3 ways sales teams are winning in today’s tech landscape

How we buy and sell has changed — and is continuing to do so as technology evolves at a rapid pace. We receive a constant stream of real-time information — product details, and peer reviews — straight to the palms of our hands by way of our mobile devices. Research indicates customers now handle half the buying journey alone before they even talk to a company.

Self-service is the new norm, and as anticipated, generative AI is shaking things up. For a modern sales team, this shift is an opportunity. The way we used to sell isn’t working anymore and modern sales teams are finding new and creative ways to grow.

There’s a simple truth that must be understood: people hate being sold to, but they love to buy. Combined with data-driven insights, it’s about knowing who to talk to, when to talk to them, and how to make them listen, a term referred to as “Contextual Lead Intelligence” and it allows sales teams to attract and convert high-value accounts methodically.

Let’s dig in and find out how they accomplish this.

Decoding the buyer’s journey

Traditionally, sales teams relied on gut feelings and guesswork to understand a customer’s journey. Modern sales teams track every step a prospect takes, from visiting a website to downloading content to opening emails. They don’t guess — they know where interest dips and when to tweak their approach. The data doesn’t lie.

These teams work together with marketing, creating campaigns that hit the right people in the right places. They’re not throwing darts in the dark — they’re using data to accurately aim.

And here’s where it gets interesting: with this deep understanding of the customer journey, modern sales teams can dive into the data that prospects leave behind. They can predict what the prospect will do next and nudge them along the path to a sale.

Scoring, predicting, and winning

What sets a modern sales team apart is the ability to effectively use customer data. They know when a prospect is ready to buy by analyzing lead details and reading the signals.

Here’s what they look at:

• The industry, size, and tools a prospect uses.
• Their purchase history — what they’ve bought before, how often, and when.
• Their intent — how they’ve interacted with your product, from trials to usage scores.

They feed this data into Predictive Lead Scoring models which tell them who to focus on and where each prospect is in the purchasing journey. It’s not about blasting out emails or making cold calls anymore. It’s about hyper-personalized outreach, targeting each lead’s specific interests and challenges to speed up the deal.

Asking the right questions, delivering incredible solutions

The best modern sales teams are curious. They ask questions, just like a scientist on the brink of discovery. Every question matters because the right one can lead to the perfect solution.

Take Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix. He got hit with a late fee for a rented movie and asked himself, “Why should I pay these fees?” That question led to another, “What if a video rental business worked like a health club?”

Fast forward, and Netflix is now asking even bigger questions like, “What if we not only rented shows but made them too?”

Like Hastings, modern sales teams have mastered the art of asking questions that spark breakthroughs. At Adobe, we call this the 3-Stage Questioning method:

1. Situation Analysis

• What’s the current situation? How did we get here?
• What’s working, and what’s not?

2. Consequence Drill Down

• What’s the risk if things stay the same?
• Which risks are compelling enough to push for change?

3. Forecasting Results

• What goals does the customer want to hit?
• What improvements would they expect if they made a change?

The path forward

Shifting to a modern, data-driven sales approach isn’t easy. It demands a full overhaul — new processes, tools, metrics, and skills. But the path forward is clear: embrace data, personalize engagement, and never stop asking questions.

By meeting the needs of today’s digital consumers, modern sales teams won’t just survive — they’ll thrive in a world where every transaction starts and ends on a screen.