When a sales rep is underperforming, the instinct is to fix it fast.
Set a tighter target. Increase call volume. Tell them exactly what to say.
Maybe escalate to a PIP. The pressure to see movement — and the discomfort of watching someone struggle — makes action feel urgent.
But action without diagnosis is usually the wrong kind of action. It patches the surface problem while the real issue continues underneath. And more often than not, it makes things worse.
Reps who most need development are statistically the ones least likely to receive it. According to MySalesCoach's 2026 State of Sales Coaching research, low-achieving reps are twice as likely to receive no coaching at all as their higher-performing peers.
"The most expensive mistake managers make with underperformers is treating every situation the same way," says Alan Duncan, Sales Coach at MySalesCoach. "Underperformance has causes. Those causes look different in different people. The conversation that works for a rep who is technically capable but mentally stuck is completely different from the one you need with a rep who has a genuine skill gap."
Coaching an underperforming sales rep means: diagnosing the root cause before taking any action, separating what is a skill issue from what is a mindset or motivation issue, and working with the rep — not on them — to build a realistic path forward. Telling a rep what to do patches the problem in the short term but damages confidence and trust over time. Diagnosis first, collaboration always, rep-owned action as the goal.
This is how to do it.
Start With Diagnosis, Not Action
The single biggest mistake managers make with underperforming reps is moving to action before they understand what's actually causing the problem.
Underperformance has many possible causes — and coaching the wrong one wastes time and erodes trust. Before any coaching conversation, ask yourself: is this a skill issue, a knowledge issue, a motivation issue, a confidence issue, or something environmental? Because each of these requires a completely different response.
A rep who doesn't know how to handle a specific objection needs skill development. A rep who knows how but doesn't do it in practice may have a confidence or mindset issue. A rep who is capable but has disengaged may have a motivation problem that a coaching conversation about technique won't touch.
The diagnostic question that opens most of these conversations well:
"Help me understand the challenges you're facing." Not "here's what I've noticed" — not yet. First, what does the rep see?
The Diagnostic Coaching Model for Underperformers
Step 1: Diagnose the root cause
Before advising anything, understand the full picture.
Listen to a cross-section of recent calls. Review CRM activity. Look at where in the sales process performance is breaking down — is it pipeline generation, conversion at a specific stage, deal velocity, or something else entirely? You need evidence, not instinct.
Then open the conversation from curiosity, not conclusions. "What are your biggest obstacles right now?" and "Where do you feel least confident in the process?" will tell you more than any amount of observation alone.
Base decisions on facts, not assumptions. Avoid instinct-led judgements. A rep who looks disengaged may be burning out. A rep who appears not to care may be stuck and not know how to say it.
Wondering how to get the most out of coaching your reps in the limited time that you have? How to coach your sales rep in 10 minutes
Step 2: Separate the real problem from the presenting problem
What the rep says is the problem and what is actually causing underperformance are often different things.
A rep who says "I'm not getting enough leads" may actually have a prospecting problem.
A rep who says "my pipeline isn't converting" may have a qualification issue or a discovery gap.
A rep who says "I don't know why I'm missing targets" may have a confidence issue that's showing up as vague activity rather than a specific skill breakdown.
This is where you slow down and probe.
"What do you think is causing that?" and "When you look back at deals you've lost, what's the common thread?" move the conversation from surface symptoms to underlying causes.
Step 3: Separate skill from mindset from process
This is the most important diagnostic distinction.
A skill issue needs coaching and practice.
A mindset issue — imposter syndrome, fear of rejection, loss of confidence after a bad patch — needs a completely different kind of conversation, one focused on belief and self-perception rather than technique.
A process issue might need better tools, better data, or clearer expectations rather than coaching at all.
Trying to coach someone's mindset with a technique conversation doesn't work.
Neither does responding to a genuine skill gap with motivational support.
Getting this distinction right is what separates a manager who helps underperformers turn around from one who keeps having the same conversation without results.
Step 4: Work with the rep, not on them
Once you've diagnosed the issue, the instinct is to tell them what to do. Resist it.
The rep who arrives at the solution themselves will own it in a way that a rep who was told the solution never will. People don't resist action — they resist being told.
So ask before you advise.
"What do you think needs to change?"
"What would you try if you were starting this month again?"
"Where do you feel you have the most room to improve?"
Share your perspective — but after theirs. And frame it as something to test, not a directive to follow.
