Sales Skills Are Tanking, and No One’s Talking About It

There’s a shift happening in B2B sales, and most teams are too buried in spreadsheets and dashboards to notice.

Here’s the short version: Buyers are getting smarter. Sales teams are falling behind.

This isn't just about missed targets or longer deal cycles. It is a full-blown Sales Recession, and it’s being fueled by a simple truth: buyer skills are rising while seller skills are in decline. Here are a few of the key data points I've dug out that lead me to this conclusion:

Buyers Are Serving Themselves

Today’s B2B buyers don’t just walk into conversations blind. They’ve done the homework.

• 68% prefer to research independently online.
• 60% don’t want to talk to a salesperson until they’re nearly ready to buy.
• Most are already 60–70% through their decision process before a rep even enters the chat.

Nothing surprising here but combine that with this trend: It’s not just one person making the call anymore. Buying committees have grown larger and more sophisticated and are expecting more than a “just checking in” email.

Sales Skills Are in Decline

Here's one of the most damning statistics I've come across: According to Challenger, the five capabilities buyers care about most have dropped 40% since 2019. The ability to offer a unique perspective? Down 52%.

The skills that should be sharpening are dulling. Meanwhile, sales orgs are still pushing high-volume outreach models, measuring call volume instead of call value, and cutting training budgets when they need upskilling the most.

Technology isn’t the issue; lack of skill is. CRM bloat won’t save you if your team can’t hold a strategic conversation.

The Gap Is Now a Chasm

Buyers want autonomy. They want insights. They want value and many want help navigating their own complex internal processes. They don't want a pitch.

But sales teams? Many are still selling like the world before social media and AI.

Time to Go Punk

That’s why I'm writing Sales Punks. It’s not another book about cold calling or closing. It’s about rewiring how we think about sales in a world where the buyer holds the cards.

Modern selling requires:

• Coaching-style questions, not just demos.
• Tools buyers can use when you're not in the room.
• Real insights, not whipping out a pitch deck any time a buyer asks a question.
• A shift from enabling sales to enabling buyers.

This isn’t a tech problem. It’s a skills problem. And if we don’t catch up, buyers will continue to keep tuning us out.

Because the buyers evolved. Now it’s our turn.

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