The world is constantly changing. Technology is evolving at a quick rate. And the sales industry is never stagnant. Is your sales team staying the same?

With so much changing so quickly in the business world, your sales people need to be improving sales skills continuously. If not, your sales team risks becoming irrelevant, ineffective, and obsolete.

Here are some of the reasons why your sales team should always be improving sales skills.

Connecting with Buyers Is Tougher

In the past, all it took was a little bit of savvy and persuasion to get people to buy. But now, selling is much more difficult. Decision buyers are screening your reps’ calls. Their emails are going straight to the trash. It’s tougher than ever to connect with decision makers.

This means that your sales people need to change the way they try to connect. If cold calls don’t work—stop cold calling. If no one is responding to their emails—they need to think outside of the box and find new ways to get buyers’ attention.

If they keep doing the same things, they can’t expect different results.

Customers Are Savvier

Buyers have become immune to outdated sales techniques. Aggression, manipulation, and persuasion don’t work on them anymore. If your sales people continue to use these tired old tactics, they’ll only push prospects and buyers further away. Your sales team should be improving sales skills in order to put these old tactics to bed and find more effective sales strategies that actually work.

The Buyer’s Journey Has Drastically Changed

Sales people used to be the gatekeepers of information. As a result, prospects and buyers wanted—and needed—to talk to them to learn more. But now, thanks to the internet, buyers have changed. They can find virtually all of the information they’re looking for online. And they’re going through the majority of the buyer’s journey on their own. Plus, buyers are now in control—not your sales people.

Sales people need to be improving their sales skills in order to match this new buyer’s journey. They must understand what buyers actually want and need from sales people, and adapt.

Generic Doesn’t Work Anymore

Are your sales people calling up prospects with the same generic sales pitch? Are they using generic presentations during sales calls? If so, they need to upgrade their skills. Personalization is now crucial in sales. Your sales people need to become customer-centric. They need to have personalized conversations, create personalized emails, and create custom presentations based on the buyers’ unique wants, needs, and pain points.

Technology Changes Quickly

Many sales people refuse to adopt technology. They figure that they didn’t need fancy tools and technologies to sell in the past, so they don’t need them now, either. But the competition is using email tracking software, digital signature software, CRM, and other tools. And they’re increasing efficiency and productivity because of it. Plus, they’re gaining valuable lead data that helps them close deals. So your sales people need to get on board with new sales tools on the market to stay on par with the competition.

Buyers Don’t Trust Sales People

Buyers believe that sales people are sleazy and dishonest. They’ve been burned by sales people in the past who made false promises and unrealistic claims. So they’re weary now. If dishonesty, stretching the truth, and saying anything to get the sale is the mantra in your office, your sales people definitely need to be improving sales skills.

They need to learn how to boost their credibility. They need to focus on building trust with sales clients in order to combat the negative sales person stereotype.

There are endless reasons why your sales team needs to change, improve, and adapt. The world has changed, and the way they sell has to change, too.