Research Centre

Credible research is the foundation of the Journal’s approach to understanding what works and what doesn’t in sales. Most importantly, it tells us why. Here you’ll find the latest research from academic institutions, top consultancies and industry sales leaders – including the Journal’s own specially commissioned research – interpreted from a business perspective.

Three often-overlooked topics to enhance sales practice

March 12th, 2018 by

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… 


Retaining high-performing salespeople

March 11th, 2018 by

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… 


Ethics in sales: a novel approach to sales education

March 8th, 2018 by

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… 


“Why evolve?”

March 8th, 2018 by

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…. 


Mind the gap

December 16th, 2017 by

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… 


2017 Q4 Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad

December 16th, 2017 by

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… 


Different sales and marketing thought-worlds

December 15th, 2017 by

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… 


“Why now?” What message moves executive buyers to act?

December 14th, 2017 by

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 –… 


Trust selling: a new source of business competitiveness

December 13th, 2017 by

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… 


Positive selling

December 13th, 2017 by

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… 


What works in sales enablement

December 13th, 2017 by

According to CSO Insights, only 13% of… 


2017 Q3 Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad

September 22nd, 2017 by

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… 


The starting point of successful propositions

September 22nd, 2017 by

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… 


How can intra-collaboration approaches enhance sales performance in a complex global enterprise?

September 22nd, 2017 by

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… 


Decide or defer?

September 22nd, 2017 by

Here, we explore why salespeople need help creating urgency with executive decision makers. Stalled proposals and “no decisions” are arguably the biggest threat to your sales pipelines. There’s a good chance you lose more deals here than you lose to your traditional competitors. The big challenge often comes down to how you make your case to an executive buyer. It’s… 


Critical skills for 2020

September 20th, 2017 by

High levels of emotional intelligence applied the… 


2017 Q2 Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad

April 23rd, 2017 by

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 five broad themes: sales performance, customer management, capability development, behavioural studies and systems and processes. Each paper has a summary at the start. Sales performance… 


When challenging the customer backfires

April 23rd, 2017 by

There’s a proper time to provoke the customer – it’s just not when you’re trying to keep them or get them to pay more, research shows. Provoking the customer, challenging the status quo, leading with an unexpected insight: these kinds of message are the lifeblood of the disruption-minded story you need to tell when you’re the outsider intent on convincing… 


Customer experience and digital

April 22nd, 2017 by

“Empowered customers are on the move: 40%… 


Analysis of Sales Account Manager talent data

January 29th, 2017 by

Review and summary of sales talent analytics findings based on data from over 1,000 recent Sales Account Manager assessments. This “hybrid role” is one that many organisations use as the bedrock of their sales strategy. To have a core of salespeople able to carry out a straightforward account management function, while also being able to fulfil a new-business sales role…