10 ways sales has changed since 2006

Published: Wed, 06/17/26

Updated: Fri, 06/19/26

June 17, 2026

TOGETHER WITH

Welcome back to The Quota you know and love. In case you needed a reminder, we’re two weeks away from the end of Q2. And in case you needed a sales tip, here’s one: never mistake a polite prospect for an interested one. Now that we’re sufficiently grounded, let’s get into the newsletter. Enjoy!

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

17.6%

Most salespeople don’t love their job. Only 17.6% of respondents rate their job satisfaction as outstanding.

Source: Sales Insights Lab

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

A former manager at a Texas car lot was charged with third-degree felony theft after allegedly stealing over $130,000 from the business. Maria Elizabeth Guerrero, 35, was served with a warrant on May 24 and charged in connection with the theft. The case began on August 11, 2025, when Laredo police officers responded to a report of a theft at an auto sales lot in the 4200 block of Texas 359. A business representative said they wanted to file a theft report against a former employee. Guerrero allegedly manipulated cash payments to appear as credit or debit card payments, disguising the theft of money from the business over several months. You can read more about it here.
A Canadian BMW owner recently thought he had negotiated a great deal to sell his car back to a local dealer. After a series of online exchanges, a representative who went by "Quinn" agreed to pay $27,162.79 CAD ($19,451 USD) for the vehicle. There was just one problem: Quinn wasn't a person. It was an AI chatbot. And according to a report from CBC News, the dealership later claimed the offer was a mistake to the tune of $7000 ($5011 USD). A BMW Toronto sales consultant called the customer and told him that Quinn was not a real person and that the dealer was revoking the offer, putting forth a new one of just $20,000 CAD. You can read more about it here.

FEATURE

10 Ways Sales Has Changed Since 2006

Twenty years ago, sales looked very different. Reps carried BlackBerrys instead of smartphones. Zoom didn't exist. CRM adoption was growing, but many salespeople still relied on spreadsheets, notebooks, and memory.

The fundamentals of selling haven't changed. People still buy from people they trust. But the tools, buyer behavior, and day-to-day reality of the profession have evolved dramatically. Here are ten ways sales has changed since 2006.

1. Most reps didn’t have LinkedIn

In 2007, LinkedIn reached 10 million users. Today, it has more than a billion members worldwide. For many salespeople, it has become the primary tool for researching prospects, building relationships, and generating opportunities. According to LinkedIn's timeline, the platform was still a relatively small professional network in the mid-2000s.

2. The salesperson used to be the primary source of information.

In 2006, a salesperson was often the primary source of information about a product. Today, buyers typically research solutions online long before speaking with a rep. According to multiple B2B studies, buyers often complete more than half of their research before contacting a vendor.

3. Inside sales beat outside sales.

Outside sales once dominated many industries. Reps spent days driving between appointments, flying to customer sites, and working trade shows. While field sales still exists, inside sales teams now handle a much larger share of B2B selling.

4. Video calls replaced countless flights.

The pandemic accelerated a trend that was already underway. Many meetings that once required airfare, hotels, and expense reports now happen over Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet.

5. CRM became mandatory.

Twenty years ago, using a CRM could make a sales organization seem sophisticated. Today, it is basic infrastructure. According to LinkedIn's State of Sales research, CRM data has become central to how sales organizations operate and measure performance.

6. Buyers became harder to reach.

Caller ID, spam filters, crowded inboxes, and remote work have made prospecting more difficult. Getting someone's attention is often harder than it was twenty years ago, even though there are more tools available than ever.

7. The sales tech stack exploded.

A typical salesperson in 2006 might have used email, a phone, and (maybe) a CRM. Today's reps often juggle prospecting platforms, conversation intelligence tools, sales engagement software, data providers, forecasting tools, and AI assistants.

8. Social selling became a real skill.

Building a personal brand was rarely part of a sales job two decades ago. Today, many reps generate opportunities through LinkedIn content and online networking. According to LinkedIn research, salespeople who embrace social selling consistently outperform peers who do not.

