Why Sales Tech Is Wasting 42% of Rep Time And What the Smartest Teams Are Doing About It

Why are sales teams still wasting time, even with CRMs, dashboards, and AI?

That’s what 500 sales leaders tried to answer in the State of Sales Technology 2025 report.

Despite record-level tech investment, the findings were clear:

Sales teams spend 42.3% of their time fighting with inefficient tools.

The top culprits?

• CRMs

• Data analytics platforms

• Contract management systems

• And the layer cake of integrations between them

But the stat that stood out even more:

81% of sales leaders are considering replacing their CRM in the next 12 months.

That’s not a tweak, it’s a mass exodus in motion.

Why? Because leaders aren’t just chasing better data.
They’re looking for execution that shows up in the field.

The disconnect: Strategy is set but not seen where it counts

Sales tech promised efficiency, visibility, and faster decisions.
But the real-world outcome looks different:

• Coaching conversations happen too late

• Forecasts rely more on instinct than evidence

• Reps work harder, yet still miss key buyer signals

• Enablement gets stuck in Notion pages, not workflows

Tech didn’t fix the execution gap. It complicated it.

This is the paradox the report lays bare:
Even with the right strategy, product, and people, performance remains unpredictable.

So what do the best teams do differently?

One example: How Fospha found clarity in the chaos

Fospha, a marketing attribution platform, wasn’t struggling with effort or ambition.
Their sales team was sharp. Their product resonated. Their GTM strategy was sound.

But the execution was hit-or-miss.

“I consistently run into two problems,” said CRO Tom Sheepshanks.
“1. Have we set the right sales strategy for a fast-changing market?
2. Are our team executing it in the right way?”

Status updates replaced true pipeline insight.
Handoffs lacked context.
Strategy lived in slides, not in conversations with buyers.

Like most companies in the 2025 survey, they weren’t looking for more tools.
They needed a system that turned strategy into something operational, something reps used every day, without friction.

The Sales Operating System designed to close the execution gap

Hive Perform wasn’t built to replace your CRM.
It was built to solve the problem your CRM doesn’t: making execution visible, trackable, and daily.

Fospha implemented Hive Perform as their Sales Operating System, a layer that connects strategy, people, and pipeline through live buyer data, intelligent prioritization, and rep-ready workflows.

Here’s how the system works:

🧠 1. Buyer Behavior Becomes the Operating System

Most tech stacks track rep activity. Hive Perform flips that.

It listens to the buyer.
If there's no engagement in 10 days, if value messaging hasn’t landed, or if stakeholders are missing, Hive Perform surfaces that risk in real-time, so leaders can act early.

Buyers drive the signal. Reps follow with purpose.

📍 2. Strategic Initiatives Get Embedded in Daily Workflow

Whether it’s a new pitch, a pricing motion, or a qualification framework, rolling out sales strategy is hard to track.

Hive Perform makes strategy stick by tying it to initiatives that live inside the pipeline.
You can see who’s applying the playbook, which messaging lands, and where reinforcement is needed.

Strategy is no longer a training module. It’s a live, trackable system.

🧭 3. Deal Fit Drives Ruthless Prioritization

CRMs fill with deals that will never close.
Hive Perform scores fit dynamically, so reps know which opportunities deserve time and which to walk from.

Fospha’s reps learned to:

• Focus on high-fit, high-velocity opportunities

• Move faster on strong signals

• Qualify out the noise, faster than the competition

This wasn’t about being efficient. It was about being effective, where it counts.

What changed at Fospha: From firefighting to confident execution

In under 3 months, the results were visible across the board:

• 35% increase in sales

• 160 hours of admin time reclaimed per quarter

• New reps ramped in just over a month

“We didn’t just gain visibility,” said CRO Tom Sheepshanks.
“We gained control. Everyone knew what mattered, what needed action, and how to show up ready.”

Hive Perform didn’t give them another reporting layer.
It gave them a system to scale execution without sacrificing quality or accountability.

Sales tech might be bloated. But your strategy doesn’t have to be.

The State of Sales Technology 2025 tells a story we’re all familiar with:

• Too many tools

• Too little clarity

• And a sales experience that still relies too heavily on rep memory

The best teams are breaking the pattern.

They’re shifting from fragmented tools to focused systems.
From after-the-fact reporting to in-the-moment guidance.
From hoping reps execute… to knowing they are.

That’s what Hive Perform delivers, not just visibility, but execution.
Not another tab, but the one place where your strategy, team, and buyer reality connect.

Because in today’s GTM world, the companies that win aren't the ones with more tools. They’re the ones who make execution inevitable.

Want to see where Hive Perform fits in your stack?

Whether you're:

• Replacing fragmented enablement tools

• Scaling a new GTM motion

• Or trying to regain control of execution without adding admin…

Let’s show you how Hive Perform works across Salesforce, HubSpot, Gong, and your existing workflows.