Sales leaders rarely notice this problem early. Not because it’s invisible, but because it disguises itself as good behavior.
The CRM looks clean. Follow-ups are logged. Emails are polite. Meetings happen. From the outside, everything appears to be working exactly as it should.
And yet, deals don’t move.
There’s no obvious friction. No dramatic objections. Just a slow, quiet stall that’s hard to explain. Eventually, leadership labels it a pipeline issue. More pressure is applied. More activity is demanded.
But the problem isn’t the pipeline. It’s confidence.
On paper, sales teams often look healthy. Underneath, though, something else is going on. Decision-makers are being avoided. Not intentionally. Not maliciously. It happens quietly, over time.
Sales agents stay connected to influencers or junior points of contact instead. They convince themselves they’re being thoughtful, strategic, patient. I’ll warm this up a bit more. Let me get more context first. I don’t want to push.
Weeks pass. Momentum fades. Competitors step in. And no one names what’s really happening.
I saw this very clearly with a client in Dubai.
One agent consistently underperformed on high-value deals that were Saudi-led. On the surface, there was nothing obviously wrong. He knew the product inside out, handled clients well, and kept his CRM impeccably updated.
But any deal involving senior regional decision-makers never progressed.
So instead of coaching harder, I looked closer. I went through CRM timelines, call logs, and communication patterns. Who was being contacted and who wasn’t.
That’s when it became obvious.
Every deal stalled at the same point: the decision-maker.
In this case, a Saudi national with final authority. The agent, based in Dubai, had never picked up the phone. Emails had been sent. Messages had gone back and forth. But calls? They were consistently avoided.
When we unpacked it together, it became clear this wasn’t about cultural etiquette, language, or seniority. It was internal.
He was carrying unspoken questions with him.
What if I sound salesy? What if I call at the wrong time? What if I lose the deal by calling?
So, he did what many capable salespeople do. He pushed the discomfort aside and replaced it with activity that felt productive. Safe activity. Polite activity. Activity that looked good, but avoided the one conversation that actually mattered.
The shift happened the moment this was named, not judged.
He didn’t need a better pitch, a longer script, or another objection-handling framework. What he needed was permission to be uncomfortable.
We explored why authority conversations felt threatening for him, how avoidance often hides behind politeness, and how delaying the call was actually increasing the risk of losing the deal.
The first call wasn’t perfect. But it happened. And that alone was a breakthrough.
A few weeks later, he said something that stuck with me:
"I didn’t realize how much mental energy I was spending avoiding this.”
The anxiety lifted. Confidence followed action. And yes, the deals started moving.
The root inhibition, if you’re curious, came from a single past experience. He had once been rushed by a senior Saudi decision-maker and unconsciously decided that this would always be the outcome. One moment had turned into a rule.
This is what decision-maker avoidance costs sales leaders when it goes unchecked. Deals take longer than they should. Pipelines look healthier than they are. Reps become exhausted, busy, but stuck. And deals are lost without anyone ever knowing they were at risk.
Most leaders respond by pushing harder. They increase follow-up pressure, add dashboards, or hire more people. But none of that addresses avoidance.
What actually helps is looking beyond activity.
Ask yourself who isn’t being called. Notice where deals consistently stall. Pay attention to which conversations feel emotionally heavy for your team. Sales performance doesn’t drop because people don’t care.
It drops when confidence erodes quietly.
And confidence isn’t built through motivation or pressure. It’s built through supported exposure to discomfort. Decision-makers don’t kill deals. Avoiding them does.
And the fastest way to restore momentum isn’t control, it’s awareness. Awareness only comes when leaders spend conscious time connecting with sales agents before correcting them.
That’s where real movement begins.
Ready to build your awareness, book a call with me on Mentaa and start your journey!
