B2B sales tactics that actually drove results (September–October 2026)

KEY FINDINGS

What this survey found

Percentages use the people who answered each question as the base. The breakdown of each base is shown above the chart for each question.

• The lead-generation method that leads to the most contracts 41.4% Referrals from existing customers 12 of 29 people (base: respondents) · See all results for this question
• What won deals have in common 37.9% Correctly grasped the client's problem 11 of 29 people (base: respondents) · See all results for this question
• The most common reason for losing a deal (the real reason found out later) 24.1% Lost on price / A competitor had already gotten in first (tied) 7 of 29 people (base: respondents) · See all results for this question

SAMPLE

From collected to valid responses

This shows how many of the responses received we excluded, and on what grounds. We removed responses whose wording and structure matched other respondents too closely, since they may have been written with generative AI. We added this criterion after collecting the responses.

Percentages below use the 29 valid responses as the base. The target was 100 responses.

RESULTS

Results by question

Each heading shows the most common answer. It is generated automatically from the tallies. The bars and the tables show the same figures. Click “View as a table” to open the table.

VOICES

What respondents wrote

We selected these from answers to the free-text questions. Company names, personal names and amounts of money are masked; everything else is exactly as written. They are not included in the aggregate data.

Q23. Write out, word for word, what you actually say in the first 15 seconds of a phone call

• I'm [name] from [company name]. Thank you for your continued support. I'm sorry to bother you, but could I speak with the head of General Affairs, Mr./Ms. [name] (or 'the head of General Affairs' if the name is unknown)? (Once the person picks up:) Thank you for your continued support. I'm [name] from [company name]. We're actually holding a seminar called [seminar name] about solving issues related to [topic]. I'm sorry to take up your time when you're busy, but could you spare a few minutes?

  Other services / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• My name is [name], and I was introduced to you by [name] at [company].
  I heard that your company uses insert nuts, so I'm reaching out.

  Wholesale / trading company / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / One of the top two performers in the department

• Thank you for your continued support. My name is [name] from [company name] Co., Ltd.
  I'm sorry to bother you while you're busy, but
  is the person in charge of hiring available?
  If yes →
  My name is [name], and I run the job listing site [site name].
  I've just become the dedicated representative for [city], so I'd like to visit and introduce myself…
  If no →
  I apologize.
  In that case, I'd like to call back when the person in charge is available,
  so about what time would they be in?
  I'd also like to ask for your name, so I can be polite when I call back.

  Staffing / temp agency / 4–9 years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• By the way, have you ever heard of a company called [company name]?

  Construction / real estate / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / A middling performer in the department

Q26. Write out, in the exact wording you use, the questions you always ask during discovery

• I've been hearing a lot lately that companies are having trouble with [issue]. Does your company have any concerns like that?
  (For industries that have work sites outside the client's offices) The other day I visited your [site/location], and I noticed [issue] was a bit concerning. Are you doing anything about it?
  That means you probably need to think about [some countermeasure] for [issue], right?

  Other services / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• I change it depending on the level of the person I am meeting.
  With the person in charge who has decision-making authority,
  "What do you think your president (or the decision-maker's name, etc.) values most when choosing a product?"
  "Depending on how the hiring turns out, could (the person in charge)'s performance review go up, or on the other hand go down...?"
  were questions I asked often.
  With the president, I asked about things on the company website that caught my interest.
  "I saw something on your website that caught my interest. Why did you focus on the ○○ business...?"
  → They often have strong feelings about it, so the conversation tends to flow.
  "Ideally, your job posting would also convey these feelings of yours, so that people who share them apply, wouldn't it?"
  is how I connected it.

  Staffing / temp agency / 4–9 years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• I'm sorry to ask, but where are you from?
  (Depending on how the other person took it, some shared not just where they were from but also their school, previous employer, and even their life story, including their career.)
  People tend to feel goodwill toward those who show interest in them. It's a useful technique when the conversation stalls.

