Three Revenue Problems That Look Like Sales Problems (And How to Tell the Difference)

Most companies facing stalled pipelines diagnose the problem wrong. They see deals not closing and assume it's a sales execution issue. Better discovery. More qualification. Tighter process.

But after diagnosing hundreds of stalled pipelines, I've learned that most "sales problems" are actually revenue problems. The difference matters, because you fix them very differently.

Here's how to tell which one you have.

Problem 1: "Our Win Rate Dropped When We Scaled"

What it looks like: Win rates were strong at $5M ARR. Now at $15M, qualified deals keep going to "no decision" or competitors you've never heard of.

Sales diagnosis: "We need better discovery. More qualification. Tighter process."

Revenue diagnosis: The Relevance Lock is engaged.

What worked when you were the scrappy underdog stops working when you look established. Your sellers are still diving straight into the pitch because that worked with early adopters.

But mainstream buyers are different. Their brains categorize you as "another vendor" in the first five minutes, and the Relevance Lock engages before you ever get to your differentiators.

How to tell the difference: Listen to your first five minutes of discovery calls. If your reps are talking about your solution before deeply understanding the buyer's complete world, what I call the Blue Diamond, you have a revenue problem, not a sales problem.

The fix: Train your team to start in the buyer's world. Their competitive pressures, board expectations, industry disruption. Start there before transitioning to your solution. This opens the Relevance Lock instead of triggering it.

No amount of "better discovery questions" fixes this if you're asking them in the wrong sequence.

Problem 2: "Our Deals Stall in the Final Stage"

What it looks like: Great discovery. Compelling demo. Proposal delivered. Then silence. Deals sit in "legal review" or "internal discussions" for months.

Sales diagnosis: "We need to create urgency. Push harder on closing."

Revenue diagnosis: The Urgency Lock is engaged, and your attempt to create urgency is making it worse.

Most sellers respond to stalls by manufacturing deadline pressure: "This pricing expires Friday." "We're booking up for Q1." Buyers see through this instantly. It actually increases their skepticism and makes the Urgency Lock tighter.

How to tell the difference: Ask your sellers: "What deadline is the buyer working against?" If they answer with your timeline instead of the buyer's timeline, you have a revenue problem.

The fix: Connect your solution to one of the Three Clocks already ticking in the buyer's world. Internal deadline: the project they committed to. Competitive deadline: what their competitor is doing that they're not. Opportunity deadline: the revenue window that's closing.

Real urgency comes from their deadlines, not yours. Once you can connect to those, deals move.

Problem 3: "We Keep Losing to the Same Competitor"

What it looks like: You're making finalist rounds, but losing to the same player. Deals that seemed like they were yours end up going elsewhere.

Sales diagnosis: "We need better competitive battle cards. More aggressive objection handling."

Revenue diagnosis: The Difference Lock is engaged, and your competitor positioned the frame before you arrived.

Here's what's actually happening: Your competitor isn't winning on features. They're winning on framing the decision in a way that makes their approach seem like the obvious choice and yours seem risky.

They're using what I call Victory Verbs. Specific, measurable outcomes that only they can deliver because of how they do what they do. Meanwhile, your team is using the same generic language every vendor uses.

How to tell the difference: Take your last three lost deals. Ask: "Could a prospect say the same things about our competitor that we said about ourselves?"

If the answer is yes, you don't have a sales problem. You have a differentiation problem. You sound the same, so buyers treat you the same.

The fix: Identify the Victory Verbs. The specific outcomes only you can deliver because of your unique approach. Then position the decision frame around those outcomes before your competitor frames it their way.

This isn't about "handling objections better." It's about making sure the objections never arise because you've positioned the decision correctly from the start.

Why This Distinction Matters

Sales problems are execution issues: wrong process, weak skills, poor qualification. You fix them with training, coaching, and better methodology.

Revenue problems are psychological barriers in the buyer's brain. The Four Locks engaging before your team even gets a chance to present.

You can't train your way out of psychological barriers. You need diagnostic frameworks that identify which locks are engaged and the specific strategies to open them.

Most companies waste months trying to fix sales execution when the real problem is that buyers' brains are rejecting them before they ever hear the pitch.

The Diagnostic Framework

Here's how to diagnose your pipeline:

Pick your three most important stalled deals. For each, ask: "Which lock is engaged?" Relevance Lock: Did we start in their world or ours? Impact Lock: Is our proof about them or about others? Difference Lock: Would competitors say the same things we're saying? Urgency Lock: Are we pushing our timeline or connecting to theirs?

Notice the pattern across deals.

If the same lock keeps appearing, that's your systematic revenue problem. And it requires a different fix than "better sales execution."

The Bottom Line

Before you invest in another sales methodology or blame execution, diagnose whether you have a sales problem or a revenue problem.

Because the wrong diagnosis leads to the wrong solution, and six months from now you'll be having the same conversation about why deals still aren't closing.

Joe Collins is the founder of ACES Growth and author of The Revenue Locks. Learn more about the framework at revenuelocks.com or connect on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/jcc4.