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Find team-level gaps first

If two of three reps share the same gap, fix it at team level before you coach individuals. Shared gaps usually point to a process, list or enablement problem.

Updated 26 October 2026For leader
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What it is

A way to sort performance gaps before you coach. Look at the same metrics across the whole team first. When most reps share a gap, the cause is usually something they all have in common, such as the list, the process, the tools or the training. Fix that once at team level. Save one-to-one coaching for the gaps that belong to a single rep.

When to use it

  • You’re new to a team and need to decide where to start.
  • Several reps are missing target for what looks like the same reason.
  • You’re preparing a quarterly review of team ratios against goal.
  • Before you build individual coaching plans.

Steps

  1. Pick the ratios that matter for your motion, such as touches per opportunity, meeting-to-opportunity conversion and win rate.
  2. Put every rep’s numbers side by side for the same period.
  3. For each ratio, count how many reps are off target.
  4. If most of the team shares a gap, treat it as a team problem. Look at what they share: the account list, the sequence, the qualification process or the enablement.
  5. Fix the shared cause once, for everyone, and set a date to check the ratio again.
  6. For gaps that belong to one rep, build an individual coaching plan.
  7. Repeat the review monthly.

Good example

A team of three reps tracks touches per self-sourced opportunity. Two reps need about 80 touches to create an opportunity, and one needs about 30. The leader treats the 80 as a team problem, finds that those two reps are working an older account list with poor contact data, refreshes it and adopts the third rep’s sequence as the team standard. (Illustrative figures.)

Weak example

The leader sees the same numbers and puts the two slower reps on individual performance plans. Each gets separate coaching on messaging. Weeks go by, the shared list problem stays, and the reps lose confidence while the real cause goes unfixed.

How AI helps

  • Spotting patterns. A model can compare rep ratios from a CRM export and flag which gaps are shared across most of the team.
  • Finding the cause. Conversation intelligence can compare calls and emails from reps with different results, and surface differences in messaging or targeting.
  • Standardising what works. Once the best approach is clear, AI can help turn it into a shared sequence, script or checklist for the whole team.

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