  Transportation / logistics / 10–19 years of B2B sales experience / A middling performer in the department

• - What's the background behind your plan to expand hiring this time?
  - What challenges does the business itself face?
  - What challenges do you face in hiring?
  - What traits do your top performers share?
  - On the other hand, are there common traits among people who turned out to be a poor fit?
  - Beyond skills, what kind of attitude or mindset would be a good match for your company?
  - What strengths does your [job type] role have compared to other companies?
  - Can you tell me about your company's outlook going forward?
  - What level of position are you looking to hire for this time?
  - Are there any skills that aren't required but would be valued?
  - What attitude or skills are needed to get up to speed quickly and perform well?
  - Have you hired people without experience in the past?
  → Are there people without prior experience who are actually performing well?
  - What mission supports achieving your company's business strategy?
  - What mission does the team where this new hire will be placed have within the company?

  Staffing / temp agency / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / Unsure of ranking in the department

• Does your company supply the materials, or do we need to procure them ourselves? [If supplied] Would you prefer that we procure them ourselves instead?

  Wholesale / trading company / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / One of the top two performers in the department

Q32. Write out, word for word, what you actually say in response to that objection

• How do you feel about this service in the first place?
  If that's the case, I imagine you'd need to push your boss to get started. What would it take to make that happen?

  Staffing / temp agency / 4–9 years of B2B sales experience / One of the top two performers in the department

• Of course, there's no need to post a listing when you don't need one.
  What matters is being able to move quickly once the need arises.
  So that we can move smoothly when the time comes,
  I've drafted a sample listing based on the information on your company website,
  so I'd appreciate it if you could take a look whenever you have time. (This comes paired with actually preparing and delivering the draft.)
  By the way, if you have planned hiring coming up, starting listing preparations [X] months in advance makes
  the process—from posting, to handling applications, to interviews, to hiring, to signing the employment contract—go smoothly.
  Every [month], the number of job listings tends to increase, which leads to more competition for applicants.
  I'd really like to help you run a successful hiring process, so please let me know if you have any hiring plans.
  I'll propose a plan that keeps your hiring costs as low as possible,
  and I'll do everything I can to support hiring that lets you put the savings toward things like
  raising the hourly wage for the staff you hire!

  Staffing / temp agency / 4–9 years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• Please reach out again if anything comes up. We handle all kinds of products beyond this one, so feel free to contact us anytime.
  Also, if you receive an inquiry from elsewhere that's hard for your company to handle, please let us know—we can look for options on our end as well.
  Once we've provided a quote and you see that we can deliver, I think you'll feel comfortable reaching out even for small requests, so I hope we can keep working together.

  Wholesale / trading company / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / One of the top two performers in the department

Q35. Write what happened with a deal you lost recently

• I made sure to meet with the president, but the senior managing director reached out to a competitor, and the deal went to them. The reason we lost was that I focused too much on talking with the president and didn't meet with the senior managing director often enough. I think I should have met with the president, the senior managing director, and the managing director on a more equal basis, in a sense, while also understanding the relationships among them.

  Other services / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• At the staff level, I had laid the groundwork and shared information, but then a company with ties to my contact's boss suddenly appeared, was shown our quote, and undercut us.
  The contact person was quite strong-willed, and I was wary of going to their boss because of internal factional tensions that might upset them — but I should have worked a bit more on building a relationship with the boss too.

  Wholesale / trading company / 10–19 years of B2B sales experience / A middling performer in the department

• The reason we lost was that another company had already gotten there first.
  However, the fact that the client still came to us for advice even though another company was already ahead suggests they had some concern about that other company. I believe we lost because our terms and proposal didn't fully address that concern. If the same kind of deal came up again, I would make a point of digging deeper into what that concern was and why they came to us in the first place, to understand their situation in more detail.

