Thursday, 24 April 2025
28.5 C
Singapore
33.3 C
Thailand
20.7 C
Indonesia
29.4 C
Philippines

Salesforce report highlights challenges for Singapore’s sales professionals

Salesforce's new report reveals the challenges faced by sales professionals in Singapore, including adapting to customer expectations and integrating AI technology.

Salesforce, a global leader in CRM, has released its latest “State of Sales” report, which provides insights from 5,500 sales professionals across 27 countries, including 100 from Singapore. The report details the balancing act that sales teams face between leveraging technological advancements and fostering trusted customer relationships in a competitive environment.

Struggle to meet changing customer expectations

The report points out that adapting to changing customer expectations is the foremost challenge for sales teams globally, a sentiment echoed by 66% of sales professionals in Singapore who find it increasingly difficult compared to last year. Moreover, sales professionals in Singapore spend only 29% of their working hours engaging with customers, which is significantly lower than desired.

The surge in AI adoption faces hurdles

Sales teams are increasingly adopting AI to boost productivity and personalise experiences. However, the report reveals significant challenges in fully realising AI’s potential. While 73% of sales teams in Singapore have either fully implemented or are experimenting with AI, issues such as trust in data, security, integration, and inadequate employee training, are notable hurdles. Only 17% of sales professionals in Singapore trust their data’s accuracy, affecting crucial aspects of sales like target setting, forecasting, and gathering competitive intelligence.

Improvements in employee retention amid tight labour market

On a global scale, sales staff retention has improved, with the average turnover reducing from 25% in 2022 to 18% over the last 12 months. In Singapore, the turnover rate is slightly higher at 20%, but only 8% of sales professionals are currently looking to switch jobs, indicating a stabilising labour market within the sales sector.

Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Salesforce ASEAN, stated, “Evolving customer expectations means that sales professionals must find more time to better understand and build deep relationships with customers. AI has the potential to enhance sales professionals’ productivity, giving them more time to deepen connections with customers.” He also highlighted the need for accurate data and trust to effectively implement AI, recommending a unified platform that provides reliable AI outputs to increase productivity.

Hot this week

WhatsApp adds new Advanced Chat Privacy feature to boost group chat security

WhatsApp's new Advanced Chat Privacy feature helps stop group chat content from being shared or saved outside the app.

Bethesda releases The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered – and you can play it now

Bethesda released Oblivion Remastered, which features full visual upgrades and quality-of-life improvements and is now available across major platforms.

OpenAI introduces Flex processing to cut AI costs for slower tasks

OpenAI launches Flex processing, cutting AI usage costs by 50% for non-urgent tasks using o3 and o4-mini models with slower response times.

OpenAI’s latest reasoning AI models are more prone to making mistakes

OpenAI’s new o3 and o4-mini AI models perform better in some areas but hallucinate more often than their predecessors, raising concerns.

Enterprises accelerate adoption of AI agents despite concerns over data privacy and fairness

Cloudera survey finds 96% of global enterprises plan to expand AI agents, with Singapore leading adoption but facing fairness concerns.

WhatsApp adds new Advanced Chat Privacy feature to boost group chat security

WhatsApp's new Advanced Chat Privacy feature helps stop group chat content from being shared or saved outside the app.

Global PC shipments rise 6.7% in early 2025 as AI and tariffs drive demand

PC shipments rose 6.7% in Q1 2025, boosted by AI demand and tariff concerns, but growth is expected to slow later in the year.

POCO launches entry-level C71 smartphone in Singapore with premium features

POCO launches the budget-friendly C71 smartphone in Singapore, offering premium design, enhanced cameras, and smooth performance at S$109.

NVIDIA uses AI to address climate, wildlife and disaster risks

NVIDIA’s AI tools support climate action, wildlife monitoring, and disaster risk mitigation, with uses spanning sea, land, sky and space.

Related Articles

Popular Categories