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The biggest sales performance study of 2025 just dropped.

220+ B2B SaaS companies surveyed and the performance results are pretty bleak.

But amongst the struggle, some companies are starting to turn things around.

Better conversion rates, higher quota attainment, shorter sales cycles.

Let’s dive in…

The Sales Performance Crisis:

Right now it’s basically a coin flip for whether your reps will hit their number.

The sweet spot is usually around 80% attainment - high enough that most people succeed, but not so high that quotas are meaningless.

Since this number has been in decline for years, the traditional "hire new people" approach clearly isn’t the answer.

But quota attainment only tells half the story.

If you’re an AE right now, you better know how to generate pipeline because chances are you’re not getting full help from other departments.

Pipeline coverage is basically your safety net— how much pipeline you have relative to quota. Most teams aim for 3-4x coverage because deals fall through, get delayed, or shrink in size.

Coverage dropping to 3.6x while quota attainment stays flat means teams have less buffer as conversion rates are declining. Bad combo.

The AI Evolution in GTM:

Most companies are starting with the obvious stuff—lead generation, meeting analysis, and content creation.

These make sense as first moves because they're easy to implement and show immediate productivity gains:

But the companies actually winning with AI aren't just automating existing processes faster. They're changing how prospects experience their sales process by removing the friction of irrelevant outreach, redundant meetings and bad timing.

And that’s leading to higher conversion rates, improved quota attainment and faster sales cycles. Quantifiable ROI.

Evolving GTM Team Structure

Not all opportunities are created equal and the win rate data proves it.

Sales-sourced opportunities convert at 35-40% because reps are often cherry-picking qualified prospects, follow-ups and closed opportunities. Partner opportunities perform well because they often come as referrals with built-in trust, or reseller relationships.

Marketing leads convert at 18-22% because marketing is playing a volume game—casting a wider net for more at-bats, even if individual conversion is lower.

This gap in win rates explains why smart companies are restructuring their teams around AI and relationships instead of volume and automation.

AI-native companies are doubling down on what works—putting more resources into post-sales and relationship building while using AI to make their sales team more effective. While traditional companies are still organized around the old playbook of generate more leads, make more calls.

Final Thoughts

Don't ignore the sales efficiency warning signs.

Low performing companies and teams are stuck playing the old volume game sending more emails, investing more money into SEO and hiring more reps.

Meanwhile, the companies figuring out AI and focusing on high-converting channels, like partnerships, are pulling ahead fast.

If you’re interested, here is the link to the full report.

Until next Thursday,

TSG

P.S. I reply to all emails.