Our View

Is sales training dead? I recall reading a blog about the issue on LinkedIn back in 2016. Of course, it sought to refute this premise. That was then, but what of today? Well, the sales landscape has undoubtedly moved on, driven by evolving business practice, technology, and the advance of relatively new disciplines such as sales enablement. Firstly, the traditional… 

As we tentatively emerge from the pandemic, the consensus is that selling has moved on significantly – and not just in the most immediately apparent ways like the switch to the hybrid selling world of virtual and in-person engagement and the accompanying transition from field sales to inside sales. Such changes will be persistent, despite some shortcomings (such as issues… 

CPD is vital in today’s sales world, and the “Journal” is aiming to help. Continuing professional development is widely recognised as fundamental to the improvement of standards and skills for individuals, their industries and professions. Yet, until recently, CPD has not been top of the agenda in sales. Why? Let’s face it, sales may be the world’s oldest profession, but… 

It’s all change for 2018, and much of it for the better. Next year will be a big one for the sales profession globally. As an international publication with a global readership – we already have readers in over 30 countries – we see evidence of a new sales professionalism developing around the world. Here in the UK, 2018 will… 

A new resource to help you be agile and resilient. The whole sales world is evolving. There’s disruption in the marketplace. Change is unremitting and relentless. It keeps gathering pace. Our customers require increasing attention and sophistication in our approach. Every sales situation is contextually unique. There are greater and greater demands on our time. Needs and solutions can sometimes… 

Organisations understand the power of coaching and the importance of data to inform this activity. But could it lead to a zombie sales force? What is the difference between coaching and training? This is often poorly understood. As a starter, we might consider that training is about transferring knowledge while coaching is about enhancing that knowledge and developing people and… 

Teething problems and delays with the UK’s sales apprenticeship programme are frustrating employers. At the time of writing in early March, it is National Apprenticeship Week in the UK. This time last year – during the 2017 National Apprenticeship Week – there was considerable excitement that the standards for the first-ever degree apprenticeship in B2B sales would swiftly be approved…. 

New milestone passed on the route to sales professionalism. Momentous change is happening everywhere. It’s manifest in business, in politics, through the ebb and flow of people and talent around the world, in the climate, and not least in the advent of technology – and this is just as true in the world of selling as it is in other… 

2017 looks set to be a landmark on the road to sales professionalism. Could 2017 be a turning point for the sales profession? There are a number of factors that play into this question. First of all, we can see inescapable signs of the growing importance of sales roles within a wider business context. Equally, there is an increasing emphasis… 

In the main, businesspeople and especially salespeople are a pragmatic bunch. They’re resilient, happy to take things in their stride, and seek opportunity whatever the circumstances. All of which came across in our post-referendum Brexit survey conducted in conjunction with a number of world-class organisations. What also became apparent was that the sentiment of the majority of respondents was largely… 

Are we on the verge of breakthrough? Will sales become a destination career? Could sales as a career choice be turning a corner in terms of its popularity with undergraduates? If so, this is good news, because selling is actually the number one destination for business school students. The organisers of this year’s Sales Educators’ Academy Conference at Aston Business… 

Why sales leaders should aspire to a diverse and qualified sales organisation. Interestingly, just as many employers and universities are ramping up their interest in degree-level education for salespeople, other professions and business sectors are moving away from a narrow restriction based around employing only graduates. Publishers Random House (owners of Penguin) recently announced that the company is seeking a… 

It’s not just customers who need protection from unethical behaviour; a code of ethics would also help defend salespeople. Who at Volkswagen could possibly have thought it would be a good idea to install emissions-test-cheating software in the company’s diesel cars? The scam sought to disguise output of nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times the level allowed in the… 

Where selling was once seen as the “white-collar equivalent of cleaning toilets”, now it’s the skill that everybody needs. We’re all salespeople today. The problem is that too many people in society – including a worryingly large number of leaders at the top of big corporations – remain in denial about this plain, simple truth. We used to think of… 

Sales is evolving into a true profession as corporations, practitioners and academics combine in the search for excellence. Welcome to the very first issue of the International Journal of Sales Transformation. As salespeople, managers and leaders, we are rightly proud of the fact that we are in the front line of business, creating and facilitating exchanges of value and aiming…