Research

As part of his MSc Professional Practice in Sales Leadership, Sony Mobile’s Gustavo Mancera describes how research and reflection led to a new mind-set and approach that created differentiation in the marketplace. The problem to be addressed The rapidly changing market affected the entire team´s mind-sets including myself. We had fallen prey to negative mind-sets (Squire, 2009) while struggling to… 

Does coaching work best when team members are not even aware it is happening? Angie Dixey investigates. As organisations increasingly turn to coaching to help improve sales performance and develop talent, performing the role of “coach” has become a commonplace responsibility for sales managers. Yet, even as organisations continue to expect this activity from their managers, the issue of whether… 

New research suggests the most successful programmes pursue a calculated blend of sales training and coaching activities. The bar has been raised. In a world where businesses are becoming increasingly proficient at managing a range of multi-channel, multi-touch and highly customer-focused interactions, how can we ensure that our newly recruited salespeople measure up to customers’ expectations? Toward this end, many… 

As part of his SAP Masters programme, Paul Devlin is exploring how sales transformation can be implemented within his team and wider organisation. Here, he discusses how he has used reflection, “action research” and “appreciative inquiry” to enhance the sales recruitment process.   Current situation I lead a sales team of 18. The SAP MENA teams and my annual growth… 

Beth Rogers leafs through some recent Masters dissertations to see what has been exercising the minds of sales managers. One of the joys of running a course such as a top-up Masters programme for sales managers is that their learning is applied to their company, and both tutor and student can see the potential impact. One of the downsides is…