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Category: Sales

Evolving Efficiency: The New Sales Benchmark

The conversation around AI in sales often centres on replacement. How many SDRs can be automated? How much of the sales process can AI take over?

A more interesting question is what happens when every salesperson has access to the same productivity advantages.

Research, prospecting, account mapping, email drafting, CRM updates, call summaries. Much of the work that once consumed hours can now be completed in minutes. The efficiency gains are real, and they’re becoming increasingly accessible. The result isn’t that great salespeople become obsolete. It’s that baseline productivity becomes less of a differentiator. When everyone can move faster, the advantage shifts elsewhere.

The gap is increasingly being created in areas AI struggles to replicate: commercial judgement, stakeholder management, influencing decisions, building consensus, and navigating complex buying environments. In complex enterprise level sales, knowing who to contact is rarely the challenge. Understanding how decisions get made, identifying blockers, creating urgency, and guiding buyers through uncertainty is where deals are won and lost. A human touch of being able to read a room and understand context is essential.

That’s why the strongest sales teams aren’t replacing people with AI. They’re using AI to remove friction so their people can spend more time on the parts of selling that actually drive outcomes. AI is changing sales. But the biggest change may not be headcount reduction. It’s that the standard for what good salespeople are expected to deliver is getting significantly higher.

 

What This Means for Hiring

This shift is already changing the profile of sales talent that organisations need. Many companies are hiring fewer entry-level salespeople than they were two years ago. At the same time, demand is growing for individuals who can think commercially, communicate effectively, and operate confidently in complex buying environments.

The strongest candidates today tend to share three characteristics:

  1. They’re AI-literate. They know how to leverage technology to work smarter and move faster.
  2. They’re commercially minded. They understand business problems, not just sales processes.
  3. They’re relationship builders. Because even in an AI-enabled world, people still buy from people.

 

A Framework Worth Considering:

A sales leader recently shared a model with me that captures the current reality quite well.

Think of your sales function as:

  • 10% human strategy – defining ICPs, messaging, positioning and market approach
  • 80% AI-assisted execution – research, outreach, analysis and administration
  • 10% human influence – discovery, negotiation, stakeholder management and deal progression

Whether the percentages are exactly right is almost irrelevant. The principle is what matters. Technology should handle the repeatable work. Your people should focus on the moments that actually determine whether a deal is won or lost.

The debate shouldn’t be whether AI will replace salespeople. The next step for successful GTM leaders will build leaner teams, improve productivity, and create more capacity for the activities that genuinely drive revenue.

Because while AI is changing how sales gets done, it hasn’t changed what ultimately closes deals. Trust remains fundamental & that’s still a very human advantage.

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Challenging the Challenger Brands – the changing face of sales hiring for scaling FMCG brands

 

Looking back to look forward

Back in the olden days when I started hiring into FMCG – 2006 to be exact – the most sought-after brands to work for and poach from were very much the blue chips….. L’Oreal, Mars, P&G, Unilever, Diageo all had exceptional graduate talent that coursed throughout their businesses and moving between those top tier brands was commonplace and the liked of Innocent or Gu, did brilliantly by enticing that talent with a challenger opportunity.

Fast forward 20 years and that talent is less in demand – why?

For today’s challenger brands, it makes sense on paper. They’ve worked with elite leadership teams. They’ve got the training. They know what “good” looks like. Surely, they’ll bring all that magic to your business?

However, I speak with SME leaders in FMCG every week who are wrestling with this exact question. And while bringing in Blue Chip talent can work wonderfully in the right circumstances, it can also go spectacularly wrong. Let me share what I’ve learned from countless conversations with both sides of this equation.

 

The need for grit

Whether it’s a generational thing or its simply the nature of how FMCG / Grocery has evolved, there is challenge around every corner for commercial teams but the challenges Unilever and Mars face are intrinsically different to challengers – when you’re the 4th, 5th, or even 7th brand in your category, you’re fighting for every scrap of attention. You don’t get the same airtime with buyers that the market leaders enjoy and the budgets are dwarfed by the category leaders – in short, the path to winning is very, very different and therefore the talent needs to have the grit, even sheer bloody mindedness to keep going despite the knocks.

Its more salesy, more creative and far broader – in a challenger the founder may know less than the NAM about a JBP. You won’t have an NAE, Trade & Category, a field sales team……. So, the role is broader, the need to do the admin, the selling & the numbers is all encompassing – it’s A LOT! Those who can’t multi- task and where 20 different hats on a given day may struggle and unfortunately, the longer an individual remains within the blue-chip circuit the more indoctrinated into structure they become.

 

Interview focus

So, whilst every interview can be different, my advice is to focus that first stage on identifying the following traits – by creating a scorecard for each, a founder can assess these criteria objectively……. Avoidance of hiring on pure gut feel or having worked for the “right” brands for sales roles something to avoid.