  Staffing / temp agency / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / Unsure of ranking in the department

• We got competing quotes domestically and managed to negotiate the price down, getting as far as a tentative agreement. But then the client suddenly said the order volume would triple, so we resubmitted a lower quote — only to lose the deal because an overseas supplier could offer an even lower price. At the original volume, going overseas wasn't attractive (due to the cost and risk of sourcing from abroad), but once the volume tripled, it gave the other company the advantage. We gave up rather than force the price down any further.

  Wholesale / trading company / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / One of the top two performers in the department

Q37. Write the process from first contact to contract for a deal you won recently

• Day one
  Visited without an appointment, went straight to the PR department
  Exchanged business cards, explained our services, and left
  One week later
  Received a call from the PR manager, visited that same day
  Exchanged business cards with the PR manager and the General Affairs manager
  Discussed employee relocations
  Was asked to create a moving application form template
  The next day
  Brought a sample template
  The template was adopted, and we now handle all of their future transfers and relocations

  Transportation / logistics / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• Since this is route sales, I inherited the territory from a senior colleague.
  The basic approach is “earn it on foot,” and my boss didn't approve of what I did, but I got orders using the following method.
  I called the store staff to check whether head-office bulk ordering had been set up → I picked products I predicted would sell well based on past sales data for similar products, created a restocking order form, and sent it to the store staff via LINE.
  The store staff told me, “Every other company has used fax until now, but with LINE I can easily check the order form even while I'm working—it's convenient.”
  I actually received additional orders and hit my target.

  Wholesale / trading company / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / A middling performer in the department

• After hearing about the improvement theme the factory floor wanted to address, I met with an automation equipment maker on-site, drew up drawings, and put together a proposal addressed to the head of manufacturing. I made sure the proposal clearly showed the reduction in headcount, calculated the annual labor cost savings and the payback period on the investment, and presented it. It was included in next fiscal year's budget and generated tens of millions of yen in sales.

  Wholesale / trading company / 10–19 years of B2B sales experience / A middling performer in the department

• This was a case where we got a referral from an existing client and won the deal after four meetings. Honestly, the success factors were that we had already heard about the referred company's challenges from the existing client beforehand, and that the existing client and the referred company were on good terms. In both cases, the meetings were with the company president.

  Other services / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

Q47. Write about something you tried in sales that had no effect, so you stopped doing it

• I tried email sales, sending our company brochure to everyone at once. People say that if you send enough, something will land, but in my case I barely got any replies, and it was a waste of time.
  Narrowing down the recipients and including “a line you could only write to that company”—like the name or timing of a trade show they're exhibiting at—got a better response.

  Manufacturing / 10–19 years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

Q48. Write about a common sales theory that you find doesn't hold up once you actually try it

• Simple repeated contact works well even by phone or email.
  Being on friendly terms does not mean the customer will buy.
  If the conversation turns into nothing but small talk, the customer starts to look down on you, so it's risky not to bring up
  the business side of things at least to some degree.
  "If you fire enough shots, some will hit" is true to some extent.

  Wholesale / trading company / 10–19 years of B2B sales experience / A middling performer in the department

Q49. What would you teach a new hire first?

• Whatever it takes, get some kind of homework assignment from a client who agreed to meet with you.
  → This builds trust when you come back to the second meeting having done the assignment.
  + Send a proper thank-you email the same day or by the next business day.
  *The “homework” is usually something simple, like a draft manuscript or area information materials.

  Staffing / temp agency / 4–9 years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• I tell them, above all, to build connections with everyone.
  The reason is that when I was new, I only visited the contacts who were easy to talk to, and a big gap opened up in activity levels compared with clients I wasn't visiting. The contacts I became close with gave me small orders too, and when it really mattered, they relied on me and gave me big orders as well. From this experience, I learned that if clients come to see me as “the person who understands your company best” and “your company's go-to person,” they'll think of me first whenever they have a concern — and that, in turn, raises the order rate.

