Mastering Sales in 2024: Insights from Top Industry Leaders 

The world of B2B sales is constantly evolving, and 2023 was an unprecedented year of change. From the rapid shift to customer-centric sales strategies to the sheer force of AI, the sales landscape will never be the same. 

With these changes come new opportunities, which is why we’ve gone straight to the source, tapping into the brilliant minds of top industry leaders to share their expert opinions on what’s happening in the world of sales. 

Imagine this as your backstage pass to the insights that will define sales success for the year ahead. We asked these industry leaders about their top sales advice for thriving in 2024, their stance on the impact of AI, and their crystal ball visions of the future of B2B sales. 

So buckle up and take in this wisdom that could potentially refine the way your sales teams close deals and conquer the business world this year.

“What is your top sales advice for thriving in 2024?”

We kicked things off with a fairly general question to nail down the basics. In this section, our experts share their top advice based on personal achievements and challenges, revealing the winning strategies and mindset needed to thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of modern B2B sales. 

Whether these insights offer a new perspective or merely emphasize things that we’re well aware of, these are the actionable tips that have helped some of the most successful sales leaders and business gurus to stay ahead of the game.

 

Vlad Oleksiienko | VP of Growth & Sales Leader – Reply.io 

“My go-to advice for thriving in 2024 is simple – consistency and discipline. Trust me, clients love a reliable partner, especially in this volatile market. Stick to what works, stay disciplined, and keep learning – that’s the winning formula for sales success this year.”

 

Pam Didner | Award-winning B2B sales & marketing keynote speaker & consultant

“Understand your sales’ needs and work closely with your marketing team. 

Know where you can plug in marketing elements to complement their sales efforts. ABM (Account-based Marketing) is a great example of marketing supporting sales. Utilize your company’s marketing channels as a means to accelerate sales velocity and deal closures.” 

 

Thibaut Souyris | CEO & Founder – SalesLabs

“Rule 1: No matter your job title, if you work in sales, you need to prospect every day.

Rule 2: AI won’t replace salespeople. Salespeople who use AI will replace salespeople who don’t.

Rule 3: Selling is 5% creativity, 15% talent, and 80% routines.”

 

Marcus A. Chan | Sales Coach, 3X Salesforce Top Sales Influencer

“I’ve made a LOT of mistakes over my 15+ years in sales. Here are a few of my favorite rules to live by:

• Know your customer better than they know themselves.

• Focus on the process and not the outcome.

• Work at improving your sales game daily.

• Master communication in all forms.

• Focus on SERVING and not selling.

• Ask more questions, pitch less.

• Control the controllables.

• Play and think long-term.

• Always Be Prospecting.

• ALWAYS multithread.”

 

Gianluca Ferruggia | Managing Director – Design Rush

“No matter what industry you’re in, people will buy based on emotion, and they will justify their purchase with facts. 

In B2B, it’s easy to get lost in the numbers, specs, and product details. But remember, it’s people making these decisions. They’re driven by what they want, what they’re scared of losing, and the problems they need to fix. A smart salesperson knows how to tap into these feelings.”

 

Robert Brandl | Founder & CEO – Email Tool Tester

“Cold outreach fatally ignores modern buyers journeying through complex purchase decisions long before engaging reps. 

You have to pull people in as a trusted subject matter resource at scale then wow individually with tailored process guidance, access, and implementation support catered specifically to their scenario. Add value abundantly pre and post transaction.”

 

Vito Vishnepolsky | Founder & Director – Martal Group

“We speak with revenue leaders daily who are struggling to succeed in outbound sales, and the reason is quite simple. B2B buyers are bombarded with messages every day from every channel, and it’s leading to mass marketing fatigue. Increasing outbound activity is no longer the answer, and even personalization at scale is losing momentum. 

That’s why, in 2024, signal-driven prospecting through buyer intent data is the key to thriving. With signal-driven prospecting, you’re not simply matching buyer persona details to the demographic and firmographic filters in a database; you’re targeting key decision-makers already searching for solutions like yours based on their digital footprint.”

 

Abhishek Shah | Founder & CEO – Testlify

“My top sales advice would be to prioritize personalization and empathy. In a digital age, where customers are inundated with information, tailoring your approach to address the unique needs and pain points of each prospect is paramount. Equip with advanced analytics and AI tools to understand customer behaviors which would enable you to deliver more personalized and meaningful interactions.”

 

Alper Yurder | Co-Founder & CRO – Flowla

“My advice would be to adopt buyer-centricity in everything you do, from cold outreach to onboarding and beyond. As customers want more flexibility, transparency, and control, salespeople should be adapting their strategies to meet these new customer needs, making buyer enablement their key priority. 

The old saying “always be closing” should be replaced by “always be helping” with authenticity, relationships, and value being essential elements in sales. Instead of just trying to sell your product no matter what, salespeople should focus on assisting buyers in solving their problems.”

 

Colin O’Neill | VP of Sales – SetSail 

“For most of us in Revenue roles, especially in tech, 2023 was the most challenging year we’ve had to navigate in the last 20 years. We saw exponential increases in the volume of activity required to set meetings & build pipelines. 

