In talking with one of our customers, we heard this humorous story from the acting sales manager. This executive has been filling in the past month because her Sales Manager quit without notice and she was voicing her frustration at the lack of urgency on the part of the existing salespeople. Her story goes like:
She asked one of her new salespeople for an update on her forecast and where things stood with a few specific prospects.
The salesperson answered that everything was good and that in a year the two of them would be laughing about this discussion about where these deals stood. The salesperson mentioned that they would be awash in cash from all of the deals that had closed.
I must mention that to date, this salesperson has yet to close a deal.