  Staffing / temp agency / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / Unsure of ranking in the department

Q50. Write about an event or a change in approach that was the turning point for your results

• My former boss, who has since changed jobs, was very laid-back. He was the type who said, “Do it when it matters, and when there's nothing to do, why not just do nothing?”
  Seeing that, instead of chasing after everything, I started focusing on and studying deals that other people couldn't handle. As a result, my perspective broadened, my knowledge grew both wider and deeper, and I became able to handle anything, which in turn brought in more inquiries.

  Wholesale / trading company / 20 or more years of B2B sales experience / One of the top two performers in the department

• Results improved once I started creating materials tailored to each client. Since every client has different issues, I learned that bringing a standard set of materials prepared by the company doesn't resonate with them. This started when, during a presentation on initial service adoption, I brought simplified materials to a contact I was close with, and they told me there was too much industry jargon they didn't understand. That made me realize that how familiar a client's contact is with the industry varies from person to person. From then on, I adjusted my materials to match the size of the company and how long the contact had worked there, polishing them so that anyone at that company could understand, and proposed accordingly. This approach got very positive feedback on my presentation skills and let us move smoothly all the way through to service adoption.

  Staffing / temp agency / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / Unsure of ranking in the department

• It wasn't originally my job, but when I held a study session for end users at a store, the store staff came to trust me,
  the relevant product started selling well, and I ended up with the third-best results nationwide.

  Wholesale / trading company / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / A middling performer in the department

Q51. If there's a comment from a customer that you can't forget, please write it

• “Let's try it at around [amount] first, and consider continuing based on the results.”
  This was said by a client who had once passed on the deal due to budget, after we reworked the plan. I realized that offering a lower-risk way to try it out closes the deal better than jumping straight to proposing the regular price. Since then, I always prepare a first-time-only trial plan.

  Manufacturing / 10–19 years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• Thanks to you, [my name], even the part-timers have become interested in hiring.
  Now the part-timers see the new hires as people they'll be working alongside,
  so they even help out with interviews. And when someone they interviewed gets hired, they say, “I was the one who interviewed them,” and really look after them well.
  More people are staying with us long-term now, and I'm truly grateful.

  Staffing / temp agency / 4–9 years of B2B sales experience / Among the top performers in the department

• Lately the number of proposals had dropped, so I figured my company had been given up on and that we couldn't move forward with hiring this term anymore... lol

  Staffing / temp agency / 4–9 years of B2B sales experience / One of the top two performers in the department

• Who would buy such a shady-looking product?
  → Because of the nature of the product itself, I got told things like this very often.

  Construction / real estate / 1–3 years of B2B sales experience / A middling performer in the department

METHODOLOGY

Methodology

We show everything: who we asked, how we asked and how we counted.The figures are produced by a program only. We do not let AI do any counting.

Conducted by

AInformation

Survey period

September 26, 2026–October 7, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo)

How responses came in

35 responses from 3:31 p.m. on September 26 to 9:43 p.m. on October 7.September 26 had the most responses, with 8 (28 of the 35 responses came in during the first four days).We closed the survey on October 10. The last response came in on October 7.

Target respondents

Respondents to an open online call for participants who said they have experience in B2B sales (selling to businesses)

Survey method

Internet survey (web questionnaire) / Respondents recruited online (first-come, one response per person, limited to respondents with a good track record on past surveys)

Eligibility requirements

People with experience in B2B sales (selling to companies)

How people took part

Optional. There is no penalty for not answering. Answers come from people who signed up and answered on their own. This is not a randomly selected sample.

Collected and valid responses

Of the 35 responses collected, we excluded 6 responses from the tally and counted 29 responses as valid. The target was 100 responses.

Weighting

None (unweighted). Because respondents took part voluntarily, there is no basis for adjusting the results to represent Japan as a whole. We do not add margins of error (±X%) either.

Funding

Costs are covered by AInformation (Shunta Fujii). There is no sponsor.

Questionnaire and quality check versions

Questionnaire v1 / Quality check rules v1 / Published version v1

Questions and answer options

These are the questions and answer options as we presented them. For questions with branching, we also note who was meant to answer.

