AI sales tools are changing how vendors offer products. So are human sales pros still needed? You betcha! The next SAP Insights newsletter explains.

Salespeople in the time of AI: Sales is in the “is AI going to take my job?” category. AI tools for sales are helping companies craft customized product plans—see: the rise of consumption-based pricing—to help customers get the most out of their investment. So, who needs people, right? Your customers do, that’s who! They, too, love a good AI tool, but they also love a salesperson who they trust, who knows their company, and who gets them.

When does the sales cycle end?
Many sales professionals believe that a signed purchase order is the be-all and end-all of the sales process. However, in the buyer’s mind, a signed purchase order is the beginning – a tentative step toward the ultimate goal: value realization.
That’s the essential element of both buyer-first and value-based selling: elevating interactions above the transactional and focusing on building long-term relationships with buyers to enable their success.

Depending on what you sell, you may be experiencing a period of stagnation. Some of my clients are finding that their customers are delaying buy decisions, often choosing a “wait and see” approach. Why? In most instances, there is no urgency for them to invest, so their preference is to wait until some point in the future. The good news is this can create pent-up demand, which will need to be filled at some point soon. However, that doesn’t help you close sales right now.

This article sounds like a beast, but it’s one of the shortest I’ve ever written. My backup title was Adventures in Account Management, but I didn’t want to get too cute. Here we go!
I was at the optometrist’s office, waiting for my broken glasses to be fixed, when SHE walked in.
She approached the receptionist and said, “I’m the new rep for [an eyeglass frame company], and I stopped by to introduce myself.”
She handed over her business card and bolted out the door.
Are. You. Kidding. Me?

The rollout of Google’s AI search function has led to a significant decline in Web traffic, making it even more challenging for businesses to manage their online presence. The rise of large language model AIs is transforming how internet users discover information, forcing organizations to reorient their digital approach towards truly owning their relationships with their customers and visitors.
For decades, organic search has been a somewhat straightforward – albeit constantly evolving – discovery tool: users Google a question, click links and land on a site. Search engine optimization strategies could improve a website’s ranking in search results, and a wide web funnel helped convert customers.

If you’ve ever tried canceling an internet subscription or disputing an unexpected charge, you know the drill: Hold music, chatbot loops and long wait times. For consumers, it’s often a friction-filled experience. For companies, it’s both a cost center and a branding liability.

In 2024, Qualtrics XM Institute reported that poor customer experience was putting $3.7 trillion in global sales at risk. And while many companies have deployed AI assistants to handle routine tasks, those tools typically stop short of full resolution.

You walk into the meeting room and everyone's already talking. But the actual conversation hasn't started yet. It's happening in the crossed arms, the tapping feet, the quick glances at phones. Most people miss these signals completely. They focus on words when body language screams the truth.

You’ve sat through thousands of meetings. Pitched to prospects who seemed to give the go ahead while their bodies said no way. Negotiated with collaborators whose words promised partnership while their posture hinted at problems. You don’t need to become a mind reader. You need to become a pattern spotter.

As a founder, you start your business with a bold vision, a breakthrough product, and tremendous industry expertise — but most founders don't have a background in sales. Yet, selling is the lifeblood of any startup or small business. So, how do you go from avoiding sales conversations to confidently closing deals and driving growth? This article will provide a practical, no-fluff guide for founders who need to sell but don't see themselves as "salespeople." It will introduce strategies founders can use to build stronger client relationships, better sales outcomes and increased productivity.

In sales, we often focus on performance metrics — pipeline, quota, close rates. But what if the secret to long-term success isn’t just in the numbers? 

What if it’s in the quality of your relationships? 

For more than 85 years, the Harvard Study of Adult Development— the world’s longest-running study on happiness — has found a consistent truth: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period. Not wealth. Not achievement. Not status. Just deep, authentic human connection. 

Exceptional salespeople don't separate themselves from the pack by doing what everyone else is doing and hoping for the best. They go above and beyond, and you can't do that if you lean exclusively on conventional sales skills.

