Every few years, sales gets declared dead.

The internet was supposed to eliminate salespeople.

Inbound marketing was supposed to erase the middleman.
Now AI is supposedly making sales obsolete.

If you’ve been in sales long enough, you’ve heard this story before.

And for a while, many of us believed it.

THE REAL ISSUE WAS NEVER SALES

It was how sales showed up.

Buyers didn’t stop wanting help.
They stopped wanting bad experiences:

• Product-heavy conversations.
• Pitch-first interactions.
• Sales motions that talked at buyers instead of listening to them.

That’s why sales earned a negative reputation. And frankly, why many people—myself included—wanted distance from the profession at one point.

Everything changes when the focus shifts:

• When sales became about understanding instead of convincing.
• When conversations centered on the buyer instead of the product.
• When helping mattered more than closing.

That shift is the foundation of the Buyer First™ mindset—selling rooted in service, trust, and better buyer experiences.

Transform your audience's approach to sales.

Carole teaches audiences that attitudes toward an action affect our ability to perform it — meaning that if we want to perform better in sales, we must adopt more positive attitudes toward sales. And it starts with putting buyers first.

Ready to transform your sales team’s outcomes? Book your next event today!

AI WON’T REPLACE SALES—BUT IT WILL EXPOSE BAD SALES

AI is here. And yes, it will play a meaningful role.

Just like the internet did.
Just like CRM systems did.
Just like automation did.

But technology has never eliminated the need for salespeople.
It has eliminated the need for ineffective ones.

AI can surface insights.
AI can speed up processes.
AI can support better preparation.

What it can’t do is replace trust, curiosity, judgment, or empathy.

Sales is still human because buying decisions are still human.

WHY THE NEXT GENERATION GIVES US REASON TO BE OPTIMISTIC

Over the past several months, I've had the opportunity to work closely with emerging sales talent through:

• Harvard Business School
  
• The National Intercollegiate Sales Competition
  
• Upcoming guest lectures at Emlyon Business School
  

What’s clear is this:

The next generation doesn’t view sales as manipulation.
They view it as problem-solving.

They ask better questions.
They listen more closely.
They understand that relevance comes from mindset—not scripts.

And that’s the future.

WATCH THE VIDEO TO GO DEEPER

WHAT TOP PERFORMERS ACTUALLY HAVE IN COMMON

According to research from Objective Management Group, elite sales professionals don’t share the same tactics or techniques.

They share mindsets.

Those mindsets allow them to:

• Adapt faster to change
• Work effectively with new technology
• Meet buyers where they are—not where the process says they should be

SALES STILL CONNECTS PROBLEMS TO SOLUTIONS

At its best, sales is one of the most impactful professions in business.

It’s how ideas turn into outcomes.
How challenges meet clarity.
How businesses grow responsibly.

AI alone can’t do that.

But when humans use technology thoughtfully—grounded in curiosity, service, and buyer understanding—sales becomes a force for good again.

That’s what Unbound Growth is focused on building in the new year.

As we begin the new year, I’ll leave you with one question:

What do you want sales to represent in the new year?