• 1. Do you have experience in B2B sales (selling to companies)? Choose one
  Currently doing B2B sales / Did in the past (not currently) / Handle companies as part of my sales work / No experience in B2B sales See the results
• 2. Years of experience in B2B sales Choose one
  Under 1 year / 1–3 years / 4–9 years / 10–19 years / 20 years or more / Not applicable (no experience) See the results
• 3. Which is closer to your sales approach? Choose one
  Mainly developing new customers / Mainly working with existing customers / About half and half / Mainly responding to inquiries (inbound sales) / Not applicable See the results
• 4. Industry of your employer (or employer at the time) Choose one
  IT / software / Manufacturing / Construction / real estate / Wholesale / trading company / Advertising / marketing / Staffing / temp agency / Finance / insurance / Healthcare / welfare / Transportation / logistics / Other services / Not applicable See the results
• 5. Type of product or service you handle (handled) Choose one
  Subscription software or systems (SaaS) / One-time purchase software, machinery, or equipment / Materials, parts, or supplies / Staffing placement / temp agency services / Advertising / customer acquisition support / Consulting / training / Construction work / Other / Not applicable See the results
• 6. Most common price range per contract Choose one
  Under ¥100,000 / ¥100,000 to under ¥500,000 / ¥500,000 to under ¥1,000,000 / ¥1,000,000 to under ¥5,000,000 / ¥5,000,000 to under ¥10,000,000 / ¥10,000,000 to under ¥50,000,000 / ¥50,000,000 or more / Not applicable See the results
• 7. Most common time from first contact to signing a contract Choose one
  Within 1 week / 1 month or less / 1–3 months / 3–6 months / 6 months to 1 year / 1 year or more / Not applicable See the results
• 8. The role of the person you mainly meet with in sales meetings Choose one
  Frontline staff / Chief / section chief / Department manager / Division manager / Executive / President / Not applicable See the results
• 9. The most common company size among your clients Choose one
  29 or fewer / 30–99 / 100–299 / 300–999 / 1,000 or more / Not applicable See the results
• 10. Number of employees at your company Choose one
  29 or fewer / 30–99 / 100–299 / 300–999 / 1,000 or more / Not applicable See the results
• 11. Your job title Choose one
  General staff / Chief / section chief / Department manager / Division manager or above / Executive / business owner / Not applicable See the results
• 12. How well you met your target (quota) over the past year Choose one
  Almost never met it / Met it in about half of months / Met it almost every month / Met it every month, among the top performers in the company / No target is set / Don't know / Not applicable See the results
• 13. Number of sales meetings per month (at your busiest) Choose one
  Fewer than 5 / 5–9 / 10–19 / 20–29 / 30–49 / 50 or more / Not applicable See the results
• 14. Share of sales meetings that turn into contracts (close rate) Choose one
  Under 10% / 10–20% / 30–40% / 50–60% / 70% or more / I don't track it / Not applicable See the results
• 15. Your ranking among salespeople in the same department Choose one
  Top 1 or 2 / Upper tier / Middle of the pack / Lower tier / Don't know / Not applicable See the results
• 16. The lead-generation method that leads to the most contracts Choose one
  Phone (cold calling) / Email / contact form submissions / Cold visits / Referrals from existing customers / Trade shows / seminars / Inquiries to the company (via ads or website) / Networking events / personal connections / Social media, LinkedIn, etc. / Through agencies / partners / Not applicable See the results
• 17. Share of phone calls that result in an appointment Choose one
  Under 1% / 1–3% / 4–9% / 10–19% / 20% or more / I don't make phone calls See the results
• 18. Share of emails or contact form submissions that get a reply Choose one
  Under 1% / 1–3% / 4–9% / 10–19% / 20% or more / I don't send them See the results
• 19. Methods you tried that did not lead to contracts Choose all that apply
  Phone (cold calling) / Email / contact form submissions / Cold visits / Trade shows / seminars / Social media, LinkedIn, etc. / Networking events / Advertising / DM by mail / Through agencies / partners / None of these apply See the results
• 20. Most common first-contact method with new customers Choose one
  Phone / Email / Contact form / In-person visit / Meeting through an introduction / Trade show or seminar / Social media message / Not applicable See the results
• 21. Top priority during the first contact Choose one
  Get a meeting arranged, no matter what / Get the other party to name one problem they have / Get connected to the decision maker / Get them to look at materials / Get them to remember your name and face / Give terms on the spot and get a decision / Not applicable See the results
• 22. Write out, word for word, the email or contact form message you actually send to first-time customers Open-ended See the results
• 23. Write out, word for word, what you actually say in the first 15 seconds of a phone call Open-ended See the results
• 24. Things you make a point of not doing during the first contact Choose all that apply
  Explaining the product / Talking about price / Sending materials unprompted / Pushing for a contract on the spot / Talking without researching the other company / Talking for a long time / Going deep in conversation with someone who isn't the decision maker / None of these apply See the results
• 25. What you spend the most time on in a first meeting Choose one
  Listening to the other party's problems / Explaining your company and product / Sharing case studies / Asking about the other company's internal situation (budget, decision process, timing) / Small talk and building rapport / Deciding what happens next / Not applicable See the results
• 26. Write out, in the exact wording you use, the questions you always ask during discovery Open-ended See the results
• 27. The most effective way to get a meeting with the decision maker Choose one
