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Sales strategy6 min readFebruary 10, 2026

Why 80% of touchpoints never happen — and what you can do about it

The cadence problem in sales

Every sales leader knows the feeling: the team has great first conversations, the pipeline looks promising — and then nothing happens. Cadences break off, callbacks are forgotten, and deals quietly stall.

The data is clear: per a Brevet Group study, 44% of reps never make a second contact attempt. At the same time, Marketing Donut research shows 80% of deals only close after the fifth touchpoint.

Why cadences fail

1. No system, just good intentions

Most sales teams rely on personal notes, calendar reminders, or memory. That works for 5 open deals. Not for 50.

2. CRMs document — they don't steer

Your CRM is great at storing what happened. But it doesn't actively tell your team what needs to happen next.

3. No transparency for leadership

As a sales manager, you usually find out after the fact that cadences weren't kept. By then, the deal is mostly already lost.

What you can do about it

Structure instead of hope

Give your team a clear template for every cadence: who gets called, why, when, and what's the goal? When the process is clear, execution goes up sharply.

Make it visible — don't hide it

Cadences have to be visible — for the rep and for leadership. A chronological system that shows what's due and what's overdue changes behavior.

Measure instead of guess

How many touchpoints does each rep set? How many become meetings? Where is revenue being left on the table? Only once you know these numbers can you act.

Bottom line

The cadence problem isn't a motivation problem — it's a system problem. And system problems are solved with the right tools and processes.

The blind spot in your pipeline?

In a demo, see where your sales motion is leaking revenue — and how LavaLoft changes that.

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