Lack of data-driven insights from technology hinders coaching, talent development, and slows deals — exposing a widening gap between seller confidence and execution.
ATLANTA, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesloft, the leading Revenue Orchestration Platform that helps B2B organizations drive durable revenue growth, today announced new research revealing a growing divide in sales execution. While sellers believe they are performing well, managers see critical gaps that stall deals and make revenue growth harder to sustain.
The 2025 Sales Skills Gap Survey, based on responses from 100 frontline sellers and sales managers across multiple industries, reveals a number of contradictions between sellers and managers. For example, sellers rate themselves highly in core sales skills like prospecting, executive engagement, and risk detection, yet managers don't share the same confidence.
Beyond performance gaps, the report exposes an additional challenge: sales teams have access to advanced technology but aren't using it to improve execution. AI adoption remains low, coaching is inconsistent, and process adherence is unreliable. As a result, revenue leaders struggle to forecast accurately and scale performance.
"This survey reveals that effort is not a problem for sales teams. Their problems are largely in execution. The data shows that increasing activity will not speed deals if sellers are not focused on the right things at the right time," said Mark Niemiec, Chief Revenue Officer at Salesloft. "AI can help sellers prioritize deals, surface buyer signals, and guide execution, but it can't replace the coaching needed to build trust and develop the soft skills that close deals. The best sales teams will use AI to make execution second nature while managers focus on human coaching to improve performance in areas technology can't teach."
Key findings from the 2025 Sales Skill Gap Survey:
- The seller-manager execution gap is widening. 83% of sellers rate themselves as strong in executive engagement, and 73% in risk detection. However, 41% of managers say reps struggle to engage executive buyers, 56% say reps miss critical risks that stall deals, and only 48% of managers trust their reps to run deals independently — creating a critical gap between self-perception and performance reality.
- Coaching perceptions don't align between managers and sellers. While 94% of managers say regular coaching is part of their process, sellers experience it differently — 53% say they receive coaching quarterly or less, and 37% report rarely or never receiving personalized feedback. This gap in perception suggests that coaching isn't as structured or effective as managers believe.
- AI is available but underutilized. Only 6% of sellers use AI for task prioritization, meaning 94% do not use AI to guide daily execution. Meanwhile, 55% say they lack the right AI toolset to help them prospect, manage deals, and forecast, highlighting a disconnect between AI's potential and its actual adoption in sales teams.
- Process compliance is inconsistent. 40% of sellers frequently deviate from the sales process, and only 20% of managers believe deals follow a repeatable process. For revenue leaders, this lack of consistency creates forecasting challenges and slows deal cycles.
- Sellers rely on gut feeling over data. 43% of sellers prioritize buyer engagement based on personal judgment, 25% rely on customer demographics, and only 20% use buyer signals to guide decisions. Without data-driven decision-making, sellers risk missing high-intent buyers by chasing low-probability deals.
- Sellers are overwhelmed by complex sales technology. The top barriers to tech adoption are tool complexity and perceived value, with 55% of sellers lacking access to AI tools and 53% needing more time and training. When sellers struggle to adopt tools effectively, it leads to inefficiencies and wasted investment in sales tech.
- Adaptability is the most crucial yet overlooked soft skill. Sales managers ranked adaptability (44%) as the top soft skill for sales success — standing out as the top choice over curiosity (28%), resilience (18%), and empathy (8%).
The data shows a critical disconnect between sales teams and leadership, driven by execution gaps, low AI adoption, and inconsistent coaching. These challenges can contribute to stalled deals, inefficiencies in sales processes, and limited sales pipeline visibility, making it harder for revenue leaders to forecast and scale.
AI tools could help bridge this gap, yet many sellers distrust AI recommendations due to lack of perceived value and effectiveness. Meanwhile, managers are often stuck in reactive coaching cycles, addressing execution issues after deals stall instead of guiding sellers in real time.
"Sellers who use AI effectively are 3.7 times more likely to hit quota, yet most sales teams still aren't taking full advantage of it," Niemiec added. "To close the execution gap, AI needs to move beyond analytics and be embedded into daily workflows. The most successful sales teams in 2025 will be the ones that combine AI-driven insights with strong coaching to eliminate friction, surface the right opportunities, and help sellers focus on what moves deals forward."
For the complete findings, access the full report here: salesloft.com/resources/guides/skill-gaps-in-2025.
About Salesloft
Salesloft powers durable revenue growth for the world's most demanding companies. Salesloft's industry-leading Revenue Orchestration Platform uses purpose-built AI to help market-facing teams prioritize and take action on what matters most, from first touch to upsell and renewal. More than 5,000 customers including Google, 3M, IBM, Shopify, and Square gain a performance force multiplier with Salesloft by shifting to a durable revenue engagement model, helping them solve the complexities of modern B2B sales and unlock revenue efficiency.
Media Contact:
Mary Grace Bonner, Communications Manager
marygrace.bonner@salesloft.com
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