2026 Sales Challenges and Priorities: Where Leaders Should Focus

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1. Sales manager 3: “Procurement is asking for more justification.” Sales manager 4: “A competitor is discounting aggressively.” The CRO: “Is the problem is pipeline, deal quality, sales skill, manager coaching, or market conditions?” The honest answer? Yes. Sales organizations aren’t dealing with one isolated challenge. They’re facing pressure across the commercial system. Most Reported Challenges % Very / Somewhat Challenging The top 10 sales enablement and leadership challenges identified in the research are: Recruiting and hiring strong sales talent: 86.3% very or somewhat challenging Selling in an uncertain economy: 86.1% Dealing with longer sales cycle times: 83.0% Losing deals to no decision / status quo: 82.4% Winning against strong / difficult competitors: 80.2% Developing sales managers: 79.6% More decision makers / buying teams / committees: 79.5% Developing sales skills: 79.5% Qualified sales-ready opportunities: 79.3% Buyer budget constraints: 79.0% What stands out is not only the severity of any single issue, but also how tightly these issues compound. Economic uncertainty affects budgets. Budget pressure slows decisions. Larger buying committees make consensus harder. Longer cycles increase no-decision risk. Talent and manager challenges make it harder to respond consistently. Pipeline quality and seller capability determine whether opportunities advance or stall. From the outside, these symptoms can look like one problem: missed number, soft forecast, or slower growth. But a pipeline creation problem, a no-decision problem, and a manager coaching problem require different responses. “Winning against difficult competitors requires more than knowing a competitor’s weaknesses. Sellers need to understand what the buyer values, how the buyer defines risk, and why the difference between options matters enough to act.” Identify what actually needs to improve as each pattern points to a different response. Some Pressures Require Direct Action; Others Require Indirect Response Not every challenge can be addressed the same way. Direct Action If recruiting and hiring strong sales talent is a top challenge, leaders can respond with stronger hiring profiles, better onboarding, and improved retention strategies. If developing sales managers is a challenge, manager effectiveness can become a priority. If no-decision losses are increasing, leaders can invest directly in qualification, value creation, stakeholder alignment, and deal coaching. Indirect Response Economic uncertainty, buyer budget constraints, and larger buying committees can’t be solved by enablement alone. Sellers can’t make the buyer’s budget environment easier. Managers can’t coach procurement scrutiny out of existence. Enablement teams can’t reduce the number of stakeholders on a buying committee because everyone agrees the process would be simpler. But organizations can improve how sellers sell through these pressures: When buyers are cautious, sellers need to build a stronger case for change. When budgets are tight, sellers need to connect solutions to initiatives buyers already care about. When buying committees expand, sellers need to understand decision dynamics, not just add more names to a stakeholder map. Generic responses are unlikely to help. Leaders need to look at each pressure point and ask: what seller or manager behavior would help us handle this better? No-Decision Is More Than Buyer Indecision Every seller knows what it feels like when the buyer seems engaged, meetings have gone well, and the proposal has been sent. Then the opportunity slows down. The champion needs more time. The decision date is moved. A senior stakeholder wants to revisit priorities. The deal stays in the forecast, but the momentum has drained out of it.

