In high-stakes B2B sales environments, talent is everything. That’s why so many organisations have invested in sales competency models: identify the best performers, distill their skills, and clone success across the team. Simple in theory. In practice? Not so much.
Despite widespread adoption, most traditional competency models fail to deliver real performance improvement or tie back to revenue outcomes. Why? Because they confuse competencies with competence. The result is an expensive illusion of progress, reps appear "trained," but deals stall, forecasts slip, and the gap between top and average performers remains stubbornly wide.
This post explores the limitations of conventional sales competency models and offers a roadmap for building performance-driven, results-focused competence systems that truly move the revenue needle
Too often, organisations assume that mapping out a list of competencies, “consultative seller,” “discovery,” “customer-centric mindset, is enough to drive performance. But these vague, often subjective labels rarely translate into consistent results.
As Teodorescu and Binder point out, traditional competency models define traits, not outputs. And in sales, it’s not traits that close deals, it’s behaviour that produces measurable business value.
They stop at naming behaviours, not driving outcomes.
They’re generic and abstract, often lifted from corporate templates with little relevance to actual sales cycles.
They lack performance context, missing how behaviours link to specific stages in the sales process or customer journey.
They’re unmeasurable, making it hard to track progress or tie to CRM data.
They ignore environment and workflow, focusing on the individual instead of the sales system.
Ultimately, these models tell you who might succeed, but not what must be done to succeed.
Gilbert’s Behaviour Engineering Model teaches us that behaviour alone is not valuable. It becomes valuable only when it produces accomplishments, and those accomplishments contribute to business results.
In sales, this means shifting focus from traits (e.g., "resilience") to key accomplishments (e.g., “generated three multi-threaded opportunities with CFO-level engagement”).
A rep may “exhibit questioning skills” but still fail to uncover decision criteria or business pain.
✅ Fix: Anchor competencies in observable accomplishments (e.g., “mapped buying committee and uncovered business case in first 2 calls”).
Terms like “collaborative” or “creative” are open to interpretation, and impossible to measure in the field.
✅ Fix: Use objective, measurable language tied to actual deal stages and buyer milestones.
Generic models don’t differentiate between SMB transactional reps and enterprise consultative sellers.
✅ Fix: Tailor models to your sales motion, buyer journey, and revenue model.
Many competency projects are static documents rolled out as HR-led initiatives, never seen again.
✅ Fix: Design your system as a live toolset, embedded in CRM workflows, inspection routines, and coaching rhythms.
There’s often no clear path from competency to revenue impact.
✅ Fix: Start with desired business results, work backward to the sales behavis and deal-stage outputs that drive them.
Competence is not a trait. It’s the achievement of specific results that matter to the business.
Teodorescu and Binder recommend building a competence model: an end-to-end framework that defines:
The business goals to be achieved,
The key accomplishments required to support those goals,
The specific behavious, tasks, and environmental conditions that drive those accomplishments.
This backward design ensures your competency system isn’t just descriptive, it’s operational and outcome-focused.
Start with this structure:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Business Results | e.g., Increase win-rate in enterprise accounts by 15% |
| Key Accomplishments | e.g., Identify CFO priorities; secure multi-threaded access; deliver quantified business case |
| Tasks & Behavious | e.g., Ask ROI questions; use objection flip framework; role-play economic pitch |
| Environmental Enablers | e.g., CRM prompt for MEDDPICC; call recording reviews; manager-led debriefs |
Then map these into:
Your CRM (as exit criteria, prompts, scorecards)
Your enablement tools (coaching guides, micro-learnings)
Your manager workflows (deal inspection kits, feedback loops)
Done well, a competence model transforms:
Hiring: from guessing cultural fit to assessing ability to deliver specific outcomes.
Training: from theory to practice, tailored by stage and persona.
Coaching: from generic encouragement to targeted, behaviou-linked interventions.
Performance Management: from subjective ratings to outcome-based reviews.
And ultimately, it improves what matters: pipeline velocity, win-rate, deal size, and rep productivity.
If you’re stuck in competency trap, ask yourself:
Are your “competencies” tied to actual buyer outcomes?
Can your managers coach to them in a deal inspection?
Can your reps see them reflected in their tools, scripts, or CRM?
If not, it’s time to flip the model.
At LiveGuru, we help sales orgs move from competency theory to competence in practice, embedding behaviour change at the point of action.
Let’s design a system where competence means closing deals, not checking boxes.
Let’s Talk: Contact us to learn how our integrated, modern approach to sales training can transform your team’s performance, beyond a short-lived workshop, building the foundation for scalable, lasting success.