  • Resilience: The ability to hear “no” repeatedly and keep going with genuine enthusiasm
  • Sales hunger: A real drive to win new business, not just manage existing accounts
  • Adaptability: Comfort with ambiguity and changing priorities
  • Self-sufficiency: The ability to work without extensive support structures
  • Commercial awareness: Understanding that every penny matters

Someone who’s built their career at a challenger brand or another SME often has these qualities in abundance. Whilst its not to say a blue-chip trained candidate won’t have these skills but any strong founder or commercial leader will need to deep dive into potential candidates psyches to make that final assessment.

 

The Bottom Line

The best hire for your growing business might have a CV that looks very different from what you imagined. Someone who’s succeeded at another challenger brand, who’s had to fight for every win, who understands that resilience and hustle matter as much as process and polish, could be exactly what you need.

Blue Chip experience isn’t a guarantee of success in an SME environment. And SME experience isn’t a consolation prize.

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The underlying problems in FMCG sales hiring and what to do differently

Clients often put it to me that there’s a scarcity of qualified professionals looking for that second or third job in the Sales and Account Management space in FMCG.

But the truth is, there’s not a lack of impressive professionals. They’re simply just looking in the wrong places.

If you too are struggling to hire a National Account Executives (NAE) or Junior Commercial Talent, there may be some hard truths to face.

In this blog, I’m going to cover the 4 main reasons you might not be getting what you’re after and tips on how to avoid putting all you’re the best candidates off.


1. Candidates aren’t wow’ed by your benefits as much as you think
It might seem obvious, but if an individual has had over a year’s exposure to P&L, they need not only need to be rewarded. They need to be rewarded adequately.

Especially if they have the right skill set.

Remember: It’s rare these candidates can be secured for packages lower than £40k per annum.


2. Candidates aren’t demanding as much as you think
Those who want a £10k pay rise and will only work for a top 20 FMCG brand might sound bold, but in reality, this is a reasonable market rate and requirement when it comes to salary change.


3. They’ve got more options than you think
And I’m not just talking the top brands.

These days there is a whole new world of choice in the start-up, SME space.

What’s so appealing?

The next wave of innocent drinks copycats may entice with modern interior, multi-functional breakout spaces, flexible and co-working options working, cycle to work schemes and other perks like unlimited beer taps and table tennis next to their desks.

This means there’s nothing stopping candidates stepping outside the sector and into the consulting, finance or tech industry.

Remember: it’s likely that they’re able to use their client-facing experience to command a premium.


4. Entry opportunities offered aren’t as exciting as you think
This may come as a shock but not that many people want to trek round the country for a couple of years in a branded Mini. It seems a lot of companies are missing a trick if the opportunity for entry level FMCG sales is limited.

If they don’t come through a graduate scheme and this is the only way to secure an admin-led NAE role they’re probably going to be put off.

Remember: field sales experience is useful but is rarely a springboard into national accounts these days.

 

If you want to bag the best of the best read these 2 tips below:

1. Invest in grad schemes / programmes
As they grow with you, you’ll be able to hold on to your talent for longer.

Candidates who enter the sector earning at £30,000 can easily be progressed within 2–3 years to a larger role earning up to £15–20k more.

It’s often at this point they need a career move to smash through the glass ceiling to the next level.

2. Hire outside of FMCG
Aside from this, my advice to FMCG hiring managers is that you must, must open your eyes and understand there is a huge pool of talent outside FMCG.

If you don’t step outside the box when hiring, you’ll only end up hiring all the same type of people. You can do so much better than only hiring people who have worked in FMCG doing the same role in a similar business. P.S. moving from retail buying doesn’t count!

If you have a diverse pool of talent it adds richness through different lenses of knowledge, experiences, cultures and backgrounds.

Diversity breeds creativity and innovation equating to better financial performance.


A common misconception is there’s a shortage of talent in applicants for FMCG.

But in fact, there is great talent, it’s just you that you’ve been looking into the wrong place! Talent can easily be attracted by some of the sectors mentioned above and elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the industry is still blinkered, and mainly hiring from within.

The bulk of hiring managers want candidates who ‘tick every box’

What do you need to do differently?


Firstly, get real!

When you change your mindset you change the game.

If you are doing any of the 4 points I mentioned above, then I can guarantee the candidate will be bored in three months and looking for his next step in 12 months at the latest!

Remember: there’s always someone else prepared to offer an extra £10k and a bigger job.

So, forget the industry and focus on the person.

Find the right competencies, the right personal attributes, which match your brand values, and train the rest!

In three months, that person will be a far stronger and more positive employee that’s genuinely grateful for the opportunity your business gave them.

If you want to read more about this topic and understand why sales professionals are moving from retail to the supplier side more and more, check out my colleague, Richard Bowen’s most recent blog.

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