The #1 2025 trend that has secretly stopped your sales growth (and what to focus on instead!)

Happy October! If you've been following recent episodes of the Selling to Corporate ® podcast, you'll know I love a good trend prediction—and this year, one big shift has arrived faster than expected. So… what's stopping B2B sales growth right now? The #1 Hidden Trap: Negativity + Lack of Strategy Despite a booming B2B market (yes, companies ARE spending more, hiring external suppliers, and booking high-value engagements!), I'm seeing more consultants and sales professionals struggle to hit their revenue targets. Why? Here's what's happening: Negativity Echo Chambers: There's an overwhelming focus on everything feeling hard—market uncertainty, global events, peer groups venting frustrations. If your daily rhythm starts with news or LinkedIn doom-scrolling, your sales mindset takes a major hit before you even begin working. Peer-Led Accountability (Used Wrong): While supportive networks are great for encouragement, relying on peers for strategic decision-making or troubleshooting technical sales problems simply doesn't work anymore. You wouldn't ask your best friend to diagnose your heart problem, right? The same thinking applies to your sales process. Mistaking Knowledge for Results: Just knowing how sales "should" work isn't enough. The market is changing fast. What brought you success last year may fall flat this year. Continuous accountability, real strategy, and expert guidance keep the needle moving. The Good News: There's Huge Opportunity if You Shift Focus Even in this wild year, our podcast community has been sharing wins: Clients having their best month ever 30K speaking engagements secured 6-figure contracts signed with new clients in under 6 weeks High conversion rates for those who stay focused on actionable strategy It's not about ignoring the hard stuff—it's about how you show up for your business before the negativity sets in. Strategic action, consistent outreach, and real accountability are your best friends right now. What to Do Next If you want 2026 to look radically different (and better!) for your business: Get strategic support that's built for where you are and where you want to go, not just trending advice from peers or influencers. Consider how you're really spending your "sales" time each day. Are you letting outside noise dictate your results? Take a look at your goals for next year. Are they clear—and matched with a sales strategy that aligns? Opportunities Not to Miss: The Expert Services Directory is almost full in some categories. If you coach execs in London, we have just TWO spots left for the next 12 months. The final ever round of The C Suite ® program is open for enrolment until 31st October or until all 45 remaining spots are taken (whichever comes first). This is the program with a 96% market success rate, and it's created millions in revenue for participants in 20+ countries. Don't miss out—this is your final chance. Stay tuned—upcoming podcast episodes will feature case studies, breakthrough sales stories, and practical planning tips you won't want to miss. Let's make the most of what's left of 2025—and plan for a phenomenal 2026!  Key Quotes; Who Should Teach You B2B Sales? 00:00:4500:01:03 "If somebody has not worked in a business development and specifically a new business development management or new business development sales director type position in a corporate company, then they have no business giving you any advice on how to sell to companies." The Importance of Qualified Strategic Advice 00:29:5600:30:24 "But when we're not taking strategic advice from somebody who is qualified in their field to troubleshoot that advice, who's qualified in their field to be able to make changes and make appropriate and educated changes, rather than just telling them to do the same thing repeatedly without, you know, checking anything, that person continues to get lower results." The Panic Trap—Why More Content Doesn't Always Fix Your Business 00:38:4000:39:06 "So this is where people really panic and they're like, oh my gosh, well, if it's not working, if the market's awful, I'm going to start posting on social media every day. I'm going to create 10 hours worth of content a week. I'm going to be doing free webinars and I'm going to do a three part newsletter sequence with, you know, some kind of tech funnel that drips them into a paid product for 99 pounds or whatever it is. And that doesn't work and they don't see results." The Pitfalls of Peer-Led Environments 00:32:4900:33:21 "In a peer led environment, there is this vacuum of knowledge and motivation and innovation and ability to troubleshoot. So the negativity that can be there, combined with the lack of strategy and consistent application of that strategy and ability to troubleshoot it in the right way, that's caused real issues because it has created these kinds of echo chambers of "oh, well, everyone's doing badly." The Power of Celebrating Success 00:48:1700:48:39 "What really makes me sad is that there are people who've had an amazing year this year who don't want to talk about it. They don't want to say it publicly because they don't want to make other people who are in the weeds feel bad. And that's really awful because actually, if we don't start talking positively about, you know, this person's done this amazing thing, this person's achieved this awesome goal, this person's still standing at this level. All we hear is that negativity. So we assume everything's bad, and so they miss out on the opportunity to inspire a whole bunch of people."   Key Resources Mentioned in this Episode:   Click here for the direct link to The C Suite ® 2026: https://smartleaderssell.thrivecart.com/the-c-suite-2026-live/   If you want to learn more about The Expert Services Directory, click here: http://bit.ly/4f3ch1I   If you've enjoyed listening to How educating decision makers is screwing your sales process check out these other episodes that may be of interest.   Top B2B Trends and Insights to set yourself up for success https://bit.ly/SellingtoCorporate060   Why content doesn't work to sell to corporate clients https://bit.ly/SellingToCorporate135   Converting Corporates is the B2B sales event of the year for service based entrepreneurs, if you want to join the waitlist for 2026 click the link https://smartleaderssell.vipmembervault.com/cc2026waitlist   If you would like to sign up for our weekly newsletter to stay in touch with the latest B2B sales tips and techniques click https://sellingtocorporate.com/newsletter/   Content Disclaimer The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article, video or audio are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article, video or audio. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article, video or audio. Jessica Lorimer disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article, video or audio.