Year-end is more than a finish line — it’s the clearest mirror a sales organization will ever get. By late December, the numbers are real. The trends are undeniable. And the areas of breakdown are almost impossible to ignore.
Yet too many companies roll into January with the same issues they had the year before… only to repeat the same cycle.
If you’ve been wondering whether your team needs a structured reset, this deep-dive will walk you through the ten strongest indicators. These come from more than two decades working with sales teams of all sizes — designing processes, rebuilding GTM strategies, improving forecasting, and leading commercial teams through tough transitions.
If you're new to my work, you can get a snapshot of my background on the
About Michael Grudecki page.
Let’s dig in.
A forecast doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be:
If your forecast has been off by more than 20–25% multiple quarters in a row, it’s not a forecasting problem — it’s a process problem.
Often this is the first area I evaluate during a Sales Consulting engagement. Forecast accuracy is the fastest way to stabilize a sales organization.
Sales teams often brag about “big pipelines,” but bloated pipelines are a liability, not an asset.
Signs your pipeline needs a reset:
A clean pipeline is a confident pipeline. A bloated pipeline is a false sense of progress.
Ask five reps how they:
...and if you get five different answers, you're not running a sales team. You’re running five individuals who happen to report to the same leader.
Scalable revenue requires consistency — not improvisation.
This is one of the most expensive and common breakdowns I see.
When Sales and Marketing are out of sync:
Alignment is a strategic advantage. If this is a recurring issue, you can learn more about my approach to solving it on the Consulting page.
If you've replaced reps but results haven’t improved, the issue might not be the people — it might be:
Hiring shouldn’t be the go-to fix. It’s often a sign of deeper issues.
A drop in win rate tells a story:
Win rates don’t fall overnight. They erode slowly while the organization stays busy.
You know this sign when you feel it:
But not enough movement.
Busyness feels productive — but it hides inefficiency. And inefficiency kills revenue.
High-performing teams are coached. Underperforming teams are corrected.
Coaching isn’t optional. It’s the difference between:
Strong leaders coach weekly. Weak cultures “touch base” occasionally. Coaching rhythms are the backbone of teams that win year after year.
Buyers evolve. Markets shift. Industries transform. But many organizations are still using messaging they wrote four years ago.
Signs your messaging is outdated:
Strong messaging is a major component of effective GTM strategy — and if this is a problem for your organization, the Marketing Consulting page is a good next step.
Confidence is underrated.
A confident sales team:
A sales reset is often less about rebuilding the entire engine and more about re-establishing direction, clarity, and belief.
If you saw yourself in three or more of these signs, your team is a good candidate for a structured 2026 reset.
Here are two helpful places to start:
And if you’re not sure where to begin, you can always reach out through the
Contact page.
Sales teams don’t fail because they’re not trying. They fail because the structure underneath them needs reinforcement.
A 2026 reset isn’t a setback — it’s a strategic move.