The past few years have brought major ups and downs for sales teams. While AI tools have boosted productivity, market slowdowns have caused sales pipelines to dry up. As a result, sales teams are navigating both new opportunities and unexpected challenges in a rapidly shifting landscape.
AI adoption in sales is accelerating, outpacing traditional staples like email and workflow automation. In 2024 alone, the adoption of generative AI tools in sales and marketing doubled, signaling a major shift in how teams approach performance and strategy.
In this article, we’ll explore how the sales industry is adapting, leveraging sales performance management (SPM) and insights from professionals to refine sales forecasting and navigate the road ahead in 2025.
40% of sales professionals say their companies are using AI and SPM to determine compensation for sales teams.1
70% of sales operations professionals use AI for real-time selling advice.2
Automation has allowed sales teams to increase efficiency by 10 to 15%.3
Sales professionals spend over 5 hours each week training and brushing up on new skills.4
One-third of sales professionals state that budget and insufficient training are their biggest roadblocks to AI implementation.2
28% of sales professionals say that the sales process takes too long and suspect it is the biggest reason prospects back out.5
59% of business buyers aren't satisfied with the efforts sales teams take to understand their goals.2
65% of sales leaders struggle to adapt strategic plans in the face of sudden change.4
Sales teams list inflation and its effect on budget as their top challenge.5
Sales performance management helps businesses track and analyze sales data to set realistic goals, optimize strategies and improve team performance.
As economic uncertainty continues, sales teams are under pressure to do more with less. Businesses are rethinking sales planning, refining performance targets and leaning on technology to drive efficiency. The statistics below highlight how companies are responding to these challenges.
84% of sales reps didn't meet their quota last year.2
67% of sales reps don't think they'll meet their quota this year.2
40% of sales professionals say their companies are using AI and SPM to determine compensation for sales teams.1
87% of companies use CRM to track sales, although companies with 100+ employees are least likely to use CRM.8
62% of sales professionals say their organization is taking fewer strategy risks.5
91% of sales professionals upsell, and 87% of them cross-sell.5
Across sales professionals, both upselling and cross-selling bring in an average of 21% of company revenue.5
24% of high-performing sales teams highly rank the importance of trust with their colleagues compared to 13% of underperforming teams.5
17% of high-performing sales teams highly rank the importance of making performance data available compared to 11% of underperforming teams.5
AI and automation are the primary disruptors in the B2B tools and technology space. Although implementation and use cases vary across business sizes, it's clear that AI and automation are here to stay, even if some professionals still have their reservations.
81% of sales teams are using AI in their processes.2
41% of sales teams have fully implemented AI-based workflows, and 40% are still experimenting.2
82% of sales teams that report being very satisfied with their tools are likely to hit their quotas.8
73% of sales professionals are concerned about the security risks of using generative AI.2
70% of sales operations professionals use AI for real-time selling advice.2
Automation has allowed sales teams to increase efficiency by 10 to 15%.3
B2B sales professionals use double the amount of distinct channels to interact with suppliers compared to 2016, but top performers still rank e-commerce as the most effective channel.9
The most common tool used by sales professionals is CRM with automation capabilities.8
Blog posts and customer testimonials are the two most valuable content types to help move prospects through the sales funnel in B2B.10
47% of sales professionals use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Jasper and DALL-E to create sales content and prospect outreach messages.11
As budgets shrink and the industry changes, sales professionals don't feel as prepared to adapt. Although sales leaders say they would like to prioritize training, sales professionals still feel they're underprepared.
Sales leaders' top growth strategy for the next year is improving enablement and training.2
One-third of sales professionals state that budget and insufficient training are their biggest roadblocks to AI implementation.2
45% of sales professionals are overwhelmed by the number of tools in their tech stacks.5
Gartner predicts that 30% of sales professionals will have considerable deficiencies in social selling skills due to over reliance on AI and automation tools.10
Sales professionals spend over 5 hours each week training and brushing up on new skills.4
Two-thirds of sales professionals took AI training courses through their company.4
Almost half of sales professionals are taking online AI training courses and experimenting on their own.4
Customers expect the sales pipeline to be faster, easier, and more customized than ever before. Although AI-based sales research is making that easier for sales professionals to accomplish, they don't spend as much time with prospects as they'd like — hurting their sales win rates.
Sales professionals only spend 1/3 of their time actively selling.5
82% of sales professionals say building relationships is the most important part of selling and also the part they enjoy most.5
28% of sales professionals say that the sales process takes too long and suspect it is the biggest reason prospects back out.5
59% of business buyers aren't satisfied with the efforts sales teams take to understand their goals.2
The average customer retention rate is 75%, but it varies from 55% to 84% across industries.1
Sales follow-up statistics reveal the first follow-up email boosts reply rates by 49%, the second by 3%.14
A third follow-up email decreases the chance of reply by 30%.14
Sales leaders are reporting that rapid change is making it more difficult to manage their sales teams. Their teams' concerns reflect this, with sales professionals worrying about a lack of training and the expectation to achieve more with smaller budgets.
