AI isn’t the biggest hurdle for sales teams anymore — that’s what I learned after speaking with several sales professionals.
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What’s interesting is how 61% of sales professionals say making sales has actually gotten easier over the past 12 months.
But that doesn’t mean the landscape isn’t shifting. The teams winning right now are the ones adapting to specific changes in how buyers evaluate solutions, how tools like AI reshape the process, and where revenue priorities are shifting.
In this guide, I’m walking you through seven of the biggest challenges salespeople will face in 2026 — plus the practical strategies I’ve gathered from experts to help you tackle them head-on.
HubSpot's 2025 Sales Trends Report
This in-depth report includes sections, covering:
- How buyers are becoming more self-informed
- How sales teams are using AI and automation
- Adapting to tighter budgets
- And more!
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7 Sales Challenges for 2026
1. Buyers won’t close unless you prove tangible value upfront.
The two most common reasons buyers don’t close both point to the same core problem — they don’t see the value.
Up to 37% of lost deals happen because buyers don’t see product fit. Another 35% walk away because they don’t see value for money.
That’s 72% of lost opportunities tied directly to a failure to demonstrate tangible value.
No surprise because “trust in organic search platforms is fading, ads are flooding every corner of the internet, and LinkedIn is overrun by self-proclaimed gurus. Buyers are more skeptical than ever,” says Oz Rashid, CEO at MSH.
“They rely on trust signals, peer opinions, and proof of solutions more than ever — and that trend isn’t slowing down,” he added.
Sales teams have caught on. The top two strategic shifts over the past 12 months?
Expanding self-serve tools (40%) — like free trials, pricing pages, and customer stories that tangibly demonstrate value before a single sales conversation happens. And moving toward solution-based selling (35%) — focusing on outcomes and fit rather than features and pitches.
The results speak for themselves. Three of the top five strategies for driving upsells revolve around delivering value.
How to Handle This Challenge
Jayme Manos, principal manager of corporate sales at HubSpot, believes personalization is becoming a non-negotiable. “I believe that non-personalized sales email blasts will become even less effective,” he said. “Reps will need to ensure they’ve not just researched an account, but that they come with a strong ‘point of view’ and a very clear call-to-action, regardless of medium.”
However, these suggestions stem from salespeople. Do customers share the same position?
According to S&P Global’s 2025 Trends in Customer Experience report, people prefer personalization over privacy and are ready to give out their data in exchange for relevant offers. There’s also a striking growth in such a desire compared to data from the previous year.
But don’t stop at personalizing your messaging. Instead:
- Focus on tangible proof points.
- Share case studies from similar companies.
- Offer trials or freemium versions that let prospects experience value firsthand.
Build your sales conversations around business outcomes rather than product specs.
2. AI adoption is near-universal — but using it well is still the challenge.
Only 8% of sales professionals say they don’t use AI at all. That means 92% of sales teams have already integrated AI into their workflows in some capacity.
AI isn’t experimental anymore. It’s operational.
The impact is undeniable.
But here’s where it gets tricky.
Nearly 75% of sellers believe AI tools like ChatGPT are making it easier for buyers to research products — which means the bar for seller value is rising fast. Buyers are coming to the table more informed, more skeptical, and with higher expectations.
Sellers say their most important role is now helping buyers feel confident in their decisions (36%) and navigating internal buy-in (33%) — not just pitching features.
The challenge is how to use it without losing the human connection that still closes deals.
As Mike Kaput, chief content officer at Marketing AI Institute, says, “AI is a very powerful tool — one that can definitely help you scale your outreach. However, the same principles still apply: Nobody likes to get blasted with tons of irrelevant emails. Just because you can send more outreach using AI doesn’t mean you should.”
How to Handle This Challenge
Instead of using AI to increase the volume of your prospecting emails, use it as a research tool to better understand each prospect and write more impactful messages.
Look at where sales teams are finding the most success with AI automation.
Richard Harris from The Harris Consulting Group offers a practical framework: “You want to focus on meetings with the highest level executives at a company, say a VP of sales. That is what your sales team focuses on. You should also focus on some of the sales managers at that company. Here, you can leverage AI to send nurturing messages to lower-titled people.”
He continues, “The old-school way to handle it was to throw more bodies at the problem. The new school will leverage the technology as a partner with the sales rep.”
Balance is the key. Use AI to handle capacity constraints and surface insights faster. But keep the high-touch, high-value conversations squarely in human hands.
3. Sales success is measured by revenue results, not activity metrics.
The pipeline looks healthy. Your reps are logging calls. Email open rates are up. But none of that matters if deals aren’t closing and revenue isn’t growing.
