B2B Sales: Opportunities to Seize to Boost Your Business

Recruiting and retaining top-performing sales sales reps s has become difficult. With a shortage of qualified sales talent, it is estimated that there are more than 200,000 sales sales reps positions to be filled in France—a figure that underscores the scale of the challenge. The first steps are to enhance the company’s appeal, modernize its image, and help candidates envision themselves in their future roles.

Faced with a shortage of qualified candidates, 97% of B2B sales leadership teams have made skills development their top priority, and more than half believe their teams do not yet possess all the capabilities needed to succeed in the coming years (McKinsey). Efforts are focused on five key areas: accelerating the skill development of new hires, fostering autonomy and confidence, enabling salespeople to self-assess and continuously strengthen their mastery of product offerings, reducing turnover, and replicating the success model of top performers. This is the very purpose of a well-structured continuing education program.

This finding comes as no surprise when you consider the burden of administrative tasks. Lightening this daily workload means providing sales representatives with better conditions to meet their goals and thrive, while also ensuring employee retention.Onboarding and reducing turnover start right here.

B2B buyers are more demanding and better informed than ever before they engage with a sales representative. According to Forrester, buyers complete a large portion of their buying journey even before their first contact with a supplier. The digitization of the buying journey further accentuates this trend. Sales representatives must therefore provide added value—both in terms of content and experience—and deliver a sales experience that leaves a lasting impression.

The sales cycle is getting longer, buyers are gathering more information, and they’re consulting the entire decision-making committee. The number of purchasing interactions has risen from 17 to 27 in just a few years, and this trend is continuing. Expectations are rising: a large majority of decision-makers demand a consistent buying experience across all channels (McKinsey), while sales are shifting permanently toward a hybrid model that combines in-person and remote interactions. Sales representatives need a tool that is effective both in person and remotely, works offline, and can engage buyers during meetings.

To remain competitive,alignment between sales and marketing is crucial: marketing must provide content that is relevant, accessible, and in tune with the field. The arrival of new generations of buyers further reinforces this trend: they expect a more conversational approach, visual and video content, and messages delivered at the right time. Salespeople benefit from structuring their pitch around a clear narrative rather than a purely transactional sales pitch.

Today’s buyers are better informed and more discerning; they expect added value and genuine expertise. They want a sales representative who understands their challenges, can tailor their approach to the buyer’s needs, and can present a relevant value proposition. This requires better preparation for meetings, a deeper understanding of the client’s business, and a greater ability to listen and adapt.

Personalization is no longer an option; it is now widely integrated. The landscape is shifting toward ultra-personalization, which relies entirely on data. Ignoring data is no longer an option: without a framework for data analysis, sales and marketing initiatives fall behind in a way that is difficult to make up for (Gartner).

Sales and marketing departments have recognized the importance of this issue, but significant work still needs to be done to improve the quality of the data collected. Connecting the CRM to a sales enablement solution is one of the key steps toward obtaining reliable data—and, consequently, truly relevant personalization.

In just a few years, AI has gone from being a novelty to an indispensable tool. It helps us understand buyer behavior, identify opportunities, and improve efficiency. With generative AI and AI agents, the range of use cases has expanded significantly: ensuring the reliability of CRM data, conversational analysis of appointments, and the preparation and optimization of meetings.

AI suggests relevant marketing content to the sales representative as they prepare for a meeting, based on an analysis of past meetings and what it knows about the buyer: buyer profile, company structure, level of familiarity with the subject, and industry. It also identifies the right moment to propose an up-sell or cross-sell. An assistant like Marvin makes this intelligence readily available as the sales representative works.

That said, AI is not intended to replace B2B sales sales reps , but rather to support them. Sales remains a relationship-based activity, and trust is built between people. When used strategically, AI improves efficiency while making the sales experience more personalized. From a management perspective, it enables coaching based on facts rather than impressions, in line with a practice-driven approach.