Your manufacturing sales reps aren't getting in front of enough customers, and it's usually one of two problems: they don't have enough qualified leads to pursue, or they're not doing the prospecting work to generate those leads in the first place. Maybe they don't know how to prospect effectively in today's market. Maybe they're uncomfortable with outbound calling. Or maybe they're cherry-picking the few good leads that come in and ignoring the rest. Whatever the reason, the result is the same, an empty calendar and missed quota. The good news? Both problems are fixable. You just need to identify which one (or both) is holding your team back, then implement the right combination of tools, training, and accountability to get them consistently building pipeline and booking meetings.
Diagnosing Your Lead Generation Problem
Before you invest in new tools or training programs, you need to understand which problem you're solving. The symptoms look similar; reps spending too much time in the office, sparse calendars, and weak pipeline. The root causes are different, and so are the solutions.
Here are three areas to investigate as you diagnose the issue:
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Review your CRM data focusing on activity metrics. Are your reps logging prospecting activity (calls, emails, etc.)? If you see sparse data it means the activity isn't happening or it's not getting logged in the CRM. If you see lots of activity data, that's a targeting or messaging problem. They're doing the work, but fishing in the wrong pond or using the wrong bait. If you see minimal prospecting activity, that's a skills, motivation, or accountability problem meaning they're avoiding the work entirely.
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Have direct conversations with your reps. Ask them: "What's stopping you from booking more customer meetings?" Listen for patterns. Do they say "I don't know who to call" or "I don't have anyone to call"? That points to lead generation issue or, more importantly, a sales and marketing alignment issue. Do they say "I tried cold calling but it doesn't work" or "I'm too busy with current customers"? That's a prospecting capability or prioritization issue.
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Assess performance across your team. If your top 20% of reps have full calendars while the rest struggle, you likely have a skills gap. Your best performers know how to prospect effectively, and the others don't. If everyone is struggling equally, including your proven performers, you probably have a systemic lead generation problem.
Most VP Sales discover they have one (or both) of two problems.
Problem 1: Reps don't have anyone to meet because new prospects are non-existent.
Your reps aren't closing deals because they don't have anyone to sell to. The pipeline is empty. Leads are non-existent. And when you dig deeper, you realize: you hired farmers to do a hunter's job.
These reps are perfectly capable of nurturing relationships and closing warm opportunities. Put them in front of a qualified prospect and they'll shine. But ask them to generate new business from scratch? They'd rather be at the coffee shop. This isn't a performance problem. It's a mismatch between role requirements and personality type.
Three Ways to Fix This:
Solution 1: Hire Hunters, Not Farmers
Stop assuming every salesperson can prospect. They can't.
You need a crystal-clear role description that explicitly states: "This role requires 40% of your time on cold outreach, prospecting, and business development." Then use assessment frameworks during hiring to identify true hunters, people who get energized by the chase, not drained by it.
Tools you need:
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Role clarity: Don't write "sales representative." Write "Business Development Representative focused on new logo acquisition in your market." Be sure to clearly define what 'business development' means.
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Assessment framework: Use tools like DISC, Predictive Index, or similar to identify hunter profiles before you hire. Know what personality traits correlate with successful prospecting in your business.
Solution 2: Train Farmers to Hunt (With the Right Support)
If you've already got a team of farmers and can't replace them, you need to build hunting infrastructure around them. This means employing sales methodology training plus technology enablement. Teach them a repeatable prospecting approach whether that's MEDDIC qualification, SPIN discovery, or your own framework. Then give them tools that make prospecting less painful: CRM with email sequencing, call scripts, warming techniques, and warm handoffs from marketing.
Tools you need:
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Methodology training: Choose one approach (don't try to teach five different frameworks). Train everyone. Coach to it consistently.
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CRM with automation: Your CRM should include sequencing, templates, cadence management and anything that removes friction from prospecting. If your reps complain the CRM is too complicated, they won't use it. Period.
Solution 3: Get Marketing to Generate Quality Leads
Here's a radical idea: stop expecting every rep to be a hunter. Instead, align sales and marketing so reps get a steady flow of high quality inbound leads.
This requires three things most manufacturers don't have:
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A documented go-to-market strategy (who you target, why they buy, how you compete)
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Shared common metrics between sales and marketing (both measured on pipeline and revenue, not just MQLs)
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A revenue leader who understands BOTH sales and marketing (rare but incredibly valuable)
When this works, your "farmers" can focus on what they're good at; converting warm leads into customers while marketing handles top-of-funnel demand generation.
Tools you need:
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GTM strategy playbook: Document your ideal customer profiles, value propositions, and competitive positioning so sales and marketing work from the same page.
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Shared KPIs: Marketing gets measured on sales-accepted leads and pipeline contribution, not just form fills. Sales gets measured on lead follow-up speed and conversion rates, not just closed deals. Both teams are measured on how much they contribute to revenue.
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The right leader: Find someone who's lived in both worlds. They're the bridge that makes alignment actually happen.
Problem 2: They're selling, but spending too much time on non-selling activities.
Your reps have plenty of leads to work. The pipeline exists. But they're spending 10+ hours per week on activities that aren't selling:
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Searching for content they can't find
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Creating their own materials because marketing content doesn't work
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Fighting with the CRM because it's clunky and inefficient
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Doing administrative tasks that should be automated
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Attending internal meetings that could be emails
This is a productivity and process problem, not a people problem. To fix this issue, streamline everything that isn't customer-facing
Solution: Build a High-Performance, CRM-Driven Sales Process
Audit where your reps spend their time. If more than 30% is on non-selling activities, you've got a process problem. The solution isn't "work harder." It's remove friction and increase efficiency.
Tools you need:
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Content organization: One searchable location. Reps find what they need in under 2 minutes.
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CRM optimization: Automate data entry. Integrate with marketing automation. Make it so easy that reps WANT to use it.
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Process documentation: Clear stages, defined activities, automatic next steps. No ambiguity about "what do I do next?"
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Template everything: Emails, proposals, follow-ups. Don't make reps reinvent the wheel every time.
Every hour you give back to reps through process improvement is an hour they can spend in front of customers. That compounds fast.
The Bottom Line
"Reps aren't selling enough" or "Reps aren't seeing enough customers" is never just one problem.
Diagnose first: Do they have nothing to sell to? (Hunter/farmer mismatch or lead gen failure)
Are they drowning in admin work? (Process inefficiency)
Then solve the actual problem: Hire hunters, train hunters, or generate leads for farmers
Streamline processes and eliminate waste.
Most companies skip the diagnosis and jump straight to "motivate them harder" or "replace them all." That's expensive and it doesn't work.
Does this resonate with what you're seeing in your sales organization? Book a free assessment and we'll diagnose exactly where your bottlenecks are and what to do about them.
