You Can't Outwork Bad Conversions (Sales Leader Masterclass)

You can't outwork a bad conversion rate.

Just like you can't outwork a bad diet.

If you eat a 2,000-calorie meal at McDonald's, you'd need to work out for 4+ hours straight to burn it off. A typical workout burns 300 to 500 calories.

Could you do that every day? Eat McDonald's and work out for 4 hours daily?

No. It's impossible.

Sales works the same way.

If you're only converting 20% of live conversations into meetings, making more calls won't fix it.

If your win rate is 15%, more pipeline won't save you.

You're just grinding harder for worse results.

The three-step diagnostic before blaming the rep

Most sales leaders see underperformance and say: "Make more calls. Send more emails. Just do more."

But they skip three critical checks first.

Before you blame the rep, ask yourself:

1. The mirror

Did you as the leader provide proper training, tools, and resources for success?

Or did you just say "go figure it out" because you crushed it as a rep?

Most leaders fail here. They assume what worked for them will work for everyone. They don't build repeatable systems.

2. The process

Is your process repeatable and scalable?

Or did you just babble about how awesome you were and expect them to copy you?

If your process is "just be like me," it's not a process.

3. The employee

Only after you've checked the mirror and the process should you look at the rep.

Most of the time? It's the mirror or the process.

Running the math (real example)

A former rep texted me complaining about his manager.

"I need 5X pipeline to hit quota. The math doesn't add up. My manager won't help me. He just says 'you've got 20 years experience, figure it out.'"

So I walked him through the math:

He'd been in the field for 12 weeks. Averaging 3 meetings per week. Average deal size: $80K. Close rate: he didn't know.

I ran the numbers.

With his current stats, he needed 5 meetings per week (not 3) just to hit quota.

Or increase his average deal size to $132K.

Or ideally: do both.

The math was simple. The problem wasn't impossible. He just needed someone to show him the levers.

Most leaders don't do this. They say "it's a numbers game" and walk away.

Cold calling isn't dead (but single-channel outreach is)

I was on Dylan Conroy's Ad Podcast last week and we broke this down.

Cold calling isn't dead. Single-channel outreach is.

If you're only cold calling, you're done. Connect rates dropped from 10% to 4-5%.

That means you make 100 calls, you get 4-5 conversations.

Most reps convert 20% of those conversations into meetings. That's one meeting per 100 dials.

But if you combine cold calling with email, LinkedIn, video messages, and in-person events, you create familiarity.

Studies show it takes 11 touchpoints before someone books a meeting. Not 11 calls. 11 impressions across multiple channels.

Content as a 24/7 salesperson

Dylan asked me about building a personal brand as a salesperson.

Here's what I told him:

If you sell to CTOs, don't post about sales. Post about what CTOs care about.

Identify the top 3 problems your buyers worry about. Create content focused on solving those problems.

Comment on thought leaders who have your audience. Bring eyeballs in.

Position yourself as a consultant, not a salesperson.

Dylan said it perfectly: "19,000 people saw my LinkedIn content last week. I couldn't have emailed or texted 19,000 people. It's like a free salesperson working for you when you're not working."

That's exactly right.

Wrapping up

You can't outwork bad conversions.

Before you tell your reps to make more calls, check the mirror and check your process.

Run the math. Show them the levers.

And if you want to scale, use content as a 24/7 salesperson working for you.