In 2024, things are going to be better. Embrace that the strategies for brand awareness, pipeline growth, buyer commitment, deal execution, quota attainment, and customer growth that worked in the past have changed for good – we’re never going back to the formulas that worked before. It’s a new world.”

 

Peter Huebner | Head of Sales – Onramp

• “Understand your key Sales inputs and stay methodical! Be diligent about knowing your conversions, close rates, coverage needed, etc. and stay on top of controlling the inputs to make you successful.  
• Stay close to Marketing! Make sure you understand what and how your Marketing team is positioning your company and product in the market. Capitalize on their efforts so you are both saying the same thing to the same audience – creates a multiplying effect.”

 

Gorkem Cetin | CEO – Retable 

“We have embraced LinkedIn for social sales, and it started to pay off. Around 15% of our sales have been from LinkedIn for the last 2 months. Our C-suite executives have been very active there, and social selling without pushing and with small personal interactions have proved to be very successful.”

“AI integration in sales – is it truly a game-changer, and how so?”

Next up, we decided to explore the true impact of AI on sales strategies in 2024. Our experts weigh in on whether AI is a mere buzzword or a true game-changer in the sales arena. Enjoy this deep dive into the tangible benefits, potential pitfalls, and the transformative ways AI is reshaping the sales landscape.

 

Vlad Oleksiienko | VP of Growth & Sales Leader – Reply.io 

“I believe that yes, AI is a real gamechanger, but these changes aren’t that obvious so far. The way I see it is that AI will not replace salespeople, but will definitely change the way they sell and the way customers buy. 

Overall, AI will accelerate and enhance lots of sales categories like: data, no-code, cold outreach, sales engagement, training and coaching, conversation and revenue intelligence, and forecasting. Sales teams have to leverage these powers to excel in an increasingly competitive B2B sales landscape.”

 

Michael Maximoff | Co-Founder & Sales Leader – Belkins 

“As someone who got started in sales just before sales AI tech & tools blew up and surged in popularity, I can certainly say it was/is a game changer. AI’s integration in sales enables data processing, analytics, and automation on a scale never seen before, helping drive sales efforts and performance to the next level, all while reducing workloads & resource demand.”

 

Greg Cullen | Principal Account Executive, Strategic – Dialpad

“I was personally one of the non-believers of AI (and traditionally a laggard for most technology trends). However, I’ve been leveraging this more effectively to drive more meaningful conversations with prospects and clients. I use Google’s Bard to help me cipher through all of a company’s public information to understand their critical priorities – and how my solution will align to their pain points.

From a selling perspective, I help evangelize the use of our AI to our Fortune 500 clients to help them drive greater revenue, decrease ramp time, and double productivity through our AI-powered communication platform.”

 

John Pennypacker | VP of Sales & Marketing – Deep Cognition

“In my opinion, integrating AI into sales is unquestionably a game-changer. However, the true effectiveness of AI relies heavily on human decision-making.

For example, in my experience, we used an AI tool for lead generation. It was fantastic at compiling a list of potential clients, but couldn’t assess their quality with the same intuition a seasoned salesperson could. It’s the combination of AI’s efficiency and human expertise that truly makes it a game-changer.”

 

Gowri Ramkumar | Vice President – Sales and Customer Success – Document360

“AI has yet to fully permeate the sales domain, but it holds the potential to revolutionize aspects of planning, organizing, and providing real-time insights to sales representatives, which enables personalized customer interaction. It could play a significant role in quickly identifying what is working well and what isn’t, thereby becoming a crucial element in the decision-making process.”

 

Sheikh Shourav | Founder & CEO – Apploye 

“In 2024, AI integration is vital in sales, transforming strategies through predictive analytics and customer insights to foster a more intuitive, customer-centric approach.”

 

Alexej Pikovsky | CEO – NUOPTIMA

“AI integration in sales is indeed a game-changer. It’s like having a supercharged assistant that not only predicts customer needs based on past interactions but also personalizes the sales process in real-time. In essence, AI isn’t just changing the game; it’s redefining the playing field by making sales more insightful, efficient, and customer-centric.”

 

Ritesh Raj | COO & CPO – CuddlyNest

“AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are providing 24/7 customer service, handling inquiries, and even closing sales, thereby increasing efficiency and customer satisfaction. In the background, AI is also streamlining sales operations by automating routine tasks, freeing up sales reps to focus on strategic activities.”

 

Augustas Ausra | Head of Sales – Breezit 

“My top sales advice for 2024 is to blend the power of AI with a personal touch. AI surely changed how we sell, but it can’t replace the human connection. I recommend using AI to handle non-client facing activities. This way there will be more time to focus on building relationships with clients. In short, 2024 means more meaningful interactions.”

 

Anand Talla | VP of Sales & Support – EngageBay

“Gaining insights on prospects using AI, which would save sales teams hours of research can be immensely helpful in increasing productivity. All sales teams need to adapt to a sales productivity tool to be able to grow and thrive.”

