Salespeople are on the front lines of customer interaction and are the first to feel a degradation in product-market fit. When they start leaving in numbers, it's a powerful leading indicator that the company is in trouble, often preceding departures in other departments.

Salespeople who lack certainty in their process react to slow results by constantly hopping between different scripts, targets, and methods. This prevents any single approach from maturing and yielding results, creating a demoralizing cycle of effort without reward.

Focusing on metrics like '40 calls a day' leads to burnout. Modern sales leaders should measure team well-being and the ability to avoid overwhelm as primary KPIs. A psychologically healthy team is more profitable than a team purely focused on volume.

Significant performance issues are rarely caused by a single event. Instead, they result from a slow, gradual erosion of standards, or "drifting." This manifests as coaching becoming optional, inspections ceasing, and managers habitually rescuing deals, leading to long-term decline.

Success can be a trap for experienced salespeople. After reaching a high level of performance, they can develop a sense of being "too good" for the fundamentals, like deep discovery or call reviews. This abandonment of core practices, born from cockiness, inevitably leads to a decline in performance.

A dip in performance is rarely a sudden event. It's often the result of a gradual, almost imperceptible erosion of effective processes and behaviors over time. Consistent activities, like posting on LinkedIn, don't stop abruptly; they fade away, leading to a negative impact on the 'scoreboard.'

Instead of a generic strategy overhaul, leaders should first diagnose the root cause. If the sales team is active but results are poor, it's an execution or skill issue needing coaching. If activity itself is low, it's a focus and prioritization problem requiring a reset.

Viewing quota as a lagging indicator, Figma's CRO warns that managing to the number creates "lazy leadership." Performance management should instead center on a detailed framework of inputs: behaviors (e.g., collaboration) and competencies (e.g., discovery skills), giving a real-time view of a rep's effectiveness.

Sales teams often focus on short-term blitzes and leaderboards, encouraging reps to sprint from the start. This high-intensity approach often results in burnout and inconsistent performance, as reps prioritize looking busy over building a sustainable, long-term pipeline.