Sales Development playbook for 2026
Improving sales development Progress With AI, Not Just Process
Sales development in 2026 is defined by a paradox.
Teams have more tools, more data, and more automation than ever before. Yet pipeline creation is harder, connect rates are inconsistent, and performance gaps between top and bottom reps continue to widen.
The data from the 2026 State of Sales Development makes one thing clear. The problem is not effort. It is not even tooling. The problem is how teams apply strategy and coaching in daily execution.
This playbook outlines a modern approach to sales development built for managers and sales leaders who want to move beyond optimizing process and instead focus on accelerating progress. At the center of this approach is AI coaching, not as a layer of reporting, but as a daily operating system for SDR performance.
The Reality of Sales Development in 2026
The State of Sales Development data shows a few consistent truths across company size, industry, and go-to-market motion.
Pipeline is still heavily driven by conversations, particularly phone-based outreach, even as connect rates fluctuate. Teams continue to add technology to their stacks, yet quota attainment remains uneven. AI is widely adopted, but most applications are to prospecting, research, and administrative work rather than to performance improvement.
At the same time, the persona and performance data tell a deeper story. Top performing reps do not simply work more. They have clearer prioritization, better control inside conversations, and more consistent conversion from conversation to meeting. Bottom performers often show similar activity levels but dramatically different outcomes.
This gap is not explained by effort. It is explained by execution quality.
Why Process Optimization Has Hit Diminishing Returns
For the last decade, sales development has focused on process optimization. Better sequences. Better lists. Better routing. Better automation.
These improvements matter, but they plateau quickly.
Process improvements help everyone move faster. They do not help everyone move forward.
When teams focus exclusively on process, performance variance remains. Top reps still outperform. Bottom reps still struggle. Managers spend their time inspecting dashboards instead of developing skills.
In 2026, the winning teams shift their focus from process efficiency to performance progress.
Progress Comes From Coaching, Not Just Activity
Progress in sales development is driven by learning velocity. How quickly reps improve how they open calls. How they handle objections. How they qualify. How they create urgency and next steps.
This is where coaching becomes the highest leverage activity for managers.
The State of Sales Development data highlights a critical disconnect. While AI adoption is widespread, very few teams are using AI for coaching. This means most managers are still coaching the same way they did years ago, with limited call samples, delayed feedback, and subjective judgment.
Meanwhile, the performance data shows clear behavioral differences between top and bottom performers in talk time, conversation depth, and meeting conversion. These are coachable behaviors, but only if managers consistently observe them.
AI coaching closes this gap.
Orum’s Role in the Modern Sales Development Motion
Orum’s philosophy is built around one principle. Conversations create pipeline. Everything else exists to support them.
That philosophy shows up in how Orum approaches AI coaching. The goal is not to flood managers with metrics. The goal is to surface patterns that matter and turn them into daily coaching inputs.
Orum’s AI coaching approach focuses on:
- Identifying what top performers do differently in live conversations
- Highlighting breakdown points that stall momentum
- Reinforcing specific behaviors that correlate with meetings booked
This shifts coaching from reactive to proactive and from anecdotal to systematic.
The 2026 Manager Operating Model
To succeed in 2026, sales development managers need a new operating model. One that treats coaching as a daily discipline rather than a weekly obligation.
Daily Execution With AI Coaching Signals
Managers should start each day with clarity on where coaching is needed most. AI coaching surfaces which reps are struggling with openings, which conversations lose momentum after the first objection, and which behaviors correlate with positive outcomes.
This allows managers to prioritize coaching time based on impact, not intuition.
Instead of listening to random calls, managers coach the moments that matter.
Maximizing the Value of 1:1 Meetings
One of the biggest missed opportunities in sales development is the 1:1 meeting.
Too often, 1:1s are consumed by pipeline updates, activity reviews, and tactical problem solving. Coaching becomes an afterthought.
AI coaching changes the structure of 1:1s.
With clear insights from real conversations, 1:1s shift toward:
- Reviewing specific call moments
- Reinforcing or correcting behaviors
- Setting focused improvement goals
This makes 1:1s about skill progression, not status reporting.
Over time, reps come to 1:1s expecting to improve, not just explain numbers.
Turning Enablement Into a Living System
Enablement often struggles to stay connected to reality. Playbooks are written once and rarely updated. Training content does not always reflect what works in live conversations.
AI coaching bridges this gap.
By identifying patterns across thousands of conversations, Orum helps teams see which messages, objections, and techniques actually drive meetings. Enablement can then refine talk tracks and training based on evidence, not assumptions.