 

Rasmus Araviita | Head of Enterprise Sales – Droppe 

“AI is like my perfect personal assistant. Automatic reminders and meeting organizing so I can focus on sales and not admin. For context we use automation across our CRM and lead handling process. AI is also used in email outreach, which happens to be done with Reply.”

“What is the future of B2B sales? Are there any major changes around the corner?”

Predicting the future is never easy, but when you’re a seasoned industry leader – predictions become mere observations blended with a touch of expertise and experience. 

This section explores the anticipated changes and emerging trends that are set to redefine the B2B sales playbook in the coming years. Get ahead of the curve as our experts share their perspectives on the evolving dynamics, challenges, and opportunities shaping the future of business-to-business sales.

 

Vlad Oleksiienko | VP of Growth & Sales Leader – Reply.io 

“Outbound has drastically changed over the past few years, and B2B salespeople have to adapt. The most noticeable changes include: the emphasis on intent-based outreach, outbound outreach slowly integrating into growth departments, new spam rules affecting mass outreach, and B2B data becoming accessible and cheaper. 

New sales tech will continue being the greatest driving force in B2B sales with rising trends such as no-code prospecting and automation, AI SDRs and AI Sales Agents significantly boosting productivity, and sales tools consolidation — most tools are adding completely new features, slowly transforming into all-in-one sales platforms.” 

 

Chris O’Riordan | Founder & Business Leader – Firestarter

“While there is currently an understandably huge focus on sales-focused AI tools and other sales technologies, for me a really significant opportunity for salespeople in the current landscape is developing their emotional intelligence. While AI is getting smarter all the time, it still is no substitute for a genuine human connection – and the better a salesperson understands their buyers, the better they will be able to facilitate a successful buying process.”

 

Krittin Kalra | Founder – Writecream

“Relationship-building remains vital in B2B sales, but the future demands a shift towards strategic partnerships. Collaborative approaches, where companies align their goals and work together towards shared success, will be a game-changer for B2B sales in the future.”

 

Hubert Olszowski | Head of Solutions Consulting & AI Sales Strategy – GetResponse

“The future of B2B sales is a strategic mix of AI-driven efficiency and the vital human element. As AI streamlines tasks like material generation and data analysis, the real differentiator will be in building personal client relationships.

A key shift will be adapting to the increase in outbound emails and LinkedIn messages, emphasizing the importance of intent and trigger-based outbound sales strategies.”

 

Phil Strazzulla | Founder – SelectSoftware Reviews

“Increased Emphasis on Solutions, Not Products: The future of B2B sales lies in offering tailored solutions to specific business challenges, rather than just selling products.

Greater Focus on Customer Success: Sales strategies will increasingly involve ensuring customer success post-sale, as long-term partnerships and customer satisfaction become crucial.”

 

Tony Mariotti | CEO – RubyHome

“Relationship Building and Trust: B2B sales will increasingly rely on building strong, trust-based relationships with clients, emphasizing long-term engagement over one-time transactions.

Leveraging Data for Personalized Experiences: Utilizing data analytics to personalize sales strategies and understand client needs will become more crucial.”

 

Alex Khrystiuk | Sales Account Manager – Coupler

“We’re likely to see more and more tech integration into the sales processes. If used correctly, it will enhance the productivity and effectiveness of sales professionals. At the same time, fully relying on tech to do sales instead of you, an experienced person, is a mistake. Aim to blend new tech with the art of relationship-building and clear communication to facilitate growth and lead the ‘sales way.’ “

 

Simon Bacher | CEO and Co-founder – Ling 

“I believe that the future of B2B sales relies on the company’s gamification efforts, which involve using game elements for sales pitches and presentations. Gamification makes complex information more digestible and accessible. You can break down the sales journey into challenges, levels, and interactive components to guide prospects through a structured and enjoyable experience.”

 

Draven McConville | CEO & Founder – Klipboard

“As I look at B2B sales, I see that technology drives its direction. AI-driven tools, automation, and data analytics will drive a major transformation. These technology foundations will transform how businesses conduct complex commerce.

Algorithms reveal undiscovered relationships and provide sales teams with a deeper understanding of their customers. A detailed understanding of client needs underpins every outreach and pitch.”

 

Lilia Tovbin | CEO & Founder – BigMailer.io

“B2B sales professionals are now focusing on creating a personal brand on social media. They’re building an online presence, showing they know their craft, and connecting with clients in a genuine way. In fact, salespeople are using platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter to market themselves, all while sharing content that shows what they know and how they solve problems. This helps them reach more people and makes the sales journey more human in a world where sales processes become more and more generic.”

 

Trevor Hamilton | Founder – The Story Web

“The most significant shift will be towards a consultative approach focused on solving complex business problems versus simple product pitches.

Buyers today are overwhelmed with options and suffer from “solution fatigue.” They need guidance identifying root causes and strategic direction – not more sales propaganda. To be successful, sellers must ask insightful questions, share industry best practices, and position themselves as trusted advisors instead of transactional vendors.”

 

 

Hopefully, some of these insights gave you some ideas, perspectives, and perhaps motivation to crush your sales goals this year. But this is just step one. 

It’s now time to put theory into practice, refine your sales strategy, equip you with the right sales gear, and start closing more deals.