  Ask the contact person to bring the decision maker along / Contact the decision maker directly from the start / Prepare material (other companies' case studies, numbers) that makes the decision maker want to join / Get an introduction / Win the contact person over so they push it through internally / Create separate materials aimed at the decision maker / Move forward without meeting them / Not applicable See the results
• 28. When you tell the customer the price Choose one
  At the first contact / During the first meeting / After hearing out the other party's requests / When submitting a proposal / Only when asked / Not applicable See the results
• 29. What you do once you learn a competitor is in the running Choose one
  Find out the competitor's name / Get them to set comparison criteria that favor your company / Lower the price / Go meet the decision maker directly / Point out the competitor's weaknesses / Do nothing in particular / Not applicable See the results
• 30. What you're most careful about when ending a meeting Choose one
  Set the next date on the spot / Decide what the other party will do before the next meeting / Confirm the decision-making process and timing / Promise to send the meeting minutes / End without deciding anything in particular / Not applicable See the results
• 31. The most common excuse you hear Choose one
  No budget / Don't need it right now / Already using another company / Will discuss internally (then no reply) / Price is too high / Can't decide without checking with a superior / Too busy / Not applicable See the results
• 32. Write out, word for word, what you actually say in response to that objection Open-ended See the results
• 33. Criteria for giving up on following up Choose one
  Give up if there's no reply after three contacts / Wait six months to a year, then contact again / Give up once you learn there's no budget / Give up once you learn you can't meet the decision-maker / Keep contacting without giving up / Not decided / Not applicable See the results
• 34. The most common reason for losing a deal (the real reason found out later) Choose one
  Lost on price / Couldn't meet the decision-maker / Misread the client's real problem / A competitor had already gotten in first / Budget wasn't approved internally / The deal stalled and quietly died / Our response was too slow / Don't know the reason / Not applicable See the results
• 35. Write what happened with a deal you lost recently Open-ended See the results
• 36. What you do after losing a deal Choose one
  Ask the other party directly why they declined / Wait a while, then contact them again / Hold an internal review / Approach a different department / Do nothing in particular / Not applicable See the results
• 37. Write the process from first contact to contract for a deal you won recently Open-ended See the results
• 38. What won deals have in common Choose one
  Got to meet the decision-maker early on / Correctly grasped the client's problem / Made a proposal proactively, before the client did / Replies and responses were fast / The contact person became an internal advocate for us / Reached agreement on price / The timing happened to line up / Not applicable See the results
• 39. What you do when asked for a discount Choose one
  Agree with conditions attached (quantity, term, or payment method) / Lower the price by reducing the scope / Don't agree / Agree right away / Ask first why they feel it's too expensive / Decide after consulting with a superior / Not applicable See the results
• 40. The most common reason clients chose you, other than price Choose one
  Fast replies and responses / The client trusted the salesperson in charge / Had a case study in the same industry / Offers support after implementation / Understood even the client's internal situation / The company's size or name recognition / The proposal's content was good / Not applicable See the results
• 41. What triggers additional orders from existing clients Choose one
  Visiting regularly / Got introduced to a different department / A new problem came up for the client / We brought a new proposal to them / The contact person was transferred or promoted / There are almost no additional orders / Not applicable See the results
• 42. What I actually do to get referrals Choose one
  Ask right after winning the deal / Ask once I've delivered results / Give specific criteria for the kind of company I want introduced / Offer something in return for the referral / I don't ask (it happens naturally) / Not applicable See the results
• 43. Tools used for sales Choose all that apply
  SFA/CRM (Salesforce, kintone, etc.) / Excel/spreadsheets / Email marketing systems (MA) / Business card management / Recording/transcribing online meetings / Generative AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) / Pen and paper / Not using anything in particular See the results
• 44. Do you use generative AI for sales work? Choose one
  Use it every day / A few times a week / Use it occasionally / Used it before but stopped / Don't use it / Not applicable See the results
• 45. In which sales situations do you use generative AI? Choose all that apply
  Drafting emails and proposal text / Researching the other company / Meeting minutes/summaries / Creating proposals and materials / Thinking of responses to objections / Practice partner for sales meetings / Building prospect lists / Tallying and analyzing numbers / Don't use it See the results
• 46. Times you asked generative AI about sales and found it unhelpful Choose one
  Only generic answers come back / It doesn't understand the specifics of my industry / It's textbook advice that doesn't work in the field / The text it produces is unnatural and unusable / The numbers or examples it gives are made up / Never found it unhelpful / Don't know, since I don't use it See the results
• 47. Write about something you tried in sales that had no effect, so you stopped doing it Open-ended See the results
• 48. Write about a common sales theory that you find doesn't hold up once you actually try it Open-ended See the results
• 49. What would you teach a new hire first? Open-ended See the results
• 50. Write about an event or a change in approach that was the turning point for your results Open-ended See the results
• 51. If there's a comment from a customer that you can't forget, please write it Open-ended See the results
• 52. If there is anything else you'd like to share about B2B sales, please write it here Open-ended See the results