78% of sales professionals worry about missing out on generative AI benefits.15
89% of sales teams use partner sales, and 84% of sales professionals say its impact on revenue has increased year over year.2
Sales leaders say their top challenge is customer expectations, with 54% of sales professionals saying that high customer expectations are more challenging now than last year.2
65% of sales leaders struggle to adapt strategic plans in the face of sudden change.6
Sandbagging, a common tactic where salespeople delay closing deals to optimize incentives, is a widespread challenge in sales performance management and can reduce sales revenues by 4% to 6%.7
The SPM market is focusing more on adapting to AI use in the United States, compared to other regions.16
8% of sales and marketing professionals think AI will negatively impact their roles.8
Sales teams list inflation and its effect on budget as their top challenge.7
Sales professionals that use AI save 2 hours on average a day.5
98% of sales professionals refine AI-generated text, highlighting the need for human oversight in leveraging AI for sales content.11
Despite an evolving sales landscape, sales professionals are relatively happy in their careers. Most sales professionals prefer to stay where they are, although a pay bump entices many.
On average, it costs businesses nearly $5,000 to hire a new employee, so it's important for companies to understand their employees' priorities.
There have also been some surprising remote work statistics that reveal impacts on productivity, sales outcomes and sales professionals' priorities.
64% of sales professionals would leave their positions for higher pay.2
66% of sales professionals have no desire to leave within the next year.2
Sales turnover has decreased by 7% since 2022.2
B2B companies with hybrid work models have better sales outcomes than their competitors.9
Sales professionals who work overtime are 10% less likely to hit their targets.8
Women in sales are 12% more likely to say flexible work environments have improved their job performance.8
It's predicted that 10% of sales professionals will have enough time to seek "overemployment" due to automation and support from AI-based tools.12
Only 0.4% of sales positions list AI skills as a requirement in job postings.13
As businesses navigate economic headwinds and shifting customer expectations, sales and finance teams must work together to build more strategic plans. Leveraging sales performance data is key to making informed decisions, optimizing resources and driving predictable growth.
Vena's Complete Planning platform empowers teams to track sales performance, align on targets and adapt with confidence. Our solutions integrate seamlessly with the Microsoft ecosystem (such as Excel, PowerPoint and Power BI), providing the insights you need, without the steep learning curve.
Source List:
Xactly (2025). Xactly’s 2025 Sales Compensation Report. Retrieved from https://www.xactlycorp.com/resources/guides/2025-sales-compensation-report/
Salesforce (2024). State of Sales Report. Retrieved from https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-reports/state-of-sales/
McKinsey (2024). An unconstrained future: How generative AI could reshape B2B sales. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/an-unconstrained-future-how-generative-ai-could-reshape-b2b-sales
LinkedIn (2024). Sales Leader Compass. Retrieved from https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/amp/sales-solutions/lss-fcm-2024/sales-leader-compass-oct-2024.pdf
Hubspot (2024). Sales Trends Report. Retrieved from https://offers.hubspot.com/sales-trends-report
Gartner (2025). Accelerate Sales in 2025. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/trends/accelerate-sales-in-2025
Harvard Business Review (2025). HBR IdeaCast: When Sales Incentives Backfire. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/podcast/2025/03/when-sales-incentives-backfire
Pipedrive (2024). The biggest stories from 2024’s edition of The state of sales and marketing. Retrieved from https://www.pipedrive.com/en/blog/state-of-sales-and-marketing-2024
McKinsey (2024). Five fundamental truths: How B2B winners keep growing. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/five-fundamental-truths-how-b2b-winners-keep-growing/
Statista (2019). Most valuable content marketing types for moving prospects through the sales funnel. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/274986/best-content-marketing-elements-for-lead-generation-in-the-us/
HubSpot (2024). The State of AI In Business and Sales [New 2024 Data & Statistics]. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/state-of-ai-sales
Gartner (2025). Gartner Predicts 10% of Sales Associates Will Use AI to Secretly Juggle Multiple Jobs by 2028. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/gartner-predicts-10-percent-of-sales-associates-will-use-ai-to-secretly-juggle-multiple-jobs-by-2028
Vena (2024). Average Customer Retention Rate by Industry (And Advice for Boosting Retention). Retrieved from https://www.venasolutions.com/blog/average-customer-retention-rate-by-industry
Belkins (2024). Sales follow-up statistics in B2B: Belkins’ 2024 study. Retrieved from https://belkins.io/blog/sales-follow-up-statistics
Salesforce (2024). The Ninth Edition State of Marketing Report. Retrieved from https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-reports/state-of-marketing/
Grand View Research (2022). Sales Performance Management Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report. Retrieved from https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/sales-performance-management-market-report
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