9. Buying committees got bigger.

Many deals now involve numerous stakeholders across departments. According to recent B2B research, buying groups have expanded significantly over the past decade, making consensus-building a larger part of the sales process.

10. AI entered the profession.

The newest change is also the fastest-moving. AI tools can summarize calls, draft emails, research prospects, forecast pipeline, and coach reps. Whether the technology ultimately transforms sales or simply becomes another tool in the stack remains to be seen, but its impact is already impossible to ignore.

Salespeople from 2006 would still recognize the profession today. There are still quotas, cold calls, objections, and negotiations. But they'd probably be amazed by how much of the job now happens through screens, software, and data—and how much of the buyer's journey takes place before the first sales conversation ever begins.

The AI assistant built for the way AEs actually work

Nobody goes into sales because they love data entry. Yet here we are.

You're carrying ten deals, prepping for back-to-back calls, and writing follow-ups at 10pm, and your CRM requires attention 24/7. AI was supposed to fix all this, but you've ended up with more tools to manage instead.

Expertise is the assistant built to actually take that off your plate. You tell it what you need the way you'd tell a person, and it works across your CRM, inbox, calendar, and call recordings to:

Draft follow-ups that sound like you, not a robot
Update your deals after every call
Prep you for meetings before you've had your coffee
Flag the deals going cold so you can save them

The best part? It learns how you sell, so everything it does sounds like you!

Use code QUOTA for 2000 bonus credits when you sign up.

See how it works

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

Approximately how many new and used car dealerships are there in the U.S.?

A. 84,000
B. 60,000
C. 70,000
D. 49,000

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

A few years ago, I flew to Phoenix for an onsite meeting with a prospect I'd been working for almost four months.

The meeting was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. I landed the night before, rehearsed my presentation in the hotel, and showed up to the company address at 9 on the dot.

The parking lot was empty. I checked the building directory. The company sign was still there, but the whole place was a ghost town.

Turns out, I was standing inside their old headquarters. They'd moved offices months earlier, and somehow everyone involved had continued using the old address on all correspondence with me. The new office was about 45 minutes away. I thought I was going to be sick.

I called my contact, explained what happened, jumped in the rental car, and spent the entire drive convinced I'd blown the deal. I finally walked into the conference room a little after 10:30, sweaty, apologizing, and expecting the worst.

The prospect laughed, said, "Honestly, we should've caught that," and we ended up having a great meeting. They signed a few weeks later. It's still the only deal I've ever closed after showing up to a meeting an hour late.

Anonymous Location Withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- June 2026

WORTH A PEEK

What’s the best way to pivot if you want to get out of sales? Maybe a “negative” question, but a useful one, nonetheless. It was recently posted to Reddit and garnered over 100 replies. You can check out the full conversation here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

I am great at getting meetings. I've booked conversations with companies most reps at my company would kill to talk to. The problem is that when the deal gets big, I can't seem to close it. The small and mid-sized opportunities move forward. The marquee accounts stall, drag out forever, or end up going with someone else. At what point do I stop blaming bad luck and admit I'm doing something wrong?

Frustrated in Location Withheld

Dear Frustrated,

f you're consistently getting into large accounts, you're clearly doing something right. The issue is probably not prospecting—it's what happens after the first meeting. Bigger deals usually involve more stakeholders, more politics, more risk, and a much higher burden of proof.

Instead of asking why the deal was lost, ask where momentum disappeared. Did you get access to decision-makers? Did you uncover a compelling reason to change? Did you build consensus beyond your champion?

Most reps who struggle with large deals have a deal development problem that shows up much later. But those skills can be learned. It's easier to learn how to win bigger deals than it is to learn how to get them in the first place.

Quiz Answer: Quiz answer: B. There are approximately 60,000 new and used car dealerships in the U.S. (you can see the source article here)

How did you like today's story?

Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik and Steve Rado.

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