Sales leaders have made their priorities crystal clear: 42% say annual recurring revenue (ARR) is their most important metric. Another 30% prioritize profit margin, and 29% focus on conversion rate.
Meanwhile, operational metrics barely register. Only 5% care about pipeline coverage, another 5% track sales linearity, and just 4% prioritize lead score.
This represents a fundamental shift in how sales performance gets evaluated. Activity doesn’t equal results. And in 2026, results are the only scoreboard that matters.
The pressure is real. You’re not getting judged on how many discovery calls you booked or how well you’ve documented your pipeline. You’re getting judged on whether you hit your number.
This creates a challenge for reps who’ve built their routines around checking boxes and maintaining appearances. If your focus has been on looking productive rather than driving actual revenue, that approach won’t fly anymore.
How to Handle This Challenge
Start by auditing where your time actually goes. How much of your day is spent on activities that directly move deals forward versus administrative tasks that just create the illusion of progress?
Prioritize high-intent prospects. Not every lead deserves equal attention. Focus on the deals most likely to close and the accounts with the highest revenue potential.
Get ruthless about qualification. If a prospect isn’t a genuine fit or doesn’t have budget and authority, move on. Keeping weak opportunities in your pipeline might make your activity metrics look good, but it won’t help you hit quota.
Track leading indicators that actually correlate with closed revenue. Meetings with decision-makers, proposals sent to qualified buyers, and progression through key deal stages matter more than raw call volume.
The good news: This shift rewards effectiveness over busy work. If you can close deals efficiently, you’ll have more autonomy over how you spend your time.
4. Social media now outperforms traditional outreach across the entire funnel.
Cold calling and email blasts used to be the bread and butter of sales prospecting. Not anymore.
An impressive 42% of sales teams say social media outreach delivers the highest response rate — far ahead of email at 26% and phone calls at 23%.
Social is now dominating throughout the entire sales journey.
When it comes to lead quality, social media marketing ranks as the #1 source for beating out cold email, email marketing, and even paid ads.
And here’s where it gets really interesting: 45% of sales professionals rate social media as “very effective” at actually driving sales. That’s higher than in-person meetings (44%), video calls (35%), phone calls (34%), and email (32%).
Social media is the channel where buyers are most responsive, where the best leads come from, and where deals actually close.
The challenge? Most sales reps still treat social as an afterthought.
They’ll spend hours perfecting cold email sequences but neglect their LinkedIn presence. They’ll make 50 calls a day but never engage with a prospect’s content.
How to Handle This Challenge
If you haven’t already, build a consistent presence on LinkedIn. Share insights relevant to your industry. Comment thoughtfully on posts from prospects and customers. Make it easy for people to understand what you do and who you help.
When you reach out on social, lead with value, not a pitch. Reference something specific they posted. Ask a genuine question. Offer a resource that’s actually helpful.
Use social media for research before every call or meeting. What are your prospects talking about? What challenges are they facing? What content are they engaging with? This context makes every conversation more relevant.
Track which social activities actually move deals forward. For example, you might notice that commenting on a prospect’s post leads to a reply 30% of the time, but only 5% of those turn into actual meetings.
Meanwhile, sharing a relevant case study and tagging the prospect might only get a 15% response rate, but half of those responses book a call. Focus on the activities that lead to real conversations and closed deals.
HubSpot's 2025 Sales Trends Report
This in-depth report includes sections, covering:
- How buyers are becoming more self-informed
- How sales teams are using AI and automation
- Adapting to tighter budgets
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
5. Economic uncertainty looms large, but standing still isn’t an option.
Economic headwinds are everywhere you look and the anxiety is real:
- 74% of sales professionals are concerned about a potential recession.
- 75% are worried about inflation.
- 70% are tracking interest rates.
- 69% are watching supply chain issues.
- 69% are concerned about tariffs and trade policies.
But what separates the teams that survive from the teams that thrive is adaptability.
While 67% of sales teams say they’re “very” or “extremely” adaptable, only 5% consider themselves slightly or not adaptable at all.
Despite all the macroeconomic anxiety, 91% of sales teams say their win rate either increased or stayed flat over the past year. Another 91% reported the same for close rates. And 93% maintained or grew their average deal size.
What’s driving this resilience? Clarity and communication.
Our survey found 76% of sales professionals say they understand how macro trends affect their industry. And 79% say their organization communicates effectively about economic impacts.
When you know what’s coming and your leadership is transparent about how the business is responding, you can adapt.
