They walk in with gravity. Decades of business behind them, stories from boardrooms in San Francisco or trade shows in Paris, and introductions that begin with “I once closed a multi-million dollar deal with…” They carry presence, confidence, and often, a subtle sense of superiority. For many CEOs, bringing in such a figure feels like installing a veteran commander, someone who’s seen every market storm and survived. But that’s precisely where the danger lies. Because in today’s shifting commercial landscape, experience, when left unchallenged, can become a polished liability.
This is the new paradox…
Experience is not immunity. Respect is earned through continued relevance, not past victories.
Karim Mokhtar
Companies invest heavily in infrastructure: CRM systems, automation, dynamic proposal builders, social selling, behavioral analytics, multilingual playbooks. They open the gates for these professionals to do what they’ve done for decades, but better, faster, smarter. And yet, time passes, leads flow through the system, and only a trickle of results emerges. The number of deals closed is far below the most realistic minimal expectation. No real pipeline. No urgency. And still, no introspection.
They’ll point to the leads. They’ll talk about how things are “different now” or how “buyers take longer in such or such market or industry.” But behind the vague justifications is a sharper truth, many of these professionals never entered the arena…
They glanced at the tools, nodded at the dashboards, and returned to what they knew: long phone calls that don’t convert, redundant meeting requests sent to leads without showing any solid value propositions, long pauses, occasional check-ins, the slow game of nostalgia-driven sales…
The market, meanwhile, moved on.
Today, the battlefield has changed. It isn’t mainly ruled by charisma or memory. It’s more about behavior-based outreach, instant analytics, scaled personalization, and surgical timing. The new salesperson isn’t just persuasive, they’re plugged in. They monitor who opened what, when, and for how long, and then click on what, read what, forward the message to whom, etc… They iterate fast, shift language, test offers, research and share information, create more visually appealing presentations, video demos, and chase momentum.
Waiting for the phone to ring, or for an old contact to remember your name, no longer qualifies as strategy.
And yet, some still think they are above measurement.
They resist the CRM because “they’ve never needed it.” They downplay automation because “that’s not how people buy here.” They avoid templates, avoid feedback, avoid any structure that might expose the hollowness of their contribution. What they bring instead is an aura. And sometimes, the unspoken belief that their past exempts them from present accountability. But this is not just about tools. It’s about identity.
After thirty or forty years of working a certain way, the idea that those methods no longer work is deeply threatening.
Adapting feels like surrendering status. Learning feels like admitting ignorance. And so, many resist, not out of laziness, but self-preservation. To change would mean accepting that the world has moved faster than they have. So instead, they wait it out. They hope no one notices.
But CEOs are noticing. Quietly at first, then with growing frustration. They see dashboards with zero movement. They see the disparity between opportunity and outcome.
They start to question what they’re really paying for: results or memories.
The numbers don’t lie, but the interpretation is often delayed. 2%, 1%, or below 1% closing ratio? That’s clearly a failure. And yet, many executives hesitate to confront it head-on. There’s discomfort in holding a senior figure accountable, especially one who carries prestige, connections, or a respected past. But businesses can’t afford deference. Not when opportunity costs are mounting quietly in the background.
There are ways to cut through the fog. It starts by redefining what success looks like for seasoned professionals in a modern sales environment. It’s no longer about promises or potential. It’s about movement. Are leads being contacted? Are they being followed up with strategically? Is the CRM being updated daily, not quarterly? Are there sequences in place, or is everything still dependent on vague intuition? Even a modest performer with minimal experience can deliver more momentum if they’re actively using the tools. An experienced one who refuses to evolve simply blocks the path.
Performance is no longer just about closed deals. It’s about touchpoints. Frequency. Strategy. Awareness. Smart CEOs look at reply rates, bounce rates, engagement time on sent proposals, time between contact and follow-up, and how long it takes a lead to move through a funnel. If someone’s results are absent but their activity is high and improving, there’s room for development.
If both are low, the conversation shifts from coaching to replacement.
This is where psychology enters again. Confronting an underperforming senior salesperson is not the same as correcting a junior hire. It challenges the ego and, of course, may easily trigger defensiveness, withdrawal, or counteraccusations…
They’ll say the tools are broken, the leads are unqualified, or the brand isn’t strong enough. Familiar, right?
The real issue is often deeper: they’ve built their self-worth around being “the closer.” When that role is questioned, it feels personal.
One way to defuse this is to reframe the role entirely. Shift the focus from glorified lone-wolf selling to collaborative intelligence gathering. Invite them to mentor newer reps, contribute to playbooks, or test messaging variations based on cultural nuances. If they accept, you may uncover a hidden strength, one that doesn’t rely on closing but on pattern recognition and strategy.
