If a salesperson sells all available inventory but still misses quota due to the company's inability to produce more, they should negotiate to be paid commission on their full potential. The argument is that the failure to hit the target was an operational issue, not a sales performance issue.
For a single salesperson, especially in a small business, a well-organized manual system is more effective than a clunky, non-automated CRM. The focus should be on disciplined process, not the sophistication of the tool, which can create unnecessary administrative overhead.
In businesses with production constraints, the sales process must shift from broad outreach to strategic allocation. By creating profiles for each customer, a salesperson can offer scarce products to their best accounts first, maximizing revenue and strengthening key relationships when supply is limited.
A salesperson may focus on tactical issues like a poor CRM, but the root cause of their challenges is often a more fundamental business problem, such as production capacity. Solving the perceived problem (getting a better CRM) could be useless and even exacerbate the real issue by overwhelming the production line.
Feeling overwhelmed by a large prospect list is often a symptom of treating all leads the same. The solution isn't better tools but better segmentation. By categorizing accounts by their potential value (High, Medium, Low), a salesperson can focus their limited time on high-impact opportunities, turning a daunting list into a manageable workflow.