Mr. Dupont still isn’t answering. Is this the end of field sales?
The debate shaking up B2B in 2025.
In 2024, our article “Mr. Dupont No Longer Answers the Phone” shook our community with its razor-sharp realism and biting humor, shedding light on the major challenges of sales relationships in the digital age.
Given the strong response, we wanted to go further: share our vision, talk about our daily reality, and open the conversation on the future of the sales profession between field and digital.
There was a tme when field sales reigned supreme
He racked up the miles, collected visitor badges, and unfurled presentations, catalogs, samples, and handshakes at will.
Today? Mr. Dupont doesn’t answer. And when he finally picks up, it’s to say, “Send me an email.”
Will he even read it?
At trade shows, in federations, associations, and unions, we talk. And we often come to the same recurring conclusions:
- Clients only open their doors when there’s a problem (theirs or ours 😊).
- Sales rounds generate less than before.
- “Today, cross-selling is almost mission impossible.”
And Mr. Dupont?
What’s going through his mind when the phone rings?
“I have 15 suppliers calling me each week. I don’t have time to see them all. If you want to meet, prove first that you understand my business.”
“I’d rather compare 5 online solutions in 2 hours than sit through five 2-hour PowerPoint presentations.”
“When I meet with a salesperson, I’ve already made 80% of my decision. I just need reassurance, not another catalog review.”
“The only salespeople I still meet with bring real technical expertise. The others, I send to procurement.”
So, do we stop everything? Go full digital?
Should we upload our sales reps into the cloud with the brochures?
Or should we ask the real question: What role should field sales play in 2025?
Field Sales Lost the Calendar War
Since the pandemic, in-person sales meetings have become relics not from dislike, but from overload.
And this trend isn’t slowing down. As early as 2020, Gartner was clear:
“By the end of 2025, 80% of B2B interactions will occur via digital channels.”
Buyers no longer want to be solicited. They want to research on their own.
Compare. Read. Decide.
Without human interaction.
Mr. Dupont hasn’t become antisocial. He’s become autonomous.
He compares 15 solutions online. He prefers doing his own research over talking to a salesperson.
The result? The salesperson is no longer involved at the start. He comes in at the end or not at all.
Digital has no intuition
In some sectors, we’ve gone fully remote.
Not because it’s better. Because it’s cheaper.
And because clients don’t want visits anymore.
Just last week, one of our clients told us:
“We scrapped our field reps. But now we don’t sell anything new just recurring orders.”
This is where digital hits its limit: it converts stated needs.
It doesn’t create desire.
It doesn’t build connection.
It can’t detect weak signals in a passing comment or fleeting glance.
A chatbot can answer “I need a 2kW motor.” But it can’t sense that this motor is for a key machine that impacts the entire production line nor anticipate the technical adjustments needed to optimize the full system.
An email can convey information, sure. But it can’t read in Mr. Dupont’s eyes that his technical director is retiring, and a major reorganization is coming...
What the field does better than any funnel
A good field sales rep isn’t a walking catalog. He’s a potential detector, a project unlocker.
- He identifies the technical constraints of the client’s environment and suggests tailored solutions even when those needs aren’t clearly expressed.
- He anticipates process changes, and spots opportunities for automation or energy optimization on-site.
- He reads between the lines during shop floor conversations, picking up weak signals related to maintenance, safety, or compliance.
- He practices cross-selling by integrating production, quality, and lead-time concerns unique to each industrial client.
- He identifies friction points in the value chain and mobilizes internal resources (engineering, after-sales, prototyping) to overcome technical hurdles.
- He supports the client in drafting complex specifications and projecting ROI on industrial investments.
- He sees what’s invisible to the naked eye : failure risks, speed optimization potential, opportunities for tech integration…
In short, he uncovers unspoken needs.
He builds trust in moments of doubt.
He sees the invisible because he understands the client’s business.
He’s an industrial performance partner, delivering real answers where digital alone falls short.
Most importantly:
He triggers action when everything else stalls.
He hears the concern in the voice when delivery times come up.
He notices the new competitor logo in the workshop.
He understands that “We’re reviewing your proposal” often means “We’re waiting for next year’s budget.”
He’s a decision accelerator.
Where emails go unanswered for weeks, a physical presence forces clarity:
“So, Mr. Dupont, what’s stopping you from signing today?”
The hybrid model: fewer kilometers, greater impact
The companies doing best today have understood one key thing:
It’s no longer about opposing field and digital, but orchestrating them together.
At BIBUS France, that’s become a core belief:
- We train our salespeople in precision qualification.
- We organize targeted rounds based on real buying signals.
- We activate engineering, prototyping, demos.
- We don’t “just drop by.”
- We create tailored value. Augmented value.
In practice?
Digital qualifies.
Field converts.
Hybrid builds loyalty.
We’ve long recognized well before COVID—the transformation of the field sales role, the rise of digital, and also the irreplaceable value of human interaction.
We don’t say “things were better before.”
We embrace hybridization as a strength, not as a fallback compromise.
Our website, chatbot, and YouTube channel are there to inform, respond quickly, qualify, and inspire.
But when it comes to uncovering the unexpected, building trust, and opening new opportunities nothing replaces the expert, targeted human encounter.
Yes, our clients can do everything online: compare, configure, order, interact.
Our digital presence is the foundation.
But our real difference?
We know when to hit the road, visit a site, and turn a request into a project—and a project into a working solution.
- Digital is efficiency.
- Field is situational intelligence.
Our salespeople no longer show up with a catalog under their arm.
They come because there’s a challenge that demands human expertise.
Our field sales engineers work hand in hand with our inside experts, sales admin, and engineering office.
Together, we don’t just respond we dig into what’s behind the request.
Before calling Mr. Dupont, we analyze his environment, his challenges, his constraints.
We arrive with sharp questions, concrete ideas not fluffy sales talk.
Because that’s what makes the difference: detecting unspoken needs, anticipating projects, sparking curiosity with field feedback and innovation stories that resonate.
And when we do visit, it’s never for a simple check-in.
It’s to unlock a situation, and deliver a solution no one else can offer remotely.
That’s how we get Mr. Dupont to respond:
Not by waiting for him to pick up, but by showing up with a team ready to take on his challenges.
At BIBUS France, no one is rewarded for closing deals at all costs with end-of-year incentives or gift cards.
We build solid partnerships based on trust and results.
Today, it’s not about giving up human relationships.
It’s about knowing when and how to activate them to deliver more value.
The modern field salesperson is no longer a door-to-door seller or a digital avatar.
He is a strategist, enhanced by technology, delivering unique expertise at the right moment, where it truly makes a difference.
Sources:
Salesforce, State of Sales Report, 2023
Forrester, B2B Buying Preferences, 2022
Gartner, Future of B2B Sales, 2020
Cognism, The Future of Sales, 2023
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