No, the best reps demonstrate advanced sales skills — ones that can help frame you as an authoritative, helpful, empathetic guide with expertise relevant to your prospect's circumstances. Here, we'll review some of those skills and go over the techniques you need to know to demonstrate them.

You’ve probably tried many different ways to improve the performance of your sales teams, with varying success. But there’s one way that has been proven to work and yet is often ignored by sales leaders—improving your sales team’s culture.

Culture is hard to characterize, hard to measure, and hard to change. So it gets ignored on the list of levers to pull when transforming a sales organization plan. What does a high-performance sales team culture look like?

In today's fast-moving business landscape, sticking to old sales tactics can hold companies back from meaningful growth. Outdated practices like generic cold outreach and activity-based success metrics often fail to resonate with modern buyers.

To stay competitive, businesses must embrace personalization, data-driven insights and authentic relationship building. Below, 20 members of Forbes Business Development Council share outdated business development practices they still see too often and what leading companies should be doing instead.

This article sounds like a beast, but it’s one of the shortest I’ve ever written. My backup title was Adventures in Account Management, but I didn’t want to get too cute. Here we go! I was at the optometrist’s office, waiting for my broken glasses to be fixed, when SHE walked in. She approached the receptionist and said, “I’m the new rep for [an eyeglass frame company], and I stopped by to introduce myself.” She handed over her business card and bolted out the door.

As a founder, you start your business with a bold vision, a breakthrough product, and tremendous industry expertise — but most founders don't have a background in sales. Yet, selling is the lifeblood of any startup or small business. So, how do you go from avoiding sales conversations to confidently closing deals and driving growth? This article will provide a practical, no-fluff guide for founders who need to sell but don't see themselves as "salespeople." It will introduce strategies founders can use to build stronger client relationships, better sales outcomes, and increased productivity.

Economic uncertainty, supply chain issues and changing customer expectations have had a significant impact on sales teams, making it more difficult for reps to meet their quotas. In fact, studies show that the majority of sales reps have struggled to meet or completely missed their quotas in recent years. To meet the needs of today’s market, training professionals are utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to train, coach and enable their sales teams.

I met a guy on the plane who was an area director for a major shoe store chain. “Suppose I went into your store and the shoe I wanted was out of stock in my size – what would happen,” I queried.

“Well, that shoe store has the capability of finding those shoes in our other stores — and then asks (tells) the customer to go to the other store to pick them up.” “Can’t you just ship them to my home?” I wondered. “No,” he said matter of factly. “We’re not set up to do it that way.”

You probably have heard of those special dates on the business calendar. Think National Fun at Work Day, Employee Appreciation Day, National Bike to Work Day, or even National Salesperson Day. While you’re unlikely to get a day off on these dates, unless you dip into your vacation leave, at least you won’t have to buy anyone a present. There’s a new day that you should consider putting on your work calendar, and it’s fast approaching: Customer Experience Day.

It's one thing to have an idea of who your customers are. But it's quite another to actually know them. The more companies learn about their target audience — whether through purchase data, reviews, focus groups or other methods — the better they'll be positioned to unlock growth. Thanks to AI adoption in marketing and the availability of more industry and consumer-level data than ever before, companies have never been in a better position to know their customers in a way that drives smarter growth and higher profits.

As a youngster who grew up poor, on the streets, and in scarcity, I used to think winning a deal meant “winner take all.” The goal was to end up with the most money and walk away with the best terms. If I didn’t crush someone and make them a loser, then I wasn’t a winner. Crushing people in deals made me happy—for a while. Until the people I beat in deals wouldn’t work with me again. That’s the zero-sum-game trap. And wow, did I fall into it.

It is common knowledge that delivering superior digital customer experience and maximizing customer lifetime value of customers’ needs to be the primary goal for any business that wants to grow in a digital age. Today, the vast majority (90%) of business leaders are making CX a primary focus. There are almost three million customer service representatives working in the US according to the Department of Labor, and almost every (95%) technology and Software as a Service (SaaS) firm has a Customer Success function according to Gainsight research.