Sales reps in Thailand spend just 30% of time selling
Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, released the new State of Sales report, sharing insights from 5,500 sales professionals across 27 countries — including 200 from Thailand.
The report highlights how sales teams are balancing technological advancements and building trusted customer relationships as they seek growth in a crowded marketplace.
Key insights from the research include:
Reps Struggle Finding Time to Meet Customer Expectations. Changing customer expectations is the #1 sales challenge worldwide, but it's hard to find the time to connect.
Sales reps in Thailand spend an average of just 30% of their working week connecting with customers.
64% of sales professionals in Thailand say changing customer expectations is more of a challenge than last year; only 16% say it's less of a challenge.
AI Adoption Surges, But Trust and Data Gaps Linger. Sales adoption of AI is climbing as teams push for productivity and personalisation, but concerns regarding integration, security, and customer distrust mean the technology's full potential for the profession has yet to be seen.
77% of sales teams in Thailand have fully implemented or are experimenting with AI. An additional 14% of teams are evaluating the technology.
The top sales benefit of AI in Thailand is data quality and accuracy.
The top obstacle sales teams in Thailand encounter while implementing AI is security concerns.
Bad data is holding back sales professionals, as only 35% of sales professionals globally trust the accuracy of their data.
Sales professionals in Thailand state that the key sales processes which are impeded by bad data include setting achievable sales targets and quotas (40%), account insights (37%) and competitive intelligence (35%).
Employee Retention Is Rising Globally. As labour markets tighten, sales employees are largely staying put. Globally, teams report 18% average staff turnover over the last 12 months - down from 25% in 2022. However, employee retention trends vary by region.
20% is the average estimated staff turnover rate in Thailand over the past year.
6% of sales professionals in Thailand are currently looking to change jobs.
"Evolving customer expectations means that sales professionals in Thailand 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," said Thitirat Tongtavorn, Country Leader of Salesforce Thailand. "For sales teams to successfully implement AI, companies must address the root of AI effectiveness by unifying data that can be accessed on a single trusted platform and build AI in the flow of work to maximise productivity."
Salesforce conducted a double-anonymous survey of 5,500 sales professionals between March 8 and April 18, 2024. Respondents were sourced from 27 countries across North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. Additional methodology and survey demographic details can be found in the report.
