2025 Mid-Year Review - 4 B2B Trends + Strategic Actions

Things move so quickly now, I feel like I could write a "YTD trends and actions to take" post monthly! That's a tad overkill, so let's take a look at the biggest trends I've noticed that are affecting B2B sales teams, and strategic actions you can take now to help close out your year strong.

1. More Pipeline, Slower Closes

Stat: 72% of B2B sales teams report longer deal cycles compared to 2024 (LinkedIn B2B Sales Benchmark).

Why it matters: A full pipeline doesn’t guarantee revenue. The winners will be the teams who qualify ruthlessly to avoid wasting time. The sooner you suss out the people looking at another option just in case something happens, folks curious about new technology, teams price-checking their current supplier, the more time you have to spend on people who have a real challenge you can help solve, the resources to implement your solution, and a timeline that lines up with your goals too (closing deals by 12/31).

How to recognize you may have a challenge:

• Do a lot of deals have "check back in two weeks" as a status?

• Have you seen deals in the pipeline for multiple quarters or even years?

• Are there projected closes that keep bumping out to next quarter?

• Does the hype not match the results?

Take this action now: Review your sales process and ensure your resp are performing deep discovery to qualify prospects, going beyond interest. What are their business challenges? The impact of those challenges? Do they have resources (budget and time) to implement your solution? Most important especially when we're in the 2025 homestretch- what is their desired time-line?

Bonus action: Do a pipeline review now so you avoid wasting time on the wrong deals, there's still time to find new prospects who can buy before the end of the year.

Success snapshot: One of my clients did the one-tow punch and implemented both of those actions. The result? The pipeline shrank and stayed small. Reps went from doing 5-10 demos per week to just 2. And a 2x increase in closed deals.

2. The Rise of Dark Social

Stat: 61% of SaaS buyers say private channels (Slack, text, peer DMs) are more influential than brand content.

Why it matters: Your buyers are vetting you in conversations you can’t see. The old “funnel” is now a web of untrackable trust-building. In other words they're talking about you behind your back in rooms where you're not invited.

How to recognize you may have a challenge:

• Ever lose a deal after the team received verbal commitment or after the contract was sent for review/signature?

• After the demo do you ever get additional rounds of questions?

• Has someone other than the decision maker or main contact ever killed a deal?

Take this action now: Get your sales and marketing folks together. Gain an understanding of the profiles of the roles typically involved in your deals - what does each influencer generally care about? Then produce unique content that can speak directly to the influencer that's easily found on your site.

Success snapshot: A client of mine was losing deals they should be winning; turned out If IT Managers were concerned with how much effort they'd have to put into implementing their solution. It took a coordinated effort between their sales, implementation, IT and marketing teams - we created a downloadable implementation guide that spoke directly to IT managers and their concerns, walking them through the process. We gated it and it became a clear buying signal.

3. AI Fatigue Is Real

Stat: 44% of buyers say they’re overwhelmed by AI messaging and prefer human-first positioning (Salesforce State of Marketing).

Why it matters: If your differentiation hinges on “AI-powered,” you risk blending in. Credibility now comes from clear human outcomes. This is the same old differentiation challenge, just AI-powered and much faster evolving. It's simple though, if everyone has some AI-powered, leveraging AI or AI-first, then in the eyes of your buyer, it's all the same. When it's perceived as all the same people makes decisions based on the open thing they can easily quantify - price.

How to know if you may have a challenge:

• Were you getting engagement on your AI content in 2024 but it no longer gets any attention?

• Did you get into AI this year after it felt safe and you're not getting the lift you expected?

Take this action now: Review your content from the point of view of your ICP (AI can help you do this), and make necessary edits. What you want is content that talks about the business challenges of your buyer so they feel seen. And addresses how you solve them. Remember, your solution is great and you deserve to be proud of it. However, your buyer doesn't care about a list of features.

Success snapshot: A client, and early AI adopter, was bringing in huge deals largely due to their innovative system. But sales started slumping in 2024 so we shifted messaging to the positive impact the solution made in the daily work lives of their users. The sales function rebounded.

4. Proving Value Over Polishing Vibes

Stat: 58% of B2B buyers are more skeptical of marketing claims without proof (TrustRadius).

Why it matters: Trust is the new moat. You need evidence in the form of case studies, quantified ROI, peer validation (social proof) in order to convert risk-averse buyers. Think about the way you make a major decision like a car purchase. Do you go to the dealer and trust everything the sales guy says? Or do you read overviews from expert testers, check consumer reports, compare features and specs, and check reviews from other buyers?

How to know if you may have a challenge:

• Do prospects ever tell your team they need to think about it?

• Are you losing deals because prospects don't see ROI?

• Do prospects ever decide to give their current solution another chance?

Take this action now: Get client success or service together with marketing. Who are the happy clients right now? Get those folks to participate in a case study (offer a gift, discount or other incentive for their time) or make it easy for them to give an online review. Don't be afraid to ask, happy clients will do you a solid.

Success snapshot: A client of mine didn't have any case studies on their website because they worked in a highly competitive industry and didn't want to disclose client names for all the poacher salespeople to see. We created anonymized case studies that told real challenges and highlighted how my client helped. We avoided corporate speak and used real talk, and we ungated them. It's hard to get metrics because we can't track downloads, but they are getting a lot of clicks and sales are improving. Anonymous > nothing.

You Don't Need an Overhaul

But you should take steps to win the deals you deserve to win. A few smart adjustments to how you qualify, prove value, and build trust can create compounding gains in the second half of 2025. Close the year strong and carry that momentum into 2026.

Ready to Rock?

If you're the kind of leader who wants not just to finish this year strong, but has your eye on next year and the several years following, let's plan for and build something amazing.

I just packaged my body of work into a modular GTM approach designed to diagnose what's keeping your org from reaching it's fullest potential. We do the most impactful actions and leave the fluff behind, helping you achieve your next level of growth.

We start by getting aligned. Do you even have any bottlenecks that are slowing your growth? Are they even worth if for you to address? Not a sales call, it's a quick strategy session.

Book your alignment scan today (before it's too late to impact this year's revenue.

Rise of Us is where B2B companies outgrow guesswork.

Founded by Summer Poletti, we help SaaS and fintech teams in the $2M–$30M ARR range get clear, get aligned, and get serious about revenue growth.

If you’re tired of sporadic wins, siloed efforts, and a pipeline you can’t trust, our unique approach shows you exactly where to focus, and how to execute with precision.