How to Handle This Challenge
Stay informed about the economic factors that affect your buyers.
Are rising interest rates making them more cautious about long-term contracts? Is inflation squeezing their budgets?
Understanding their constraints helps you position solutions that fit their reality.
Focus on accounts that are still investing. Not every company is cutting back equally. Some industries and companies are actually thriving. Put your energy where buyers have budget and urgency.
Keep communication open with your leadership. Ask how economic trends are affecting your targets, pricing strategy, and ideal customer profile. The more aligned you are with the bigger picture, the better you can adjust your approach.
Economic uncertainty isn’t going anywhere. But neither is the need for what you’re selling. The teams that adapt fastest will be the ones still hitting quota when others are struggling.
6. Toxic culture and lack of recognition are blocking sales performance.
You can have the best product, the sharpest reps, and a pipeline full of qualified leads. But if your culture is broken, none of it matters.
Regarding company culture, 28% of sales professionals cite toxic competition as a major barrier to success. Another 29% point to lack of collaboration, and 28% say low recognition holds them back.
When reps are pitted against each other in unhealthy ways, when silos prevent teams from sharing what works, and when wins go unnoticed, performance suffers. People burn out. Top talent leaves. Deals slip through the cracks.
But here’s the flip side: When culture gets it right, it becomes a competitive advantage.
The top motivators for sales success? Trust in leadership, healthy competition, and career development opportunities.
Notice the distinction: Healthy competition drives performance. Toxic competition kills it.
Sales leaders are catching on. When asked about their top culture priorities for the next 12 months, they’re focusing on:
How to Handle This Challenge
Look at what actually gets rewarded on your team. Do individual contributors get all the glory while collaborative wins go unnoticed? Are top performers keeping their playbooks to themselves because sharing means losing their edge?
Make recognition visible and consistent. When someone closes a big deal or helps a teammate succeed, call it out. The wins that get celebrated are the behaviors that get repeated.
Map out what career progression looks like. Reps need to see where they’re going, not just where they are. Quarterly check-ins on growth goals matter as much as pipeline reviews.
And if you’re dealing with a truly toxic environment as a rep? Address it directly with leadership. Give them a chance to fix it.
7. You need a clear value-delivery playbook to drive upsells.
Closing the initial deal is only half the battle. The real revenue opportunity lives in expansion, upsells, and renewals.
Yet many reps lack a systematic approach to making that happen.
The data points to a clear pattern. Understanding customer goals is the top strategy for 42% of sales professionals to drive upsells. Another 39% prioritize providing consistent value throughout the customer relationship.
Timing matters too.
The best moment to upsell, according to 37% of reps, is right after meeting client goals — when value has been delivered and trust is at its highest.
You can’t upsell a customer who hasn’t seen results yet. You can’t expand an account that doesn’t trust you. And you definitely can’t renew a contract if you’ve gone radio silent since the ink dried.
The problem? Too many sales teams treat the initial sale as the finish line. They hand the customer off to account management or customer success and chase the next prospect. But revenue growth accelerates when you stay engaged and keep proving your worth.
How to Handle This Challenge
Map out what success looks like for each customer before the deal even closes. What are their goals? Which metrics matter to them? How will they measure whether your solution is working?
Check in regularly, not just when renewal season arrives. Quarterly business reviews give you a chance to show the value you’ve delivered and identify new challenges you can help solve.
Celebrate wins with your customers. When they hit a milestone or see results from your solution, acknowledge it. This reinforces the value you’re providing and builds momentum for expansion conversations.
Time your upsell conversations strategically. Wait until you’ve proven value in the initial use case, then show how expanding the relationship solves the next problem they’re facing. Don’t pitch additional products or higher tiers out of nowhere.
Document the results your solution drives. Track metrics, gather testimonials, and build case studies that show ROI. When it’s time to upsell or renew, you’ll have concrete proof of value instead of vague promises.
Reps who master this approach don’t see upsells as awkward asks. They see them as natural next steps in a relationship built on consistent value delivery.
Back to You
So long as sales reps and managers demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and a constant commitment to solving for the customer, they should be able to handle the challenges of the new sales landscape.
Want to see how your approach stacks up against the broader industry? Download the full 2025 State of Sales Report to explore the complete data and get actionable benchmarks you can use to refine your strategy.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2025 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
HubSpot's 2025 Sales Trends Report
This in-depth report includes sections, covering:
- How buyers are becoming more self-informed
- How sales teams are using AI and automation
- Adapting to tighter budgets
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
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