The Indian market is rapidly evolving, and sales teams are at the forefront of change. Sales professionals are not viewed as number chasers anymore but as trusted advisors to their customers. Indian businesses are moving away from traditional sales tactics to create unique differentiators that set them apart from their competitors. And therefore, transactional interactions to close deals have given way to sales teams offering deeply personalised, advisory interactions that help build long-term trust and lasting relationships.
The most interesting emerging trend is how sales functions are leaning into innovation, building trust, and intelligent use of technology like data and AI.
The latest State of Sales Report highlights how this transformation is playing out and is helping set the new ground rules for sales teams in India.
Take a look at the top findings:
The power of recurring sales and partner ecosystem
The customers are coming back for more.
91% of sales professionals in India claim that repeat business is their key revenue driver. But, as the markets are getting crowded with similar product offerings, sales leaders acknowledge the role of a robust partner ecosystem to explore new territories.
The strategy is not just about reaching out to a new customer base, but also about building strong, lasting relationships to fuel continuous growth. And it is proving to be successful already, with 92% of sales leaders from the country claiming that partner sales now have a bigger impact on their business than they did a year ago.
Penna Cement: Cementing channel sales success with digital solutions
Penna Cement significantly enhanced its dealer operations by integrating its existing dealer management solution with Salesforce. This has streamlined processes for dealers, enabling seamless order placements, and helping track requests efficiently.
The result? A 13% increase in trade sales and a 15% expansion in their dealer network. By integrating data and workflows into Salesforce, Penna Cement improved coordination across teams, empowering dealers with real-time information, ultimately driving better sales outcomes and strengthening dealer relationships.
The top two rising challenges: competition and expectations
73% of Indian sales leaders think that the competitive landscape is tougher than it was last year. And 65% also admit that customer expectations are becoming harder to meet.
Despite bigger sales budgets than last year, only 8% of Indian sales professionals are confident they’ll meet 100% of their sales targets this year. A big part of the problem is that sales teams are spending too much time on non-selling tasks—only 27% of their time is actually spent selling. Sales leaders are realising that to stay competitive, quicker adoption of new technology and continuous innovation in sales processes is the key.
AI can play a crucial role here, helping sales teams extend beyond traditional roles. For example, sales teams can focus on more crucial tasks with Customised AI agents which can manage routine tasks like follow-ups, pipeline tracking, or even close deals autonomously.
Powering sales productivity: L&T Electrical & Automation energies efficiency with Salesforce
L&T Electrical & Automation transformed their sales with Salesforce, automating all sales processes and giving their teams a 360-degree customer view. Today, there is a 4x increase in the volume of sales activities, and automation has saved the company over 129 hours.
All teams are now collaborating more effectively and driving higher sales performance through improved coordination and insights.
AI impact: Boosting sales with data and trust
AI is reshaping the way Indian sales teams operate, becoming an essential driver of success. Nearly 90% of sales teams in India are already either implementing or experimenting with AI to supercharge productivity and enhance customer engagement. From smarter sales forecasting to competitive analysis, AI is helping sales teams streamline operations and personalise every interaction with customers.
But it’s not all smooth sailing—while the potential is vast, challenges persist. Teams are wrestling with concerns around budget constraints, data security, and the need for more robust AI training. To maximise the potential of AI in sales, trust, and data accuracy are critical and sales teams are acknowledging it. Indian sales teams believe that they must ensure that the AI-driven insights they rely on are secure and enterprise-grade, allowing for seamless integration into daily operations.
For Indian sales leaders, investing in these areas is the key to staying ahead in a fast-evolving market.
Revving up lead conversions: How AI drives sales at Royal Enfield
Royal Enfield is leveraging Salesforce Einstein to improve its lead scoring. By predicting which leads are most likely to convert, they’re boosting efficiency and driving more sales. With this data-driven approach, Royal Enfield’s dealers are converting 23% of high-propensity leads, ensuring stronger dealer engagements and boosting their success.
Training and enablement: The secret to long-term success
49% of sales professionals from India believe that better training and resources would significantly boost ROI. Sales teams in India know that hitting targets is just one part of the equation. To truly succeed, they need to provide value to their customers, and that’s where training and enablement come in.
AI is helping here too. By analysing agent performance, AI tools can identify where they need support and offer personalised, real-time training. Personalised AI-driven sales coaching like Agentforce Sales Coach could help reps onboard faster, and also offers round-the-clock, tailored guidelines, boosting productivity, while reducing training costs.
Despite these improvements, 35% of sales leaders in India say that a lack of training is still a major barrier to AI adoption success and expect their organisations to continue to focus on training and enablement.
Tackling attrition with technology
High employee turnover is a challenge for Indian sales teams too, with 34% of sales organisations experiencing higher attrition than last year. Many sales professionals feel overwhelmed by administrative tasks and are looking for better tools and career development opportunities.
Sales leaders are turning to technology to solve these problems. Automating repetitive tasks, like lead qualification, frees up time for human reps to engage in deeper, high-impact customer interactions. This balance of humans with AI enables better workforce retention and engagement. The organisations that modernise their tech stack, are improving productivity and are also able to retain talent more effectively.
The Path Forward
The Indian sales landscape is rapidly changing. Customers expect more, competition is fiercer, and technology is evolving at a breakneck pace. But by embracing AI and leveraging trusted data, sales teams can combine AI, data, and automation to create an ecosystem where customisable AI agents work side-by-side with sales teams. These agents not only take on routine tasks but also collaborate with humans to drive exceptional customer success.
Want to learn more about the key sales trends in India?
Download Sales Trends in India: Unlocking Growth with AI and Data for more insights on how AI and data are empowering sales teams across the country, driving productivity and customer success.
