Wasting Salespeople

Many companies complain that their salespeople cannot sell, but the real problem is often poor sales management, weak onboarding, unrealistic targets, and almost no proper coaching. In Japan, where hiring English-speaking, globally minded salespeople has become harder, wasting sales talent is not just inefficient. It is expensive, avoidable, and strategically dangerous. Salespeople do not magically become productive. They need realistic targets, consistent sales training, active coaching, and managers who know how to build capability rather than just demand numbers. Why do companies waste salespeople? Companies waste salespeople when they hire them, pressure them, under-train them, and then blame them when they fail. The salesperson may look useless, but the system around them may be the real culprit. In industries such as recruitment, real estate, insurance, technology, and professional services, the "up or out" mentality is common. Throw enough people into the machine, set high targets, and keep the few who survive. That approach may have worked when there were plenty of candidates available, but Japan's labour market is tighter, younger talent is scarcer, and bilingual salespeople are harder to find. As of the post-pandemic period, companies cannot afford to treat salespeople like disposable parts. They need a development model, not a meat grinder. Do now: Audit your sales exits. Before calling people failures, check whether onboarding, coaching, target-setting, and manager support failed first. Why is hiring salespeople in Japan becoming harder? Hiring salespeople in Japan is harder because the supply of internationally exposed, English-speaking young talent has shrunk and domestic Japanese firms now compete for the same people. Multinationals no longer have the bilingual talent field to themselves. Japanese students studying overseas, especially in the United States, declined significantly from earlier peaks, and COVID-19 disrupted international mobility even further. The pattern also changed: fewer students completed long, four-year immersion experiences, while more chose shorter overseas programmes. That matters because multinational firms in Japan often seek candidates who can speak English, understand Western business culture, and operate confidently across borders. Meanwhile, Japanese domestic companies have become more attractive and more aggressive in hiring these same people. So, if you want a bilingual salesperson in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, or Fukuoka, brace for impact. Do now: Stop assuming talent is plentiful. Build a sales development engine that turns promising people into productive producers. What is broken about sales training in Japanese companies? Sales training in many Japanese companies is broken because On-the-Job Training exists in name, but not in real coaching practice. The company may believe development is happening, while the salesperson receives little meaningful guidance. The old OJT model relied on bosses having time to observe, coach, correct, and demonstrate. Today, many sales managers are drowning in email, meetings, CRM updates, forecasting, internal reporting, and their own player-manager targets. Coaching gets squeezed out. Nobody wants to admit that reality, so the organisation maintains a tatemae — the polite surface story — that young salespeople are being trained. Meanwhile, the honne — the actual truth — is that they are often left to struggle alone. In sales, that gap becomes missed revenue, low morale, and higher turnover. Do now: Measure actual coaching hours, not training slogans. If managers are not coaching weekly, the OJT system is probably fiction. How should sales targets be set fairly? Sales targets should be set using evidence, tenure, sales cycle length, market conditions, and comparable performance data — not numbers pulled out of the ether. Unrealistic targets crush confidence and accelerate resignations. A first-year salesperson, a veteran account manager, and a newly hired bilingual sales rep cannot be judged by the same blunt target logic. Leaders need a "Day One" view: when did the person start, what pipeline stage are they at, what territory did they inherit, and how are they performing compared with colleagues at the same stage? This approach is far more scientific than the wet-finger-in-the-air method. In Japan, where trust-building and decision cycles can be slower, target-setting must reflect reality. Pressure matters, but fantasy numbers create despair, not performance. Do now: Build a Ground Zero-style performance tracker. Compare people by stage, role, market, and ramp-up time before setting targets. Why does regular sales training improve revenue quickly? Regular sales training improves revenue quickly because sales is one of the few training areas where better behaviour can directly affect pipeline, conversion, deal size, and repeat business. When salespeople ask better questions, handle objections better, and follow a better process, results can move fast. Even experienced salespeople collect bad habits like barnacles on an oil tanker. They cut corners, talk too much, skip discovery, rush proposals, forget follow-up discipline, or assume they know what the customer wants. New salespeople need core skills; veterans need recalibration. In Japan, where buyers value trust, detail, patience, and relationship continuity, weak sales habits are especially costly. Training should not be a one-off event. It should be repeated, observed, coached, and reinforced in the field. Do now: Train regularly, then coach application. Knowledge in a classroom is not enough; changed behaviour in front of clients is the point. Why don't more companies train their salespeople properly? Many companies avoid proper sales training because sales managers fear exposure, Learning and Development teams protect their turf, and leaders underestimate the cost of mediocre training. The result is false economy. Sales managers may resist external training because they are supposed to be developing their people already. Admitting the need for help can feel like admitting failure. Some Learning and Development teams prefer to run training internally to justify their role or save budget. The problem is that bad training, generic training, or mediocre training is expensive because it fails to change behaviour. The bigger cost sits elsewhere: lost deals, wasted salaries, low productivity, recruitment fees, management time, and damaged morale. Training looks expensive only when leaders ignore the cost of not training. Do now: Calculate the real cost of sales turnover and underperformance. Then compare that number with the cost of serious training. Conclusion: how do leaders stop wasting salespeople? The answer is not rocket science: train them. Japan's shrinking bilingual talent pool, tougher hiring market, and weakening OJT habits mean companies cannot afford to burn through salespeople and pretend the problem is individual weakness. Some people may not be suited to sales, certainly. But many so-called "rejects" have simply been failed by poor systems, absent coaching, and fantasy targets. Leaders who rescue these salespeople, give them proper tools, set realistic expectations, and coach them consistently can build a serious competitive advantage. While rivals keep firing, replacing, and complaining, disciplined companies can train, retain, and win. FAQs Are bad salespeople always the real problem? No, poor sales performance often reflects weak management, poor onboarding, unrealistic targets, or lack of training. Leaders should examine the system before blaming the individual salesperson. Why is recruiting bilingual salespeople in Japan difficult? Recruiting bilingual salespeople in Japan is difficult because internationally exposed talent is scarcer and domestic firms now compete strongly for those candidates. Multinationals need to invest more seriously in development and retention. Does OJT still work for sales training? OJT only works when managers actually coach, observe, correct, and reinforce skills. If managers are too busy to coach, OJT becomes a slogan rather than a development method. How often should salespeople receive training? Salespeople should receive regular training and ongoing coaching, not a one-off workshop. New salespeople need fundamentals, while veterans need refreshers to remove bad habits. What is the fastest way to stop wasting sales talent? The fastest way is to combine realistic targets, structured training, weekly coaching, and better manager accountability. This gives salespeople a fair chance to become productive. Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō（ザ営業）, Purezen no Tatsujin（プレゼンの達人）, Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō（トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう）, and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā（現代版「人を動かす」リーダー）. Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.