If you spend any time on sales floors, in boardrooms, or scrolling through LinkedIn, you hear certain phrases on repeat.

They sound like valid reasons. They sound like logical explanations for missed targets and empty pipelines.

But usually, they are just excuses.

As humans, we are far more likely to blame external factors due to self serving bias. It protects our ego. But it kills our sales performance.

It is time to translate what these common sales phrases actually mean.

The Outreach Excuses

The Phrase: "Cold calling is dead."

The Translation: "I find it too hard and I can't be bothered to learn."

This is the most common one I hear. We proved this wrong earlier this week. As discussed in Forget 'Cold Calling is Dead': A Case Study, cold calling is only dead for those who refuse to master the skill.

The Phrase: "Warm calling is alive."

The Translation: "I sent out donuts to some prospects and one returned my call."

Relying on gimmicks or waiting for "warm" leads is a slow death for a salesperson. You need to be able to generate your own heat.

The Phrase: "Our market is all about relationships."

The Translation: "I only know how to speak to prospects and customers I already know."

This is fear disguised as strategy. Real relationship building starts with a stranger.

The Pipeline and Process Excuses

The Phrase: "These leads are bad."

The Translation: "I called 3 people and no one placed an order."

Volume matters. Persistence matters. If you give up after three dials, the lead isn't the problem. The effort is.

The Phrase: "The sales are coming in soon, my pipeline is huge."

The Translation: "I have sent proposals to every single prospect that asked for one without qualifying anything."

This is a dangerous place to be. You are busy, but you aren't productive. You are likely working 11 hour days chasing ghosts, a trap we covered in The 'Always On' Sales Myth: Stop Working Harder. You need to disqualify harder.

The Phrase: "No one shows up to meetings from cold calls."

The Translation: "I beg and plead for placeholders in their diary."

If you beg for a meeting, they won't respect your time. If you let them disqualify themselves or convince you to meet, they show up. We broke this down in Stop Begging for Meetings: The 2026 Cold Call Power Flip.

The Market Excuses

The Phrase: "Our price is too high."

The Translation: "I crumble the second my prospect asks me for a discount."

Price is rarely the only factor. If you can't hold your ground on price, you haven't built enough value in the discovery phase.

The Phrase: "The recession is killing us."

The Translation: "I only know how to take orders and they've dried up."

When the tide goes out, you see who is swimming naked. Order takers suffer in tough economies. Hunters thrive because they go out and create opportunities regardless of the GDP.

Stop Blaming External Factors

The thing is, selling can be incredibly difficult. It takes years of practice, learning and listening.

But the truth is, the reason you are not selling is usually you.

The moment you stop blaming the economy, the leads, the price, or the marketing department, your life as a salesperson will become much easier. You take control back.

If you run a business or sales team and you are sick of them blaming external factors, give me a shout.

Don't accept mediocrity.