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We talk a lot about transformation but how often does training involve genuine transformation? In the case of global software and services giant SAP there was an urgent need for a thorough transformation in the way the organisation sold, driven by major disruption in the market caused by the migration of IT systems away from an on-premises model onto the…
SAP’s D&I strategy seeks to build a more inclusive workforce and better business results. SAP is in an industry where the pace of innovation separates the winners from the losers, and a greater variety of insights and experiences leads to new ideas and innovations. We recognised this need and embarked on a strategy to ensure we were drawing on and…
Diversity brings the risk of fragmentation, but the best companies are able to project a single voice by telling a consistently engaging story. Today, an employee base with diverse experiences, skills and perspectives is one of your biggest organizational strengths. But like many good things, a diverse talent pool, for all the brainpower and energy and dynamism it adds to…
Delegates at Consalia’s 12th Global Sales Transformation conference in Singapore on 19 September 2017 offered their collective thoughts on the state of diversity and inclusion today, and where it is headed in the future. FOR MORE INFORMATION +
These pages aim to keep readers informed of recently published research on sales related topics, by including abstracts of peer-reviewed academic research published in a range of journals. In this edition, we have grouped them into four broad themes: sales performance, customer management, behavioural studies, and systems and tools. Sales performance Value-based selling is critical for sales excellence A value-based…
Why the three topics of coaching, change management and stakeholder engagement should be considered more seriously in the development of sales managers and sales professionals identified as high performers. Introduction I identified three topics I considered to be important to sales that were not usually taught or self-selected by salespeople, and that I believed would help outperformance in the long…
Research findings uncover what high-performing salespeople want from their organizations and, just as importantly, what they don’t want. Understanding both categories is critical for organizations and leaders who want to create affective commitment and ultimately retain their best-performing salespeople. As a successful salesperson and a manager of salespeople, I am passionately interested in how high-performing salespeople can be engaged and…
Completed in May 2016, this Masters project investigates links between ethics and education, and sets out to evaluate the impact that longer-term education will have on individual sales behaviour. The aim of this research is to investigate if there is a link between the subject of ethics and education, and to evaluate the impact that longer-term education will have on…
New research identifies how best to handle upselling or cross-sell conversations. “What about this selling situation?” That’s typically the first question we hear whenever we’ve conducted a study that sheds light on the buyer psychology of some critical moment in the purchase cycle. There’s always somebody waiting with the next question that needs to be run through the research gauntlet….
Many people talk about the gap between sales and bid teams, but does that gap really exist, to what degree, why, and what suggestions do people have to close that gap? Research based on cross-functional input from 148 executives seeks to answer these questions. Research methodology The research was carried out through a six-question 360 (survey), circulated via social media…
These pages aim to keep readers informed of recently published research on sales related topics, by including abstracts of peer-reviewed academic research published in a range of journals. In this edition, we have grouped them into three broad themes: sales performance, customer management and behavioural studies. Sales Performance Can inexperienced sales professionals get lucky without working smart or hard? Inexperienced…
Which cross-functional integration mechanisms improve the relationship between sales and marketing functions? The article by Douek on the importance of intra-collaboration between sales teams in complex sales situations in the previous edition of the Journal has highlighted the need to revisit the thorny subject of the internal relationship between sales and marketing functions. Previous research has established that where there…
New research reveals the most effective story for making a breakthrough business case to executive-level buyers. In the previous issue of the Journal, I laid out why there’s serious urgency around salespeople needing to become better at making a compelling business case that moves executive-level decision-makers to buy now. I discussed how business proposals need to become more executive-relevant –…
Vice chancellor of the Seoul School of Integrated Science and Technology, Dr Choi Yong Joo discusses the research around trust, social capital and value in the context of Korea. Social capital Research on “social capital” as a new source of competitiveness is very much in full swing. In 1997, Professor Francis Fukuyama at Stanford University – a renowned academic and…
Phill McGowan talks about entrepreneurial innovation and the art of creating sales opportunities. Serial entrepreneur and business consultant Phillip McGowan is studying for a doctorate at the University of Portsmouth, researching the causes of sales failure. Until now sales and the associated techniques have all been about discovery, but in today’s increasingly disruptive environment amid ways of working more usually…
These pages aim to keep readers informed of recently published research on sales-related topics, by including abstracts of peer-reviewed academic research published in a range of journals. In this edition, we have grouped them into four broad themes: sales performance, customer management, behavioural studies and systems and processes. Sales performance Applying adaptive selling plays a critical role in sales performance…
Introduction As Product Marketing Director of Sony Mobile my daily work entails the creation of propositions for consumers and business customers in Europe based on propositions that are created mainly in Tokyo headquarters. I decided to research how the propositions can be improved and my focus is on the starting point of proposition creation. The aim of this research is…
Introduction Working most of my career for global companies like PWC, IBM and SAP, I have been confronted with solutions and services of rising complexity, which are sold and delivered to increasingly knowledgeable customers in a competitive and transforming global environment. The daily activities of my sales team in direct relation with its customer are central: they are understanding the…