   In Competitive differentiation

2. Without that direction, AI may improve efficiency without improving the sales behaviors that affect outcomes. How to Address the Top Sales Challenges and Priorities A common response to a difficult sales environment is to add initiatives: launch a prospecting push, update the playbook, run negotiation training, add AI guidance, increase forecast inspection, schedule more coaching, or revisit account planning. Any one of those responses might be right. The risk is choosing one before understanding the issue. The research points to four places to focus first. 1. Diagnose the Performance Constraint Before Choosing the Intervention Before choosing the response, leaders need to get specific about the problem they’re solving. A pipeline creation issue may require better targeting, prospecting, messaging, account planning, and sales / marketing alignment. A conversion issue may require stronger qualification, discovery, value communication, stakeholder engagement, and deal coaching. A retention issue may require account management, value realization, renewal planning, and Sales / Customer Success coordination. Four useful questions are: Where is performance breaking down? Which behavior needs to change? Who needs to reinforce it? What outcome should improve? The intervention should match the pattern in the business. 2. Prioritize Conversion-Critical Seller Capabilities The priority data point strongly toward conversion-critical capabilities. Winning against competitors, reducing no-decision, improving retention, and communicating value all require sellers to do more than present solutions. They need to help buyers understand why change matters, why now, why this approach, and why the value outweighs the risk. These skills work together in live opportunities. Strong value communication depends on strong discovery. Reducing no-decision requires sellers to understand urgency, stakeholders, risk, and the buyer’s decision process. “Winning against competitors requires sellers to connect differentiation to the buyer’s strategic and financial priorities.” Before adding another tool or program, leaders should ask: What seller or manager behavior are we trying to improve? How will this fit into the workflow? How will managers reinforce it? How will we know whether it is working? That keeps AI, process, and enablement from becoming separate workstreams with separate goals. The Key to Progress Is Focus Sales and enablement leaders are not short on challenges. The 2026 research shows pressure across talent, economic uncertainty, sales cycles, no-decision, competition, manager development, buyer complexity, sales skills, pipeline quality, and budget constraints. But the priority data show that urgency is concentrating in competitive wins, no-decision, retention and renewals, and value communication. That combination calls for sharper diagnosis and more focused execution. Leaders need to know where performance is breaking down, which capabilities matter most, how managers will reinforce them, and how process and AI can support the behaviors that improve outcomes. Progress starts with getting clear on the constraint before choosing the fix. From there, the work becomes more focused: build the capabilities that address the constraint, reinforce them through managers, connect process, tools, and AI to the same behaviors, and measure whether the targeted outcomes improve. Sales challenges are broad. The response doesn’t have to be scattered. Get the Full Report Download the full 2026 Sales Challenges & Priorities Research Report to explore the complete findings, including challenge-priority alignment, no-decision trends, seller capability blind spots, performance profiles, manager effectiveness insights, and AI adoption trends.

   In Competitive differentiation

3. Identify what actually needs to improve as each pattern points to a different response. Some Pressures Require Direct Action; Others Require Indirect Response Not every challenge can be addressed the same way. Direct Action If recruiting and hiring strong sales talent is a top challenge, leaders can respond with stronger hiring profiles, better onboarding, and improved retention strategies. If developing sales managers is a challenge, manager effectiveness can become a priority. If no-decision losses are increasing, leaders can invest directly in qualification, value creation, stakeholder alignment, and deal coaching. Indirect Response Economic uncertainty, buyer budget constraints, and larger buying committees can’t be solved by enablement alone. Sellers can’t make the buyer’s budget environment easier. Managers can’t coach procurement scrutiny out of existence. Enablement teams can’t reduce the number of stakeholders on a buying committee because everyone agrees the process would be simpler. But organizations can improve how sellers sell through these pressures: When buyers are cautious, sellers need to build a stronger case for change. When budgets are tight, sellers need to connect solutions to initiatives buyers already care about. When buying committees expand, sellers need to understand decision dynamics, not just add more names to a stakeholder map. Generic responses are unlikely to help. Leaders need to look at each pressure point and ask: what seller or manager behavior would help us handle this better? No-Decision Is More Than Buyer Indecision Every seller knows what it feels like when the buyer seems engaged, meetings have gone well, and the proposal has been sent. Then the opportunity slows down. The champion needs more time. The decision date is moved. A senior stakeholder wants to revisit priorities. The deal stays in the forecast, but the momentum has drained out of it. “It can begin when discovery doesn’t uncover the full business impact of the problem, or when the buyer doesn’t see the cost of staying the same.” But they do help sellers and managers identify no-decision risk before the deal has already gone quiet. Deal Inspection Guide Ensure buyer alignment and determine whether you've earned the right to win with this checklist. Watch for Seller Capability Blind Spots A seller can: Ask discovery questions and still miss the business impact Have a good relationship with a contact and still lack access to the people who shape the decision Describe value and still sound like they are listing product benefits Understand the stated buying process and still miss the internal dynamics that determine whether anything moves These gaps are easy to underestimate because they often involve skills leaders assume sellers already have. Some seller capabilities may not rank among the most prevalent challenges overall, but outcome comparisons suggest they still matter to performance. Several findings stand out: Relationship development: 13.5% rated it very challenging When opportunities won did not improve: 2 times as likely to be rated very challenging Discovery quality: 16.2% rated it very challenging When opportunities won did not improve: 1.9 times more likely to be rated very challenging Value communication: 17.9% rated it very challenging When opportunities won improved: 2.3 times more likely to rate it as not at all challenging Buyer-process understanding: 18.6% rated it very challenging. When opportunities won improved 1.7 times more likely to rate it as not at all challenging Just because fewer organizations identify these capabilities as highly challenging doesn’t mean they matter less. In complex sales, relationship development, discovery, value communication, and buyer-process understanding aren’t peripheral skills. They help sellers create trust, identify the full scope of need, connect the problem to business impact, build urgency, understand how decisions are made, and help buying groups move forward.

