Share this article
Do You Have a Sales Skills Problem or a Lead Generation Problem?
In conversations with senior sales leaders across industries, a recurring concern has surfaced: sales cycles are lengthening, decision-makers are harder to reach, and breaking into new opportunities feels increasingly complex. These challenges prompt critical questions about the root cause of the issue. Is it a sales skills gap? Or is it a lead generation problem?
While there is no denying the importance of refining skills like closing, objection handling, and negotiation, these discussions often miss the bigger picture. The real bottleneck often lies further upstream, at the very top of the sales funnel. This is where many organisations struggle to attract the right leads and build sustainable pipelines.
Read: Objection Handling and Closing Sales
Let’s explore this further, using the SPANCOP framework to structure the discussion and outline a sustainable approach to solving these challenges.
In this article, we explore the various factors that have shaped the B2B selling environment, assess whether selling is indeed easier today, and discuss the strategies needed to thrive in today’s complex B2B sales landscape.
Understanding SPANCOP
SPANCOP is a powerful sales framework that breaks the sales process into seven distinct stages:
1. Suspect: Identifying potential buyers who fit your ideal customer profile (ICP). These are people or organisations you suspect could benefit from your solution but who may not yet be aware of it.
2. Prospect: Narrowing the field to those who show genuine interest and align with your ICP.
3. Approach: Reaching out to prospects with relevant and personalised communication.
4. Negotiate: Engaging in detailed discussions to address needs and objections.
5. Close: Securing the agreement and moving the buyer to action.
6. Order: Ensuring the smooth delivery of the product or service.
7. Payment: Finalising financial transactions and closing the loop.
Most sales training and efforts focus heavily on the final stages—negotiating, closing, and securing payment. However, the upstream stages, particularly Suspect and Prospect, are often overlooked. This is where the real opportunities lie.
The Overlooked Importance of the Top of the Funnel
In the Suspect and Prospect stages, the goal is not to sell immediately but to nurture relationships deliberately. This requires investing time and effort into:
Identifying the right people: Who are the buyers most likely to benefit from your solution? Understanding your ICP is critical here.
Building trust early: Buyers today are inundated with options. They’re looking for sellers who provide insights and add value, even before a formal sales process begins.
Providing insights, not just information: Sharing meaningful, relevant perspectives positions you as a trusted advisor, not just another vendor.
A lack of focus on these stages leads to a reactive approach where sales teams chase low-quality leads or depend on chance encounters. This can create a pipeline filled with unqualified prospects, resulting in wasted time and effort further down the line.
Why Lead Generation Problems Persist
Modern buyers are more independent than ever before. Research shows that most buyers are well into their decision-making process before they even engage with a seller. This shift is driven by digitalisation, easy access to information, and changing buyer preferences. Here are the primary reasons why lead generation remains a persistent challenge:
1. Inadequate Digital Presence: Buyers often research solutions online long before reaching out. If your organisation isn’t visible or providing valuable content, you’re missing opportunities to attract qualified leads.
2. Transactional Mindset: Many sales teams focus on immediate results, neglecting the importance of nurturing long-term relationships at the top of the funnel.
3. Lack of Skills in Relationship Building: Sellers often lack the training to effectively engage with suspects and prospects in a way that builds trust and curiosity.
4. Imbalanced Effort: Too much focus on the sharp end of the sales funnel (closing deals) leaves little time and resources for cultivating opportunities upstream.
A SPANCOP Approach to Building a Sustainable Pipeline
To address these challenges, organisations need to rebalance their efforts and place greater emphasis on the early stages of the SPANCOP process. Here’s how to do it:
1. Suspect: Defining Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
The first step is to clearly define who you want to do business with. This involves creating a detailed ICP that considers factors like:
Industry and vertical
Organisation size
Key pain points
Buying behaviours
Use tools like CRM data, market research, and feedback from existing customers to refine your ICP. The goal is to focus your efforts on those who are most likely to benefit from your solution.
2. Prospect: Nurturing with Insights
Once you’ve identified suspects, the next step is to nurture them into prospects by providing value. This stage is about building trust and positioning yourself as a credible advisor. Effective tactics include:
Content Marketing: Share thought leadership articles, case studies, and insights that address common challenges in your target market.
Social Selling: Use platforms like LinkedIn to engage with suspects, comment on their posts, and share relevant insights.
Personalisation: Tailor your outreach efforts to demonstrate a deep understanding of their needs.
3. Approach: Timing the Outreach
When prospects are ready to engage, your outreach should feel natural and well-timed. Use digital signals (e.g., downloads, clicks, or event attendance) to identify when they’re most likely to be receptive. At this stage, empathy and relevance are key.
4. Negotiate, Close, Order, Payment: Execute with Excellence
With a well-nurtured pipeline, the downstream stages become smoother. Prospects who enter these stages already trust you, have a clear understanding of your value proposition, and are more likely to move forward without excessive friction.
Read: Cutting to the Chase in B2B Sales: The Budget Talk and SPANCOP
The Role of Digital Tools and AI
In a digital-first world, leveraging technology is essential to optimise the early stages of the SPANCOP framework. Tools like AI and data analytics can help you:
Identify high-potential suspects: Use predictive analytics to prioritise leads most likely to convert.
Automate nurturing: Deploy email sequences, chatbots, and social media campaigns to keep suspects engaged.
Gain insights: Monitor digital behaviours to understand what content resonates most with your audience.
Digital tools enable sellers to focus their time and energy on high-value activities while maintaining consistent engagement with suspects and prospects.
Read: Why Plan Grow Do is Focusing on AI Integration, Podcasts, and Video in 2025
Balancing the Funnel: Key Takeaways
To address the question of whether your organisation has a sales skills problem or a lead generation problem, consider the following:
1. Evaluate Your Investment: How much time and effort are you dedicating to the Suspect and Prospect stages compared to downstream activities?
2. Upskill Your Team: Invest in training that equips sellers to:
Build relationships at the top of the funnel.
Provide insights and value early in the buying journey.
3. Leverage Technology: Use digital tools to identify, nurture, and engage suspects and prospects more effectively.
4. Measure What Matters: Track metrics like lead quality, conversion rates, and time spent nurturing relationships to ensure your efforts are paying off.
5. Adopt a Long-Term View: Building a sustainable pipeline requires patience and consistency. Focus on creating meaningful connections, even if they don’t yield immediate results.
Conclusion
Sales success is rarely just about closing deals. It’s about creating a well-balanced pipeline that starts with strong, intentional efforts at the top of the funnel. By adopting a SPANCOP approach and prioritising the Suspect and Prospect stages, organisations can unlock new opportunities, shorten sales cycles, and achieve more sustainable growth.
So, the next time you’re evaluating your sales team’s performance, ask yourself: is it truly a sales skills issue? Or is it time to reimagine your approach to lead generation?
Take the Next Step
How well is your organisation performing in Strategic Alignment & Flexibility? The Sales Process Maturity Report quiz offers invaluable insights into your current position and identifies opportunities for growth.
Take the first step towards achieving sales success today. Visit https://assessment.plangrowdo.com/salesprocess to assess your process and uncover actionable steps for improvement.
How mature is your sales process?
Based on your answers, you’ll receive tailored recommendations to help you refine and optimise your sales process.
It’s all about practical steps you can take to close more deals and achieve long-term success!
🚀 Ready to uncover hidden opportunities in your sales strategy?
Take the quiz now and get your roadmap to a more efficient, results-driven sales process.