"Here's what I've noticed — what's your read on that?" invites collaboration. "Here's what you need to do" closes it down.
Step 5: Rep-owned commitment with a specific timeline
Every coaching conversation with an underperformer should close with a specific, realistic action owned by the rep — not assigned by the manager.
"What's the one thing you're going to try differently this week?" is more powerful than "I want you to do X."
The former creates ownership. The latter creates compliance — and compliance without understanding doesn't change behaviour under pressure.
Set a timeline. Agree on what you'll both look at in your next conversation to assess whether it made a difference. Keep the loop closed.
What "Telling" Does to an Underperformer
There's a version of this that feels efficient: sit the rep down, tell them exactly what they're doing wrong, tell them exactly what they need to do instead, and send them back to work.
This approach patches the problem faster. And it damages confidence and trust in the process.
A rep who has been told what to do without having their thinking engaged is operating on borrowed judgement.
The moment they're in front of a prospect in a scenario that doesn't match the script, they don't know what to do. Worse, they stop sharing problems with you because every conversation feels like a correction rather than a collaboration.
"Telling patches the problem faster," says Alan Duncan. "But over weeks and months, it means you're carrying the rep's performance rather than developing it. The managers who turn underperformers around are the ones who create enough psychological safety for the rep to tell the truth about what's actually going on."
The rep who trusts you enough to say "I don't actually know how to handle that objection" is already on the road to improvement. The rep who nods and says "understood" while privately feeling judged is not.
For the full list of coaching patterns that backfire, see The 6 Deadly Sins of Sales Coaching.
What Good Coaching of an Underperformer Looks Like
A successful coaching conversation with an underperforming rep ends with:
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The rep clearer on what is actually driving their underperformance — not just the surface symptom
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A shared, agreed plan — not a manager's plan imposed on the rep
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At least one rep-owned action with a specific timeline
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The rep leaving the conversation feeling like a capable person with a path, not a problem to be managed
Key Takeaways
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Diagnose before you act. Underperformance has causes — coaching the wrong one wastes time and erodes trust.
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The most important distinction is between skill, mindset, and process. Each requires a different response.
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Ask before you tell. The rep who arrives at the solution themselves will own it. The rep who was told won't.
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"Telling" patches the problem faster but damages confidence and trust over time.
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Every coaching conversation should close with a rep-owned action — specific, realistic, with a timeline.
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Don't take a standard approach to underperformance. Flexibility and diagnosis are what make the difference.
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Psychological safety is the foundation. If the rep can't tell you the truth about what's going wrong, you can't fix it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Coaching Underperforming Sales Reps
What's the first thing I should do when a sales rep is underperforming?
Diagnose before you act. Review the data — where in the process is performance breaking down? Then open the conversation with curiosity, not conclusions: "Help me understand the challenges you're facing." You need to understand whether this is a skill issue, a confidence issue, a motivation issue, or something environmental before any coaching response will be effective.
How do I tell the difference between a skill gap and a mindset issue?
A skill gap shows up as inconsistent execution of a specific part of the process — the rep doesn't know how to do something, or knows but can't do it under pressure. A mindset issue shows up as capability that disappears under certain conditions: the rep who is great in role-play but freezes in real calls, or the rep who knows the technique but avoids the moment. Ask: "Is this a can't or a won't?" The answer shapes everything.
Should I put an underperforming rep on a PIP?
Not before exhausting coaching. A Performance Improvement Plan is a formal process, not a coaching tool — and jumping to one before understanding the root cause typically creates defensiveness rather than improvement. Work through diagnosis first. If a genuine skill gap has been identified and worked on consistently without improvement, and the rep understands the stakes, then formal support structures become appropriate. But coaching first, always.
How do I coach an underperformer without damaging their confidence?
Start from curiosity, not judgement. Ask what they see before you share what you see. Frame feedback as observation rather than verdict: "I noticed X — what's your read on that?" rather than "The problem is X." End every conversation with the rep owning a next step — not having been assigned one. The rep who leaves a conversation having decided what to do next is far more confident than the one who left having been told.
How long does it take to turn around an underperforming rep?
Longer than most managers expect, and faster than they fear when coaching is done well. Skill gaps can close within a few weeks of consistent, focused practice. Mindset and confidence shifts take longer — sometimes months — and require sustained psychological safety rather than technique coaching. The biggest predictor of turnaround time is how quickly the manager diagnoses the real issue and stops treating the surface symptom.
