Free guide · 10 minute read

The Constraint Field Guide. 12 ways revenue engines break.

The symptom you see is rarely the problem you have. This guide maps 12 of the most common revenue constraints: what they look like, what's really going on, and the first move to fix each one.

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Strategy

A fuzzy ideal customer

What you see
Long sales cycles, lots of deals lost to "no decision", and deal sizes all over the map.
What's really going on
You're selling to everyone, so the message is diluted and pipeline fills with buyers who were never a fit.
First move
Pull the last four quarters of closed-won deals. Find the customers producing most of the revenue and rewrite your ideal customer from them.
Strategy

Positioning that sounds like everyone else

What you see
You win on discount, and buyers keep saying "we're also looking at..."
What's really going on
Buyers can't tell why you instead of the alternative, so price becomes the tiebreaker.
First move
Interview five recent wins and five losses. Rewrite the pitch around the words they used, not yours.
Pipeline

Activity without qualified pipeline

What you see
Plenty of meetings and sequences, but weak conversion out of the first stage.
What's really going on
Volume targets with no shared definition of quality. Reps hit the activity number and the pipeline stays thin.
First move
Write down what a qualified opportunity is. Measure pipeline created against that definition, not meetings booked.
Pipeline

A leaky middle

What you see
Deals stall after the demo or proposal and slide from quarter to quarter.
What's really going on
No champion, no business case, and no agreed plan with the buyer. The deal was alive in the CRM, not in the buyer's company.
First move
Require a mutual action plan with the buyer for every deal past proposal. No plan, no commit.
Process

Every rep sells a different way

What you see
A huge spread in attainment, and nobody can explain why the top performer wins.
What's really going on
There's no shared sales motion, so success depends on individual talent instead of a system.
First move
Document how your best performer actually runs a deal, then turn it into stage exit criteria the whole team uses.
Process

The forecast is a negotiation

What you see
The commit changes every week and the quarter still misses by a lot.
What's really going on
Stages mean different things to different people, so the forecast is built on opinions.
First move
Forecast from stage criteria and historical conversion rates. Run the Forecast Reality Check to see the gap.
Process

Messy handoffs

What you see
Customers repeat themselves, churn early, and marketing, sales and success blame each other.
What's really going on
Nobody owns the handoffs, so information and accountability fall through the cracks.
First move
Map every handoff from lead to renewal. Give each one a one-page agreement: what's passed, when, and who owns it.
People

A slow ramp

What you see
New reps take most of a year to hit pace, and some leave before they get there.
What's really going on
Onboarding is shadowing and slide decks instead of a structured path to productivity.
First move
Set 30, 60 and 90-day milestones with skills reps must demonstrate. Run the Cost of a Slow Ramp calculator to size the prize.
People

Hiring the wrong profile

What you see
Great interviews, weak results, and a lot of first-year turnover.
What's really going on
You're hiring for charisma or big-name logos instead of the behaviors your sales motion requires.
First move
Write the hiring profile from what your top performers actually do. Use the same structured interview for every candidate.
Leadership

Managers who inspect instead of coach

What you see
Pipeline reviews feel like interrogations and reps don't get better.
What's really going on
Your best reps were promoted into management with no one teaching them how to coach.
First move
Protect weekly one-on-one coaching time and give each rep one skill to work on at a time.
Leadership

A comp plan that pays for the wrong thing

What you see
Reps chase easy deals, discount to close, and sandbag at quarter end.
What's really going on
The plan rewards volume, not the outcomes your strategy needs.
First move
Compare the last two quarters of payouts against your strategy. Fix the one lever that's driving the wrong behavior.
Technology + AI

Tool sprawl and a CRM nobody trusts

What you see
Reps spend hours on admin, and leadership doesn't believe the dashboards.
What's really going on
Tools were added to fix symptoms, and nobody owns the data.
First move
List every tool with its usage and cost and cut what isn't used. Assign a data owner. Then add AI where it removes admin, not where it adds another tab.
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