Only 1 in 5 Teams Is Ready: The Hidden Psychology of Sales Enablement Failure

78% of sales enablement programs are failing. That’s no exaggeration—it’s the headline number from SEC’s 2025 Impact of Enablement Report. And teams who think they’re safe? They’re usually the most blind.

This isn’t just a resource problem. It’s a psychology problem. B2B negotiations in 2025 aren’t being won by teams with more sales tools. They’re being lost by teams trapped in old mental models.

Executive Summary

• Section 1: 78% Failure Rate—And No One’s Owning It
• Section 2: The Psychology War You’re Not Ready For
• Section 3: How Enablement Metrics Mislead Everyone
• Section 4: The Trust Recession In B2B Buying
• Section 5: Coaching Isn’t Broken—It’s Just MIA

Section 1: 78% Failure Rate—And No One’s Owning It

Sales Enablement Collective’s 2025 report dropped a bombshell: Only 22% of sales teams meet readiness standards. Not revenue goals. Not happiness scores. Readiness. As in: ‘Can your team win tomorrow’s deals?’

If that number doesn’t gut-punch sales leaders, it should. Especially when over 60% of enablement professionals in the same report say they are “confident” in their programs. Clearly, perception doesn’t match pipeline.

Our analysis of this contradiction shows a root cause in faulty success metrics—performance indicators that look impressive but mean nothing in the field. For a breakdown on which metrics matter, read our analysis: Only 19% of Teams Are Ready—It’s Because They Ignore These Metrics.

Section 2: The Psychology War You’re Not Ready For

B2B buyers are playing chess. Most sellers are still playing checkers. Donemaker’s 2025 research says cognitive dissonance, fear of risk, and internal power dynamics now drive over 70% of B2B deal hesitation. Not pricing. Not features.

According to Donemaker’s report (link), buyers are less rational and more risk-averse than vendors believe. What does that mean for sales enablement? Less pitch decks, more behavioral coaching. Reps need psychology training more than product sheets.

This seismic shift challenges “demo-led” and “feature-first” approaches. For the science-minded, Donemaker breaks down the negotiation anchors, emotional bias triggers, and trust signals that close high-consideration B2B deals today.

Section 3: How Enablement Metrics Mislead Everyone

Here’s what no one wants to admit: 97% of enablement dashboards are built around compliance and coverage—not conversion and context. That’s why they comfort leaders but don’t create closers.

Presales Collective’s manager insights breakout (Inside the 2025 Report) reveals an alarming trend: managers still evaluate success based on content completion rates and LMS logins.

But real buyers couldn’t care less about those. They make decisions based on confidence, clarity, and risk perceptions. Sales leaders who coach based on dashboards instead of deals are flying blind—fast. And the crash is inevitable.

To pivot, data must be directional, not decorative. Our breakdown of Data-Driven Revenue Operations and Coaching explains why restructuring enablement KPIs can fix trust gaps—and the pipeline.

Section 4: The Trust Recession In B2B Buying

In 2025, B2B buyers don’t trust vendors—they Google them, Reddit them, and then avoid their reps until forced. Why?

Because 67% of buyers report feeling ‘pressured’ during sales negotiations (Donemaker 2025). And pressured buyers don’t convert—they ghost.

This isn’t just a conversion issue. It’s a credibility collapse. When enablement trains reps to persuade instead of empathize, today’s buyer tunes out. Successful teams in 2025 don’t ‘handle objections.’ They prevent them with trust stacking and expectation framing.

Section 5: Coaching Isn’t Broken—It’s Just MIA

The dirtiest secret in enablement? Most reps aren’t coached. They’re lectured. Presales Collective finds that 44% of managers provide feedback monthly or less—and that feedback is more operational than behavioral.

But behavior drives outcomes. Not checklists. Not activity logs. Behavior.

We dove deep into what modern coaching needs: adaptive feedback loops, roleplay plus reaction, and psychology-aware scripting. Contrarian Sales Insights support a reinvention of coaching around deal psychology—not internal KPIs. Because buyers don’t care what your CRM says. They care how your pitch makes them feel.