What it is
Salesforce Research, the vendor’s own research arm, with product calls to action throughout.
Respondents were a third sales leaders, with the rest reps, operations and support, at companies from 21 to more than 3,500 employees. 54% say their sales teams use AI agents now; among teams with agents, 34% use them for prospecting. Reps spend about 40% of the week selling. 69% say customers care more about measurable return than a year ago and 57% say customers take longer to decide.
On tools, 42% of reps say they are overwhelmed by too many, and 84% of teams without a single platform plan to consolidate, a finding that matches the vendor’s product. Half of leaders with AI say technology silos delay their initiatives.
What marketing teams should take from it
- It gives the sales side of the handoff in chapter 3: what sales expects to receive and use, and how little time reps have for research.
- When an agent does first-touch prospecting, someone has to own it. That is the same accountability question finding 04.2 raises for marketing’s agents.
- The buyer findings, measurable return and slower decisions, are a brief for the proof that sales assets need.
- Many figures use the sub-group of teams already using agents, and the consolidation message matches the vendor’s offer.
Where to start
Bring it to the head of sales development when agreeing what a usable account brief looks like. It gives you their side in their own vendor’s words.
Use the 69% measurable-return figure in the brief for the next sales asset, and count your own standalone tools before the next consolidation review.
Keep in mind
A vendor survey of panel respondents with “using agents” undefined. It is about sales; marketing appears only by implication.
Where the report uses it
Read during the study design; not cited in the report or the perspectives.