ai-enablement, Trends & Insights
Why sales efficiency hasn’t improved despite tech booms
By John Rivers — On 5 November 2025
For decades, technology promised to transform sales — from the internet to CRM to now AI. Each innovation claimed it would unlock new levels of productivity. But a closer look reveals a different storey entirely.
"We expected to see sales efficiency rise," said Seismic Co-founder and Board Member Doug Winter, referencing a 25-year analysis of public tech companies during his keynote at "Instead, it got worse — in some cases, significantly."
The modern sales tech stack is larger and more automated than ever. Yet productivity gains have failed to materialise. Quota attainment is down, and the return on sales and marketing investment is weakening.
So what happened to the promise of tech-driven transformation?
The promise that fell short
During his keynote at Shift, Doug Winter shared the data behind an unsettling trend: the revenue generated per dollar spent on sales and marketing has declined by roughly 2% each year. Quota attainment has also been on the decline in recent years.
In other words, organisations are investing more, but getting less in return. For an era defined by automation, analytics, and AI, the trajectory is moving the wrong way.
Everyone's levelling up at the same time
Mark Dodds, CRO at Elastic and a Seismic customer, offered one explanation: "Everyone was implementing the same technology. . . So the bar was just raised for everyone."
When every company adds CRM, AI, or automation, it doesn't create a competitive advantage — it creates a new baseline. Instead of boosting relative performance, it resets expectations.
Mark also noted that while CRM may have made leadership more effective, it didn't always improve the day-to-day experience for reps. "How many reps told you CRM made them more productive?" he quipped. "Mostly, we just asked them to do more work."
Sales skills matter more than ever
Even with all the advancements in sales tech, the fundamentals remain the same. Mark Dodds summed it up best: "People still buy from people."
Despite the rise of AI, success still depends on human connection and trust. Skills like discovery, relationship building, and navigating complex deals can't be automated. Technology can support the process, but it can't replace relationships.
Doug reinforced the point: "Technology helps and it changes, but it doesn't eliminate the need for good sales."
Is AI the answer?
While past tech waves haven't driven measurable efficiency gains, there's reason to believe this time it could be different.
AI isn't just a system of record — it's a system of action. It doesn't just store information; it learns, recommends, and acts. Seismic's own AI assistant, Aura, is already transforming how teams work. Sellers use it to prep for meetings, personalise content, and even coach themselves — with 110,000 lessons already created through AI. And the ROI is clear: reps who use AI effectively are hitting quota at 4x the rate of those who don't.
"Aura is like a genius teammate that never sleeps," said Mark Dodds. "It sits across the funnel and helps do tasks, so our sellers can focus on the work only humans can do."
Sales efficiency starts with enablement
The smartest teams aren't just investing in technology; they're aligning their people, processes, and platforms around one goal: ensuring sellers are ready to make the most of every moment.
When teams bring AI, content, and enablement together in a unified system, sellers are not only more agile, but are fully prepared to maximise every client experience.
Ready to drive stronger sales efficiency?
Book a demo with Seismic to deliver results like 35% more time selling and $18M annual efficiency savings.