I wrote an article about staying relevant in sales about ten years ago. At the time, I thought it was pretty insightful. Looking back now, I realize I had no idea how urgent that message would become.
The conversation that sparked that original article was with a friend who’d just left his sales management position. He told me he’d gotten frustrated because “only ten percent of the people I was dealing with are even relevant in today’s market, and ninety percent not only aren’t relevant, they don’t want to be.”
That was ten years ago. Today, I’d bet the percentage of irrelevant salespeople is even higher.
Why? Because the forces that were just beginning to reshape our profession back then have now completely transformed the sales landscape. And too many salespeople are still fighting yesterday’s war with yesterday’s weapons.
What’s Changed (And What Hasn’t)
When I wrote that original article, buyer empowerment was just starting to become a real issue. Today, buyers don’t just have access to information – they have access to better information than most salespeople do. They can research your company, your competitors, your pricing, and your customers’ experiences before you even know they exist.
The generational shift I was beginning to see then has now completely taken over. Millennial and Gen-Z buyers don’t just prefer different communication styles – they operate from fundamentally different assumptions about how business gets done. What Baby Boomers saw as relationship-building, younger buyers often see as time-wasting.
And then there’s the elephant in the room that wasn’t even visible ten years ago: AI. Artificial intelligence isn’t coming to transform sales – it’s already here. Your prospects are using AI to research vendors. Your competitors might be using AI to identify and reach prospects faster than you can. And if you’re not paying attention, AI might just make you irrelevant without you even noticing.
The Definition Still Matters
Merriam-Webster defines “relevant” as “having significant or demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand.” That definition hasn’t changed in ten years, but what constitutes “the matter at hand” certainly has.
If “the matter at hand” is helping your customers make profitable buying decisions, are you truly adding “significant or demonstrable bearing” to that process? Or are you just another voice in a crowded marketplace, saying the same things your competitors are saying, using techniques that worked when your prospects’ parents were making buying decisions?
Think about the last sale you lost. Really think about it. Why did you lose it? If your answer is “price” or “they went with a competitor” or anything that suggests the buyer made their decision without significant input from you, then you were irrelevant in that process.
That should terrify you.
The Obsolete Advice Problem
Here’s what really gets me: I see sales trainers pushing techniques that were marginal twenty years ago and are obsolete now, but they call them “tried and true.”
Cold email blasts to prospects who delete them without reading. Voicemail scripts that sound like they were written in 1995. Presentation formats that ignore how modern buyers actually consume information. Closing techniques that assume buyers have no other options.
These aren’t “proven methods.” They’re museum pieces.
The trainers pushing this stuff aren’t staying current. They’re not adapting to how buyers have changed. They’re not acknowledging that what worked on Baby Boomer buyers often backfires spectacularly with younger decision makers.
And salespeople keep following this advice because it’s easier than admitting that everything they learned needs to be updated.
The New Relevance Imperative
Ten years ago, staying relevant was important for long-term success. Today, it’s a matter of immediate survival.
Your prospects can buy from Amazon. They can research solutions on their own. They can compare vendors without ever talking to a salesperson. In this environment, you don’t automatically get a seat at the table – you have to earn it by proving you bring value that they can’t get anywhere else.
That value isn’t product knowledge anymore. Your prospects can Google that. It’s not company information – that’s on your website. The value you bring is insight, perspective, and the ability to help them think through complex decisions in ways they haven’t considered.
But only if you’re current. Only if you understand their world. Only if you’re relevant.
Five Steps to Staying Relevant (Updated for 2025)
The five steps I outlined ten years ago still apply, but they need some serious updating:
- Recognize that what got you here definitely won’t get you there. This was true ten years ago. It’s absolutely critical today. The sales techniques that worked even five years ago might be actively hurting you now. If you’re not constantly questioning your approach, you’re falling behind.
- Constantly update your knowledge – and I mean constantly. Ten years ago, I suggested staying aware of resources available to customers. Today, that’s table stakes. You need to understand not just what’s available, but how your prospects prefer to research, evaluate, and buy. You need to know what AI tools they’re using, what social platforms they trust, and how their decision-making processes have evolved.
- Make good decisions about new technology. This one’s gotten exponentially more important. AI, sales automation, social selling platforms – there’s more new technology available to salespeople than ever before. You can’t adopt everything, but you can’t ignore everything either. The salespeople who make smart technology choices will have massive advantages over those who don’t.
- Commit to personal and professional growth. This might be even more important than I thought ten years ago. The pace of change has accelerated. If you’re not growing, you’re not just standing still – you’re moving backwards relative to the market.
- Invest in staying current. This is where I see most salespeople fail. They want to stay relevant, but they don’t want to invest the time and money required. You need to read, attend conferences, take courses, experiment with new approaches. Yes, it’s expensive. Being irrelevant is more expensive.
The Bottom Line (Updated)
Ten years ago, I wrote that staying relevant was “neither easy nor cheap.” Today, I’d add that it’s also not optional.
The salespeople who embrace continuous learning, who adapt to changing buyer preferences, who leverage new technology thoughtfully, and who constantly evolve their approach – those salespeople will thrive.
The ones who cling to “tried and true” methods that stopped working years ago? They’ll join the growing ranks of the irrelevant, wondering why their phone stopped ringing and their pipeline dried up.
Your place in the business world can go away without you knowing it. That was true ten years ago, and it’s even more true today.
The choice is yours: Evolve or become extinct. There’s no middle ground anymore.
