We’ve heard it from customers. We’ve seen it on LinkedIn. We’ve talked about it in RevOps Slack groups. There’s a consistent issue across B2B sales orgs: leadership has one vision of what reps should be doing, and reps are out there doing something completely different.
This disconnect isn’t new. I’ve lived it.
Back when I was managing a BDR team, I saw it firsthand. Leadership would launch a push into a new vertical, announce it at kickoff, and expect outbound to follow. But two weeks later, reps were still chasing inbound leads or revisiting accounts they felt “comfortable” with. On paper, the strategy looked solid. But in execution, it never clicked. Not because the reps didn’t care. Not because they weren’t trying. The problem was more fundamental: we weren’t aligned.
Reps didn’t know why they were targeting certain accounts. They didn’t trust the data. They weren’t getting clear coaching on how to prioritize. Leadership assumed the strategy was being executed. Reps assumed they had the freedom to figure it out. Everyone was working hard. The results didn’t show it.
Misalignment hides in plain sight
Here’s the thing: misalignment doesn’t show up on a dashboard. It doesn’t always look like missed quota or bad activity numbers. Sometimes your team is hitting 90 percent of plan and you still feel like you’re leaving money on the table. That’s the cost of misalignment. It creates inefficiency. It slows you down. And it’s hard to spot unless you’re looking for it.
Misalignment shows up in:
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Reps skipping top-tier accounts because they don’t know why they matter.
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Leadership assuming coverage is happening when it’s not.
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Sales managers coaching based on gut feel instead of data.
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RevOps chasing down answers to why pipeline isn’t growing.
This gap between strategy and execution is what kills outbound performance. Not bad reps. Not weak messaging. Just a breakdown in alignment.
Why it happens
There are a few common causes:
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Overloaded rep books. Too many accounts means reps pick their own priorities. You lose control.
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Unclear rules of engagement. Who owns what? Who’s supposed to follow up? If reps don’t know, they won’t ask.
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Weak feedback loops. Leadership sets a goal. Reps try something else. Nobody notices until the quarter ends.
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Bad data. If your ICP list looks like Swiss cheese, nobody trusts it.
How to fix it
Alignment isn’t about more meetings or longer enablement decks. It’s about building a system that keeps strategy and execution connected.
Here’s what works:
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Smaller books. Give reps fewer accounts, refreshed regularly. Less noise, more focus.
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Clear ownership. Reps are responsible for every account in their book. If they can’t work it, it gets replaced.
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Real-time feedback. If an account gets returned, capture the reason. If it’s not being worked, reassign it.
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Centralized account selection. Use AI or RevOps-led criteria to put the right accounts in rep hands. Don’t leave it up to chance.
Dynamic books make this possible. Instead of static territories or outdated round robins, you keep rep books tight, high-quality, and constantly in motion. That means reps always know what to do and leadership always knows it’s getting done.
Final thought
You can’t afford misalignment in today’s market. Every rep-hour counts. Every account in the CRM is a bet. And if your reps and leaders aren’t betting on the same things, you’re wasting both time and pipeline.
Fix the system. Align the team. Get back to winning.