   In Cost of inaction

4. The Most Urgent Priorities Are Conversion-Critical When respondents were asked to select their top three priorities, four rose to the top: Win more against difficult competitors: 44.0% Reduce sales lost to no decision: 40.8% Improve customer retention / renewals: 39.7% Improve ability to communicate value: 30.0% Top Ranked Sales Priorities % Selected These priorities have something important in common: they all affect whether opportunities and accounts move forward. Leaders aren’t only worried about filling the front end of the funnel. They’re focused on what happens when buyers evaluate, hesitate, compare, delay, renew, and expand. Winning against difficult competitors requires more than knowing a competitor’s weaknesses. Sellers need to understand what the buyer values, how the buyer defines risk, and why the difference between options matters enough to act. Reducing no-decision is rarely solved by more follow-up alone. Sellers need to help buyers see the cost of inaction, build internal alignment, and develop enough confidence to make a decision. The sale doesn’t end when the contract is signed. To support retention and renewal, teams need to prove value, protect relationships, identify risk, and create the conditions for expansion. Value communication is central to each of these priorities. If buyers can’t see the business case, differentiation weakens, no-decision risk rises, renewals become more vulnerable, and expansion becomes harder to justify. This is easy to underestimate because “communicating value” is such familiar language in sales. Many organizations already talk about it and train on it. Fewer inspect whether sellers are actually connecting their solutions to business impact, financial outcomes, risk reduction, and the buyer’s strategic priorities in live opportunities. For sales enablement, the implication is clear: don’t treat every performance problem as a general skill gap. “When buying committees expand, sellers need to understand decision dynamics, not just add more names to a stakeholder map.” That’s often how no-decision appears: it looks like something that happened late in the opportunity. Percent of Proposed / Quoted Opportunities Lost to No Decision % Respondents 2023 vs. 2026 The research reveals why no-decision deserves more attention than it often gets: 28.2% said losing deals to no decision or the status quo is very challenging as an organizational issue. 30.3% said losing sales to no decision is very challenging for sellers. 40.8% selected reducing sales lost to no decision as a top-three priority. 78.8% said no-decision losses stayed the same or increased. No-decision may surface late, but it usually develops earlier. It can begin when discovery doesn’t uncover the full business impact of the problem, or when the buyer doesn’t see the cost of staying the same. It can worsen when stakeholders are misaligned, risk isn’t addressed, the champion lacks the internal case to build consensus, or the seller moves forward without enough evidence that the buyer is committed to change. This is why reducing no-decision requires more than seller persistence. Managers play an important role here. No-decision could stem from lack of follow up, objection handling, qualification and pursuit intensity, value case, or buyer alignment. In a deal review, managers can move the conversation away from, “What activity is happening?” and toward, “What evidence do we have that the buyer is committed to change?” A coaching conversation might focus on a few questions: What business problem is driving the opportunity? What happens if the buyer does nothing? Which stakeholders need to agree before this moves forward? What evidence do we have that the buyer is committed to change? What risk could slow or stop the deal? These aren’t just inspection questions. They help managers test whether the opportunity has enough urgency, alignment, and commitment to keep moving. They don’t guarantee a win.

