re leading a revenue team, the question isn’t whether you have these problems; it’s whether you’re doing something about them.
Want to start solving them today? Listen to Bob Tharp’s full conversation on Coach2Scale and take the first step toward a more accountable, high-performing sales team by checking out CoachEm’s online micro-demos here.