How we tallied

• The percentages use the number of people who answered that question as the denominator (non-responses are excluded from the denominator).
• The results are not weighted. They come from a group of respondents who volunteered to take part and do not represent Japan as a whole.
• Percentages shown are rounded to one decimal place. They may not add up to 100%.
• For questions that allow multiple answers, the totals can add up to more than 100%.

What this survey cannot tell us

• This survey was answered by people who responded to an open online recruitment call. It does not represent all B2B salespeople.
• Only 29 valid responses were collected, so read all percentages as rough guides.
• Of the 35 responses collected, 6 were excluded from the tally because their wording and structure matched other respondents' too closely, suggesting they may have been written with generative AI. This criterion was added after collection.
• The breakdowns by attribute planned at the design stage, such as by performance ranking or win-rate band, are not included because each segment had too few respondents to compare.
• All answers are self-reported. We did not verify the performance figures, win rates, or appointment rates ourselves.
• The recruitment notice stated that, depending on the content of the responses, we might follow up with a separate request. This may have biased respondents toward overstating their results. Please read the performance-related figures with this bias in mind.
• The free-text questions were optional. The content reflects only those who chose to write, not the views of all respondents.
• How respondents described their approach to meetings or handling objections reflects their own perception at the time of answering. We did not verify that they actually speak this way in practice.
• We limited responses to one per person, but this cannot fully prevent the same person from answering again under a different registration.
• We did not verify whether respondents are 18 or older and live in Japan. All we know is that they responded to an open online call for participants.
• Answers come from people who signed up and answered on their own. Because this is not a random sample, the figures cannot be read as percentages for Japan as a whole.
• Time spent and effects are self-reported by respondents. We did not measure them.

