TLDR
- Sales reps spend less than a third of their week actually selling.
- Manual research, rebuilding decks and chasing the wrong leads eat the rest.
- Sales reps win back hours when research, content and follow-up live in one place.
- Co-creating the angle on a shared Canvas gets sales reps to the right message faster.
- Measure time saved per rep, not just activity.
You hired sales reps to sell. So why are they spending most of the week doing everything else?
Salesforce’s State of Sales research found that sales reps spend less than a third of their week actually selling. The rest goes to research, admin and building content. For a growing team, that’s like paying for three reps and getting one. If you’re still building the team, read what to look for before you hire a B2B salesperson.
Here are the 5 biggest time-wasters, and how to win the hours back.
Give your sales reps their week back. Puller brings qualified leads, Canvas co-creation, sales rooms and mutual action plans into one workspace. Start your 14-day free trial. It’s $50/user/month after that.
1. Sales reps researching every account by hand
LinkedIn, the company website, news, the CRM, repeated for every single account. That’s hours per rep every week before a single message goes out.
Win it back:
- Have leads arrive already researched, with why they fit and why now attached.
- Set a rule: if a rep can’t explain the fit in one sentence, the lead isn’t ready.
- Track time from lead to first touch. If it’s measured in days, research is the bottleneck.
2. Sales reps rebuilding decks from scratch
Every rep has their own version of the deck, slightly off-brand and slightly out of date. A personalised deck takes around 2 hours by hand.
Win it back:
- Start from your brand DNA (voice, products, proof points) so every asset stays on-brand automatically.
- Generate the personalised version in minutes, then edit rather than build from scratch.
- Keep one source of truth, so nobody sends old pricing.
3. Sales reps guessing the angle alone
The rep finds a good account, then stares at a blank email. The angle matters more than anything else, yet it’s usually decided by one person in a rush.
Win it back with Canvas co-creation:
- Put the lead’s research, buying signal and proof points on one shared Canvas.
- Let the rep and their manager test two or three angles side by side, for example “expansion into KSA” versus “new Head of Sales hired”.
- Pick the strongest angle and turn it straight into the outreach, deck and sales room.
Ten minutes of co-creation beats an hour of solo rewriting.
4. Sales reps chasing leads that were never going to buy
Fifty leads with no buying signal are worth less than five with one. Chasing the wrong ones is the most expensive time-waster of all.
Win it back:
- Prioritise leads with a reason to buy now: hiring, expansion, funding or leadership change.
- Drop leads that go quiet after two well-crafted touches.
- We cover how to fill the pipeline with better leads in 7 strategies to generate B2B leads.
5. Sales reps following up blind
“Just checking in” emails, reminders in calendars, and deals that drift because nobody owns the next step.
Win it back:
- Share content through a personalised sales room, so reps can see what the buyer read before they follow up.
- Agree a mutual action plan with owners and dates, so follow-ups are scheduled steps, not guesses.
- Let the plan flag slipping steps, so reps act before the deal goes cold.
Measure time saved per rep
Track it every week: hours spent on research, content, follow-up and selling. Your sales reps should see the selling share go up month after month. If it doesn’t, one of these five is still eating their week.
Puller is the AI platform that takes every lead from first contact to closed deal, so your sales reps spend their time selling. Start your 14-day free trial. It’s $50/user/month after that.
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