Artificial intelligence has become firmly embedded in the daily working lives of sales professionals in Greece. But personal contact, trust and the ability to negotiate are still considered crucial to commercial success. At the same time, administrative duties take up a significant part of the working day, limiting the time sales professionals can spend with their customers.
This is the picture painted by the first nationwide survey conducted by Voice for Sales, the independent community of sales professionals, which has more than 2,900 registered members and is launching its third round of training initiatives.
According to the findings, 95.3% of respondents use artificial intelligence tools, while 52.6% use them every day. Despite their high level of familiarity with technology, 59.2% believe that advanced human skills will be most important to the future of sales. At the top of the list are emotional intelligence, cited by 75.1%, and strategic negotiation, at 67.7%.
The time professionals spend on administrative processes is also notable. 75% say they spend at least five hours a week on reports, CRM entries and other office tasks, while 28.8% spend more than 11 hours.
Meanwhile, 41.6% say administrative duties limit the time they can spend with customers, while 40.5% report difficulties related to the operation of CRM and ERP systems.
The survey brings together the views of professionals from different sectors, including FMCG, retail, HoReCa, B2B and technology. Its findings highlight two key priorities for commercial teams: making effective use of technology and simplifying processes that limit the time spent with customers.
“Our survey highlights a contradiction that deserves businesses’ attention. Sales professionals are making increasing use of artificial intelligence, yet they continue to spend many hours on administrative tasks instead of being close to the customer. The point is not simply to acquire more tools, but to give professionals more time to focus on the work that really matters. We want the findings to serve as a starting point for discussion across the market, and our new round of free initiatives to contribute to this effort.,” says Panagiotis Adamantiadis, founder of Voice for Sales.
Training programme
Voice for Sales – Hellenic Sales Workshop is an independent, volunteer-led community established to promote knowledge-sharing, free training and professional networking in the sales sector.
The community is continuing its work with a third round of initiatives running from 5 November 2026 to 28 January 2027, featuring 11 free webinars. The programme covers commercial growth, team management, negotiation, technology and modern professional skills.
Speakers include Christos Tsentemeidis, Non-Executive President of TIF–HELEXPO, who will speak on 8 December about the international outlook of Greek businesses, and Kon Apostolopoulos, an international speaker and founder of Making Mondays Work™, who will present on 12 November the habits that contribute to high performance in sales.
The programme also features Sofia Protonotariou, Aristotelis Tryfonopoulos, Angelos Mouzakitis, Christos Tsakonas, Sofia Chaitidou, Pavlos Xanthopoulos, Maria Troupou, Dionysis Grigoropoulos and Xenia Giannaki.
Sessions are held online at 18:00, with free participation and up to 100 participants per session, giving professionals the opportunity to ask questions and speak directly with the presenters.
Alongside its training initiatives, Voice for Sales is developing mentoring, professional solidarity and community service initiatives. All its activities rely on volunteers, with no membership fees or dependence on sponsors.
The community now has more than 2,900 members, while over 700 professionals are part of its group on Viber. Its weekly newsletter has an open rate of 48%–52%, and more than 20 free training sessions with CEOs, commercial executives and academics were held during the first two rounds of initiatives.