Sales Audit Services, the Diagnostic Radar: 8 Points of Failure in Your Revenue Engine
- Mark Taggart
- Jan 13
- 5 min read
Category: Sales Process Optimisation
Reading Time: 4 Minutes
🔆 When a Founder or VC Partner tells us their portfolio company is "under-performing," they usually focus on the symptom: We missed the quarterly number. But missing the number is just the "Check Engine" light. 🚥
🕸️ At DeBug Sales, we don't guess at the problem. We treat revenue as an engineering challenge. We open the hood and run a forensic diagnostic across eight specific vectors.
We call this the "DeBug Sales Diagnostic Radar".
🎯 When you engage us for our Sales Audit Services, we score your business from 1 to 10 on these eight critical axes. If the "spider web" collapses in any of these areas, your revenue leaks. This sounds negative and you might think people get defensive... most often they don't. We are here to help lighten sales and operational burdens and approach it in a kind and compassionate way... helping people grow and become their best version wherever we can.
🔎 Here is exactly what we look for in the Sales Audit —and how we fix it.
1. Sales Process (Playbook Optimisation) 🔥
Many companies chasing growth have a "process" that exists only in the Sales Director's head. We audit the code: Is there a documented Playbook? Does the CRM workflow match the actual buying journey, how does this align and compliment the 7 stages covered below? get this part right and the engine starts humming and exponential growth is on the way.
If every rep is selling differently, you don't have a process; you have anarchy. This is the core of Sales Process Optimisation. We rewrite the playbook to ensure every rep follows the winning formula, not their own intuition. We help everyone align and repeat sales best practice.
2. Activity Metrics (Volume vs. Velocity) 🥷🏽
Activity is the fuel, but is it the right fuel? We analyse "Speed to Lead" (how fast do you call an inbound enquiry?) and volume vs. KPIs.
Are your reps making 50 calls a day but getting zero connections? That isn't hard work; that is bad data. A generic B2B Sales Consultancy might tell you to "work harder." We tell you to work smarter by debugging the efficiency of the effort with new AI powered tools that put your reps in front of the people who are in the process of buying what you sell. Book a time to meet and see this in action - You will be amazed at how sales has changed.
3. Execution Skills (Hard Discovery) 🤸
This is where the deal is won or lost. We listen to your call recordings. Are your reps asking the difficult commercial questions ("What happens if you don't buy?"), or are they "happy ears" order-takers?
High activity means nothing if the rep lacks the skill to understand the need, and the need/pain behind the need. We measure conversion rates at every stage of the funnel to identify exactly where the skill gap lies... and implement the coaching training needed if desired.
4. The Hunter/Farmer Fit (Role Alignment) 🚀
One of the most common "bugs" we find is a personality mismatch. You have a "Farmer" (great at account management) trying to work as a "Hunter" (new business acquisition). They will fail, and they will burn out.
Often, a company needs a Fractional Sales Director UK to objectively assess the talent. We provide that leadership, ensuring the right people are in the right seats before you waste budget on more hires. We also design the process to rapidly scale sales teams, Globally if needed.
5. Lead Gen & Sales Alignment 🤝
Is Marketing celebrating "1,000 leads" while Sales complains "they are all rubbish"? We audit the handshake between Marketing and Sales.
As your Revenue Operations Consultant, we look for Intent Data alignment. Are Marketing feeding Sales the buyers who are actually showing buying signals? If there is no feedback loop on lead quality, you are burning capital. Helping to reduce the cost of customer acquisition.
6. Operational Fit (Delivery) 🏴☠️
Sales cannot exist in a vacuum. If a rep sells a deal that Operations can't deliver, you haven't won revenue; you have bought a churn problem. We check for "Operational Fit"—are we selling promises the product team can actually keep? This ensures customer delight rather than customer debt.
In almost all engagements this typically is a bigger problem than you would imagine. Two sides of the business with different and often conflicting tasks/pressures.
New Business Sales battling to win new business in a competitive landscape
Account Manager trying to retain customers/slow ARR churn and deliver on promises
Poor Operational colleagues trying to deliver on what has been sold and keep the customer happy/engaged for the long haul.
Fixing this means aligned processes end to end, behavioural change and excellent cross stream communication. Fix this and you are a long way forward.
7. Profitability (CAC vs. LTV) 💰
Top-line revenue is vanity; bottom-line profit is sanity. We audit the Cost of Customer Acquisition (CAC) against the Lifetime Value (LTV).
If it costs you £1 to make £1.10, your sales engine is broken. We look for the sweet spot of profitable scaling, ensuring that every new customer adds real value to the bottom line.
We can help in optimising pricing and finding hidden value drivers.
8. Voice of the Customer (Feedback) 📣
Finally, we ask the people who matter most.
Why did they buy?
Why did they not buy?
We analyse Win/Loss data to understand the market's perception of your value. If your sales pitch doesn't match the customer's reality, the deal dies.
We look at who is performing well and why - We help transform sales teams in an incredibly positive way. To the point where people who never had thought of joining sales begin to think this could be an exciting career pathway, especially people from operations/technical teams. Growing sales teams using experts from within is a strategy worth considering.
How to Run Your Own Sales Audit Service
Look at the chart above. If you were to be honest, where does your company sit on the 1-10 scale for each of these?
If you are scoring below a 7 on more than two of these axes, your engine is misfiring.
Stop guessing.
You don't need more advice; you need an intervention... Book a time to meet and see how systems, process, tools and behaviours need to align. We would be delighted to share thinking and tools with you for FREE.
Frequently Asked Questions About Commercial Performance & Sales Audit Services
Q: What exactly is included in a Sales Audit Service?
A: A Sales Audit Service is a forensic diagnostic of your revenue engine and how that inter-twines with operations. We understand and help you improve:
Sales process & playbook
Activity levels & KPI's
Closing skills
Role alignment
Lead Gen
Operational fit
Profitability
Customers voice
The output is a Red Flag Report and a 90-day remediation roadmap.
Q: How does Sales Process Optimisation differ from sales training? A: Training focuses on motivation; Sales Process Optimisation focuses on mechanics. If your sales process is broken (e.g., bad lead routing, lack of intent data, or undefined stages), even the best-trained rep will fail. We rewrite the "code" of your sales playbook to ensure that high performance is repeatable, not accidental and can become highly scale able with ideally lower cost sales reps.
Q: When should Investors or a startup hire a Fractional Sales Director in the UK?
A: You should hire a Fractional Sales Director UK when you have 2–5 sales representatives but cannot yet justify the £120k+ salary of a full-time VP. A fractional leader provides the strategy, accountability, and pipeline discipline needed to scale from Founder-led sales to a professional sales team, typically for 1–2 days per week.
Q: Why is my Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) increasing? A: High CAC is usually a symptom of poor Revenue Operations alignment. It often means your team is spending time on low-intent leads. By implementing intent-to-buy tools and refining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), we shift effort toward buyers who are active in the market, lowering CAC and increasing velocity.
