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2025: The Year to Transform Sales Performance Management for Good

By: Brad Tompkins, Chief Revenue Officer at Centrical

This article was originally published in SalesTechSeries.

Generative AI can boost the performance and productivity of highly skilled professionals by 40%, experts say. From software developers to data scientists and marketers, many have already been integrating AI into their workflows. 

In 2025, AI-powered tools are poised to transform sales, too. With predictive analytics, real-time insights, and personalization tools, sales professionals are now armed with resources that act as their personal assistants, researchers, and strategists. 

This shift is not just about achieving more with less effort; it’s about redefining how sales teams work. By automating routine tasks, AI enables sellers to focus on building deeper customer relationships, delivering tailored solutions, and closing deals faster. 

However, these advancements bring a critical challenge: sales leaders must now rethink how they manage, motivate, and measure their teams in this new environment. 

The old playbook for performance management—rooted in static KPIs and one-size-fits-all coaching—no longer meets the demands of the current landscape. In this article, we’ll explore why 2025 is the year to leave outdated practices behind and embrace performance management strategies built for the new era of sales. 

Emerging AI Trends in Sales 

According to a Salesforce survey, 84% of sellers using AI said it helped increase their sales. 

Here are a few of the most common ways AI is being integrated into sales workflows. 

Content creation and communications enhancement. Gong reported that, in 2024, it registered a year-over-year 464% increase in the number of sales emails composed with its generative AI tool. 

Real-time personalization at scale. AI-powered insights enable salespeople to customize their pitch, providing recommendations based on customer profile, behavior, and preferences. Additionally, buyers now expect hyper-personalized experiences. 

Predictive analytics and deal forecasting. AI tools help identify patterns, empowering sales managers to prioritize deals with higher chances of success.  

Learning and coaching. AI is becoming a virtual coach, analyzing salespeople’s performance data and offering tailored recommendations, helping improve skill-building, professional development, and employee satisfaction. 

Why Performance Management Must Evolve 

As AI reshapes sales workflows and sales roles become more dynamic and personalized, leaders are required to rethink how they evaluate and support their sales teams. 

Here are a few ways performance management must evolve in 2025: 

Embracing behavioral KPIs: 

  • Traditional KPIs like quotas and revenue targets sometimes fail to capture the nuanced work and impact of today’s sellers. 
  • AI provides behavioral data and granular insights into customer engagement, outreach effectiveness, time spent on deals, customer sentiment, and more; allowing leaders to track meaningful progress beyond revenue. 

Building continuous feedback loops: 

  • AI tools provide instant feedback, identifying individual strengths and improvement areas. 
  • Sales leaders can use these insights to deliver real-time coaching, fostering professional development. 
  • AI Automation also allows for personalized recognition of achievements, boosting employee morale. 

Designing personalized growth paths: 

  • AI can identify unique skills and goals, enabling tailored development plans for each seller. 
  • Personalization improves employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity. 

Leveraging dynamic gamification to improve performance and training effectiveness: 

  • Gamification taps into motivation by turning learning and performance goals into engaging challenges. 
  • AI-driven platforms can create more dynamic and personalized competitions, track progress, and reward achievements in real time. 
  • Better engagement translates into better performance and more effective learning and skill-building. 

The Business Impact of Evolving Performance Management 

Better performance management, aided by AI-powered tools, drives higher productivity and better outcomes for sellers and their organizations. Leveraging behavioral data, sales teams can access personalized learning and coaching, which helps them address challenges proactively. 

These practices ultimately help sellers succeed in their roles and foster employee loyalty and satisfaction. It’s an opportunity to develop and enable them with the skills needed to strengthen client relationships, in addition to improving retention. For leaders, data-driven insights also reveal success drivers. 

Conclusion 

2025 marks a pivotal moment for performance management in sales. As AI impacts workflows and transforms the role of sales professionals, outdated practices must give way to dynamic, data-driven strategies that prioritize adaptability, personalization, and growth. 

By embracing dynamic KPIs, continuous feedback, tailored development paths, and gamification, sales leaders can empower their teams to thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape. The future of sales isn’t just about closing more deals—it’s about building stronger teams, deeper customer relationships, and sustained success. 

 

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