If they refuse, you have your answer…
At the executive level, there’s no space for ghost positions. The illusion of contribution is more damaging than overt failure because it slows down action. It convinces others that stagnation is tolerable, as long as it’s wrapped in experience.
That illusion must be dismantled… firmly, but fairly.
Some companies made the mistake of waiting too long. A software firm expanding into Germany hired a former country manager with decades of regional experience. He spoke the language, had political contacts, and seemed like a cultural asset. Over two years, he reported progress, held meetings, and occasionally dropped the names of high-level contacts. But his CRM activity was sparse. Follow-ups were inconsistent. Proposals were rarely sent, and when they were, they lacked customization. The leadership hesitated to act. After all, he was respected. He’d been someone. Meanwhile, newer team members, less polished, less pedigreed, were closing deals, learning the systems, and feeding the pipeline.
By the time the leadership took a closer look, unfortunately, the damage was already done. Hundreds of promising leads had gone cold. The brand’s momentum in the region had stalled. Internally, morale dropped as others noticed that seniority seemed to shield some from performance standards. When they finally ended the contract, they were met with indignation. The former manager claimed he wasn’t “given the right environment.” He left convinced he had been wronged.
The truth? The company simply stopped paying for a ghost.
Contrast that with a different case. A mid-sized B2B firm brought on an experienced executive, also with over 30 years of experience, for a newly opened Southeast Asian market. Within three months, leadership noticed that he wasn’t engaging with the tools. No automation. No email sequences. No CRM entries. Instead of waiting, they called a structured review. Not confrontational, not emotional. Just facts.
They presented his numbers next to those of a less experienced rep who was following the system. Then they made him an offer: training and support to master the tools, or a shift into an advisory role with no active sales responsibility.
He paused. And to his credit, he chose to learn.
With guidance, he adapted. He still preferred some old methods, but he integrated just enough of the new ones to stay relevant. His results weren’t record-breaking, but they were real. More importantly, his attitude changed. He no longer felt entitled. He became part of the process. And the rest of the team respected him more for it.
These stories share the same opening act, but not the same ending. The difference lies in leadership’s willingness to look reality in the face, early and without sentimentality. Sales isn’t therapy. It’s not a retirement package. It’s a function. A measurable, vital, performance-driven function. No matter the history, if the present is idle, the future is at risk.
There’s a simple truth that many leaders resist: experience is not immunity. Respect is earned through continued relevance, not past victories. In today’s market, relevance is measurable. Salespeople, regardless of title or years of experience, must live inside the tools, respond to data, adapt their methods, and remain visible in the pipeline. Anything less is nostalgia disguised as strategy… and that doesn’t work.
CEOs who’ve managed these dynamics well often install a few non-negotiables early. They establish clear KPIs from day one: number of qualified outreaches per week, proposal turnaround time, response tracking, CRM hygiene, and pipeline progression.
Not into micromanagement tactics? Me neither… but these are the baseline expectations of modern selling.
The goal isn’t to punish noncompliance, but to surface misalignment before it metastasizes.
Alongside metrics, there must be clear frameworks for review and redirection. Quarterly check-ins with real numbers. Not “relationship updates,” but actual opportunity analysis. Not stories about meetings, but screenshots of behavior analytics. If something isn’t working, you don’t wait a year. You confront, reframe, and reset. You offer training, not as a formality, but as a path to earn your seat. And if there’s resistance? You listen, then act. Decisively.
There’s also value in creating dual tracks: performance and strategic. Not everyone needs to be a closer to be valuable. Some veterans are best used as intelligence advisors, market scouts, or product translators. But those roles must be defined clearly. No more salespeople cloaked in ambiguity, soaking up resources while contributing little more than presence.
The psychological side of this is delicate. Dignity matters. These professionals aren’t your interns. They’ve led teams, weathered crises, and built real companies. But dignity doesn’t mean exemption. It means clarity, respect, and fairness, for them, and for everyone else on the team. You treat them with seriousness, but you don’t protect them from the scoreboard.
Ultimately, leadership is the act of maintaining motion. When someone, no matter how respected, becomes a drag on that motion, it’s your responsibility to face it. Experience is not a shield. Sales doesn’t care how many stories you can tell. It cares what you’ve done this quarter.
This is the kind of dynamic that benefits from a thoughtful external perspective. At Mokhtar Group, we’ve worked with CEOs navigating these challenges, not just in diagnosing underperformance, but in quietly rebuilding the systems around it. That includes refining the underlying sales infrastructure, aligning tools with behavior, retraining teams to engage with modern methods without alienating experience, increasing exposure, and maximizing sales. Much of the work involves cultural tuning, helping companies create an environment where performance is encouraged, measured, and respected, while still allowing room for evolution and human complexity. When these elements are engineered with care, even legacy teams can move with surprising speed, and clarity returns to the sales floor.
No more untouchables.
Only performers.
Only progress.