DATA

Published aggregate data

The files below contain the same figures as this page. The JSON and CSV files have the same content. We do not delete versions (v1, v2 and so on). That way, links from people who cited them keep working.

• CSV Latest version (Japanese) https://ainformation.jp/data/research/btob-sales-2026-09/latest.csv (187KB)
• JSON Latest version https://ainformation.jp/en/data/research/btob-sales-2026-09/latest.json (113KB)
• CSV v1 (as published) (Japanese) https://ainformation.jp/data/research/btob-sales-2026-09/v1.csv (187KB)
• JSON v1 (as published) https://ainformation.jp/en/data/research/btob-sales-2026-09/v1.json (113KB)

The CSV is UTF-8 with a BOM, so it opens directly in Excel. The files do not include individual responses, the original free-text answers, names, email addresses, account IDs on the recruiting platform or response dates and times.

Data field descriptions

How to cite

Source: AInformation, “Approaches that actually led to results in B2B sales (September–October 2026)” (https://ainformation.jp/research/btob-sales-2026-09), as of October 7, 2026

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Terms of use

• The published aggregate data and the tables and bar charts on this page are available under CC BY 4.0. As long as you credit the source, you may quote them in articles, documents, research and apps, adapt them and redistribute them. Commercial use is allowed.
• Article text, images and chart designs are not covered by this license. If you want to use them beyond what quotation allows, please contact us via Contact.
• Free-text answers quoted in the article were written by respondents. They are not included in the aggregate data. Please use them only to the extent that quotation allows.
• If you reproduce the figures as they are, please state when the survey was conducted and that they are “shares among respondents.” The full terms are on the About us page.

FAQ

FAQ

Who runs these surveys?

AInformation (run by Shunta Fujii) plans the surveys and pays for them itself. No one commissions or sponsors them. We never create numbers to serve anyone's advertising.

How many people do you survey?

We set a target number of respondents for each survey before recruiting. Surveys published so far: 3, with 602 valid responses in total. Each survey's page shows how many responses we collected and how many we removed in quality checks. The base for each question is on the same page.

Can I use these figures as “X% of people in Japan”?

No. The survey asked people who answered an open online call for respondents, and the figures are shares of those respondents. The sample cannot be used to estimate figures for Japan as a whole, so we do not give a margin of error (±X%) either.

Do you use AI to tally the results?

All tallying is done by a program, not by AI. We use AI only for groundwork when reading open-ended answers and picking candidates for articles, and a person makes the final decision.

Can I use the data in my own materials or articles?

Yes. Please cite the AInformation survey name and URL as the source. The tallied figures are available as JSON and CSV. You may modify and redistribute them.

Could anyone tell which answers are mine?

No. We never publish anything in a form that could identify individuals. We do not publish the original open-ended answers either. Anything used in articles is chosen by a person after removing details that could identify an individual or a company.

Can I withdraw my answers?

Yes. Contact us through the contact form. If we have not tallied the results yet, we will remove your response. We keep responses for 2 years and delete them after that.

What will you survey next, and when?

Next, we will start a recurring survey that asks the same questions every time. Asking the same questions over time lets us show changes from the previous round in percentage points. We will post the topics and timing on this page when recruitment starts.

HISTORY

Corrections and updates

There have been no corrections since publication. If we make a correction that changes the meaning, we will keep the previous version, add a new one and note the reason here.

Survey and tallying by

AInformation

Reviewed by

Shunta Fujii (About us)

Publication date

October 11, 2026

Published version

v1

Related pages

• List of Original AI SurveysSee other surveys
• AI Model BenchmarkReal measurements: the same questions sent to each AI