The economic pressure on companies is greater than in years. Staff shortages, rising costs, and a growing mountain of internal processes are causing many organizations to focus primarily inward. Where strategy once revolved around growth, it now revolves around survival.
Figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) show that staff shortages are structural in many sectors; in some sectors, such as construction and industry, more than 80% of entrepreneurs are experiencing a shortage of staff. At the same time, absenteeism due to illness remains stubbornly high. In 2023, employees missed an average of 5.3% of their workdays, and by early 2025, that percentage will have risen again to 5.8%. This translates to an increase of more than one extra day of absence per employee in just two years, an increase of almost 9%.
And where technology was once intended to unburden, it now actually creates additional noise. According to Gartner research, digital workers use an average of 11 applications per day, and almost half say this actually hinders their ability to work effectively.
The result: internal pressure increases, external focus fades, and teams become fatigued by their own complexity.
The result is predictable: internal pressure increases, priorities shift, and external focus fades. In many organizations, sales meetings now revolve more around internal alignment than customer value. Teams analyze, report, and optimize themselves, but lose touch with the outside world.
What was once the heart of the sales role—building relationships and identifying market opportunities—has been replaced by dashboard discussions and status updates. The outside world calls, but many account managers no longer listen.
The figures from LinkedIn’s State of Sales Report 2024 speak volumes. 68% of sales professionals say that taking notes and entering data takes up most of their time, and despite all those hours, only 2% believe their CRM data is truly accurate. Meanwhile, 75% don't consistently follow their own sales methodology, and 61% find selling more difficult today than ten years ago.
The gap between the shop floor and management is growing: only 2% of sales reps feel truly confident in their roles, compared to 20% of managers. Yet, it's precisely the reps, the people in direct contact with customers, who hold the key to growth.
And while everyone knows that an organization's strength lies not in the meeting room, but in the field—in conversations, in listening, in catching that one sentence that reveals an opportunity—that reality seems to be increasingly fading.
This lack of outward focus has a price. Conversations become shorter, more superficial, and shift from strategic to operational. Customers experience less added value, while competitors, often smaller and more agile, seize their advantage there.
It's a paradox: companies are investing more in CRM, sales enablement, and internal training than ever before, yet these same systems make it difficult to actually sell. Not because the tools are bad, but because they misdirect attention. Activity reports replace the conversation about impact.
Meanwhile, the world outside is moving faster than ever. Customers are open to dialogue, partners are seeking collaboration, and technology is opening up new avenues for growth every day. The market wants to innovate, but demands human contact.
We see this daily in the conversations we have on behalf of our clients with companies like Schneider Electric, Iron Mountain, Heijmans, Arcadis, and many others. Where organizations dare to call, listen, and ask questions, energy is generated. The market isn't closed; it's actually hungry. But that hunger demands something that is becoming increasingly rare: genuine attention.
Many decision-makers struggle with digital fatigue. They spend all day in calls, webinars, and virtual meetings. What they miss is the unexpected conversation, the sparring partner who listens instead of pitching. That's the space where new business is born today: not in tools, but in trust.
Organizations that understand this are shifting their focus. They're focusing less on internal activity and more on external relevance. They dare to ask the question: "How much of our time is really spent with customers?" And if the answer is painful, they know that's where their profit lies.
The future of commerce lies not in yet another process, but in renewed contact. Companies that give their teams the space to listen, discover, and make mistakes are regaining their position in the market.
Is your team still actively engaging with the ideal customer?
Do your account managers dare to go out? Or are they hiding behind internal priorities – safe, predictable, but also quiet?
Who Daring to ask these questions is the first step toward a commercial team that not only survives but thrives again. The rest are still debating why the market is so volatile.