Stop saving Deals. Start coaching Skills.

Welcome to the latest edition of Success Sprints — your weekly source for transforming top performers into world-class Sales Managers.

Today’s Edition is about Performance Recovery.

Last week you were the top sales performer in your team.

This week you are managing a team of 5 former colleagues.

Now what?

You are telling yourself you were promoted to help everyone get the same results as you have.

Ok. Let’s see who I can help first close some big deals.

Look at the biggest opportunities. Talk to the team. Got pulled into calls.

And so, your hero trap begins.

The first quarter has passed and you realize half of your team has not reached their quota.

How to fix this?

See which deals they are working on, jump into calls with them – help them win.

No! Wrong!

You are making them depend on you!

Your role is to help them be better or exit them fast.

This is what you should do instead: you stop guessing and start diagnosing everyone using the Skill vs Will Framework.

In a Series B or C SaaS company, an underperformer isn’t just a bummer. It’s a hole in the hull of a ship moving at 100 knots.

When you let a “will” problem masquerade as a “skill” problem, you aren’t being kind—you’re being expensive.

1️⃣ The Budget Burn

A seat cost in EMEA/US (salary + tech stack + overhead) is roughly $15k per month. If they aren’t producing, you’re literally burning money every quarter.

2️⃣ The Culture Rot

Your high-performers see you coddling the laggard. They lose respect for your standards.

3️⃣ The VP’s Trust

If you can’t identify the point of failure, you aren’t a leader; you’re an expensive babysitter.

Be honest with yourself. Which level of the 5 Pillars are you operating in right now?

Level 1️⃣ (The Blamer)

“The customers are more demanding.” (You need to Build Self).

Level 2️⃣ (The Hero)

“I’ll just close it for them.” (You need to Build People).

Level 3️⃣ (The Manger)

“I have a system to diagnose, coach, and recover or remove.” (Pillars 2 & 3: Build Systems & People).

1️⃣ The Diagnosis: Skill vs. Will

Before any conversation happens, you must determine the root cause. Solving a “will” problem with “skill” training is a waste of time, and vice versa.

Skill

Indicators: High activity, low conversion. Correct energy, but poor execution (e.g. I made 50 calls but booked 0 meetings).

Solution: Coaching & Training. They need a “how-to” intervention.

Will

Indicators: Low activity, inconsistent follow-up, lack of engagement in meetings, doing enough to stay off the radar behavior.

Solution: Motivation or Accountability. They need a reason to use their full potential or a consequence intervention.

2️⃣ Identifying the Point of Failure

Don’t just look at the final revenue number; look at the funnel leak. To shift everything, you must find the Lead Domino—the one metric that, if fixed, improves all others.

• Top of Funnel: Is it a volume issue (not enough calls) or a targeting issue (calling the wrong people)?
• Middle of Funnel: Are they losing people after the discovery call? (This usually signals a failure to uncover pain).
• Bottom of Funnel: Are deals stalling at Contract Sent? (This signals a lack of urgency or multi-threading).

The Rule of One: Identify one specific action to impact (e.g. Improving discovery questions). One shift feels like a step, not a mountain to climb.

3️⃣ The 1-on-1: Collaborative Recovery

The goal of this meeting is radical clarity and mutual commitment. If the manager dictates the plan, the rep won’t own the result.

• Present the Data: “The goal is $X$, and we are currently at $Y$.” Keep it objective.
• The “Gap” Inquiry: Ask the rep, “Where do you feel the friction is most intense right now?” Let them self-diagnose first.
• Co-Create the Plan: Instead of a “PIP” (Performance Improvement Plan), call it a Success Map.
  
  • Activities: What are the daily non-negotiables?
  • Behaviors: What specific skill are we honing?
  • Support: What do they need from you to succeed?

4️⃣ Applying Coaching to Recovery

Coaching is not telling; it’s asking questions. In a recovery scenario, use the GROW Model to ensure they are mentally invested:

• Goal: What does “back on track” look like to you by the end of this month?
• Reality: What is the specific bottleneck stopping you today?
• Options: If you could change one part of your sales process tomorrow, what would it be?
• Will: What are the first three actions you will take after this meeting?

5️⃣ The Mindset Shift

To shift everything, you must shift the cadence of accountability.

For an underperformer, a once-a-week 1-on-1 is often too infrequent.

Move to a 3 x 15 mins per week high intensity cadence for the next 4 weeks.

The goal is to provide immediate feedback, accountability for improvement and prevent them from drifting off course for days at a time or navigate without clarity.

Do this tomorrow:

Pull the activity vs. conversion report for your bottom 20%.

Pick the person with the highest activity and lowest results (The Skill Gap).

Book a 30-minute session specifically to “Review Discovery Call Recordings.”

Don’t talk about the weather. Talk about the “Lead Domino.”

You didn’t get promoted to do the job for them. You got promoted to build a machine that works whether you are in the room or not.

Recovery plans aren’t “punishment”—they are the highest form of professional respect. You are telling your rep: “I believe you’re capable of more, and I’m going to hold you to it.”

Build the person, or build the exit. Both are better than the status quo.

Build a Sales Team that Hits Quota—Even When You’re Offline.

Stop saving every deal and start building the systems that scale. Transition from an overwhelmed Super-IC to a Strategic Sales Leader in 30 minutes.

I’m hosting a Lightning Lesson on how to turn these 5 Pillars into a repeatable management routine. No fluff—just the SaaS tactics you need to scale.

Secure My Spot | APR 15, 16:00 – 16:30 CET | Live Leadership Training

See you in the Next Success Sprint,

Sonia Pupaza | Founder, Empower Value | Sales Leadership Expert

Building self-sustaining sales teams through the 5-Pillar Leadership Framework.

I turn Super-ICs into Strategic Leaders who scale. Looking to build your leadership pipeline? DM me on LinkedIn.