   In Buying committee and personas

5. This is where familiarity can work against sales organizations. Most have provided training on discovery, have discussed value, and expect sellers to understand the buyer’s decision process. Because these skills feel familiar, leaders assume they’re already handled. They may not be. For leaders, this is a practical caution: don’t assume foundational skills are solved because they’re basic. In difficult selling environments, the basics often determine whether opportunities advance or stall. Manager Effectiveness Is the Multiplier After a sales training program ends, sellers return to live opportunities, active accounts, forecast calls, pricing pressure, buyer delays, and competing priorities. Some apply the new skills. Some intend to but revert to old habits. Some use the language without changing their behavior. And some wait to see whether their manager reinforces it. That matters. The research reinforces the importance of effective sales managers: Developing sales managers was challenging for 79.6% of respondents Coaching the sales force effectively was challenging for 72.7% 54.2% rated improving sales managers’ effectiveness as very important 52.1% rated improving sales coaching capabilities as very important This aligns with other RAIN Group research: sellers receiving a combination of effective management, regular sales coaching, and effective sales training are 63% more likely to be top performers. Managers determine whether methodology becomes part of the weekly operating rhythm or stays in the training materials. Managers help sellers: Determine which opportunities are real Challenge weak assumptions Inspect whether next steps are buyer-confirmed With coaching on value, stakeholders, urgency, differentiation, and risk Prepare for executive conversations and account-growth discussions This is the routine work that makes capability change stick. It’s especially important when the priority is conversion. “The most extensive use cases are concentrated in task-level activities: call notes, summaries, follow-up emails, account research, meeting preparation, prospecting, outreach, proposals, business cases, and CRM or administrative work.” Without that direction, AI may improve efficiency without improving the sales behaviors that affect outcomes. How to Address the Top Sales Challenges and Priorities A common response to a difficult sales environment is to add initiatives: launch a prospecting push, update the playbook, run negotiation training, add AI guidance, increase forecast inspection, schedule more coaching, or revisit account planning. Any one of those responses might be right. The risk is choosing one before understanding the issue. The research points to four places to focus first. 1. Diagnose the Performance Constraint Before Choosing the Intervention Before choosing the response, leaders need to get specific about the problem they’re solving. A pipeline creation issue may require better targeting, prospecting, messaging, account planning, and sales / marketing alignment. A conversion issue may require stronger qualification, discovery, value communication, stakeholder engagement, and deal coaching. A retention issue may require account management, value realization, renewal planning, and Sales / Customer Success coordination. Four useful questions are: Where is performance breaking down? Which behavior needs to change? Who needs to reinforce it? What outcome should improve? The intervention should match the pattern in the business. 2. Prioritize Conversion-Critical Seller Capabilities The priority data point strongly toward conversion-critical capabilities. Winning against competitors, reducing no-decision, improving retention, and communicating value all require sellers to do more than present solutions. They need to help buyers understand why change matters, why now, why this approach, and why the value outweighs the risk. These skills work together in live opportunities. Strong value communication depends on strong discovery. Reducing no-decision requires sellers to understand urgency, stakeholders, risk, and the buyer’s decision process.

   In Tools and AI

6. Without that direction, AI may improve efficiency without improving the sales behaviors that affect outcomes. How to Address the Top Sales Challenges and Priorities A common response to a difficult sales environment is to add initiatives: launch a prospecting push, update the playbook, run negotiation training, add AI guidance, increase forecast inspection, schedule more coaching, or revisit account planning. Any one of those responses might be right. The risk is choosing one before understanding the issue. The research points to four places to focus first. 1. Diagnose the Performance Constraint Before Choosing the Intervention Before choosing the response, leaders need to get specific about the problem they’re solving. A pipeline creation issue may require better targeting, prospecting, messaging, account planning, and sales / marketing alignment. A conversion issue may require stronger qualification, discovery, value communication, stakeholder engagement, and deal coaching. A retention issue may require account management, value realization, renewal planning, and Sales / Customer Success coordination. Four useful questions are: Where is performance breaking down? Which behavior needs to change? Who needs to reinforce it? What outcome should improve? The intervention should match the pattern in the business. 2. Prioritize Conversion-Critical Seller Capabilities The priority data point strongly toward conversion-critical capabilities. Winning against competitors, reducing no-decision, improving retention, and communicating value all require sellers to do more than present solutions. They need to help buyers understand why change matters, why now, why this approach, and why the value outweighs the risk. These skills work together in live opportunities. Strong value communication depends on strong discovery. Reducing no-decision requires sellers to understand urgency, stakeholders, risk, and the buyer’s decision process. “AI can help sellers prepare for discovery, analyze account context, draft value hypotheses, identify stakeholder gaps, summarize buyer concerns, and prepare for manager coaching sessions.” Before adding another tool or program, leaders should ask: What seller or manager behavior are we trying to improve? How will this fit into the workflow? How will managers reinforce it? How will we know whether it is working? That keeps AI, process, and enablement from becoming separate workstreams with separate goals. The Key to Progress Is Focus Sales and enablement leaders are not short on challenges. The 2026 research shows pressure across talent, economic uncertainty, sales cycles, no-decision, competition, manager development, buyer complexity, sales skills, pipeline quality, and budget constraints. But the priority data show that urgency is concentrating in competitive wins, no-decision, retention and renewals, and value communication. That combination calls for sharper diagnosis and more focused execution. Leaders need to know where performance is breaking down, which capabilities matter most, how managers will reinforce them, and how process and AI can support the behaviors that improve outcomes. Progress starts with getting clear on the constraint before choosing the fix. From there, the work becomes more focused: build the capabilities that address the constraint, reinforce them through managers, connect process, tools, and AI to the same behaviors, and measure whether the targeted outcomes improve. Sales challenges are broad. The response doesn’t have to be scattered. Get the Full Report Download the full 2026 Sales Challenges & Priorities Research Report to explore the complete findings, including challenge-priority alignment, no-decision trends, seller capability blind spots, performance profiles, manager effectiveness insights, and AI adoption trends.

   In AI research synthesis

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