Thursday, July 6th, 2023
The top five sales myths
Maybe it’s time to re-examine what you may have always taken for granted. Salespeople are born not made Whilst having confidence, a positive attitude and being generally likeable are all useful traits, they do not guarantee success in sales. The skills required to be effective take years to learn and hone. Too many sellers are thrown in at the deep…
Wednesday, July 5th, 2023
Sales strategy 101
Three ways to analyse sales strategies to determine gaps and identify opportunities for improvement. I’ve been selling and consulting for almost two decades now. During that time, I’ve had the chance to collaborate with sales organizations worldwide, assisting them with their sales strategies and designing sales enablement programmes to bridge gaps. Based on my experience, analyzing sales strategies is crucial…
Wednesday, July 5th, 2023
Complexity will save salespeople
What are tomorrow’s most important sales competencies? We’re entering a “brave new world of sales”, fuelled by the convergence of evolving B2B buying behaviours and the availability of AI-based new technologies. Is change the only constant, or do some of the traditional attributes of a successful salesperson remain important? I think it’s clear that many relatively simple pre- and postsales…
Monday, November 28th, 2022
Four steps to talent heaven
1. UNDERSTAND SALES TALENT Sales isn’t for…
Monday, November 28th, 2022
Too many cooks…
How a single sales methodology can help to reap global benefits I am constantly amazed at how quickly companies that invest in a sales training methodology are led astray and lose out on the benefits it can deliver. Often, as the roll-out draws to a close, someone proposes a new “shiny toy”. Incredibly, they go for it, short-circuiting all the…
Monday, November 28th, 2022
Developing the potential of talented salespeople
Why development is so much more than just training. In “Hiring salespeople with talent” (see pages 6-7), I explored the challenges involved in making good sales hires. Now I want to shift attention to some of the key things we need to do if we are to fully develop the potential of the talented salespeople that we have just hired….
Friday, September 30th, 2022
ISP events 8.5 2022
Details of upcoming events can be found at the Institute of Sales Professionals website. https://www.the-isp.org/events Leadership in Sales (setting clear direction and getting out of the way!) – Sales Leader Round Table Tuesday 4 October 2022, 09:00 The impact of people culture to build trusting teams – Live Sales Leader Round Table Wednesday 5 October 2022, 08:30 Humanising the sales…
Friday, September 30th, 2022
Get in the flow
SAP’s Experiential Sales Learning programs allow salespeople to learn in the flow of their work. To ensure that business continued to flow, in 2020 most companies worldwide responded to the pandemic by making the transition to remote working. More recently, as some businesses began to require employees to work onsite again, others have been cementing a hybrid working model as…
Friday, September 30th, 2022
Focus on storytelling
When a group of non-native English speakers wanted to hone their English writing and speaking skills, they joined a programme exploring a range of literary genres via the work of a cross-section of authors. We set these business leaders the task of recounting their most memorable sales experiences in the Journal. In this special feature, we explore the rationale behind…
Friday, April 22nd, 2022
ISP events 8.3 2022
Details of upcoming events can be found at the Institute of Sales Professionals website. https://www.the-isp.org/events Sales Cycle Best Practice – New Thinking Thursday 5 May 2022, 09:00 Push Back Against Post-Pandemic Procurement Pressure Tuesday 10 May 2022, 09:00 Buyer Behaviour – What are the key drivers in the decision-making process? Tuesday 24 May 2022, 09:00 Improving your Proposals Wednesday 25…
Monday, January 10th, 2022
ISP events 8.1 2022
Details of upcoming can be found at the Institute of Sales Professionals website. https://www.the-isp.org/events +
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021
ISP events 7.4 2021
Webinar: Outsourced sales – brand partners or guns for hire? 6 October 2021: 9.00 am – 9.45 am BST Dr Beth Rogers, Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University School of Management and examiner and lecturer in sales topics at two other universities in Europe. This talk explores research about the factors in the make-or-buy decision for sales activities and provides a…
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021
A new paradigm for CPD in sales
Why there needs to be a fresh approach to the personal development of sales executives and their managers. Many readers of this article may already be in superb sales organisations; however, for those in the sales field it will come as no surprise that many small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) have little in the way of formal sales training that could be…
Monday, July 26th, 2021
ISP events 7.3 2021
Webinar: Sales leader round table (limited places) 16 July 2021: 9.00 am – 9.45 am BST Simon Goodison and Neil Massa, Directors of Smarter Not Harder Solutions Tips to support your team to achieve and exceed sales goals: Understand how the changes in the last 18 months shaped the lives of your team and how as a leader you can…
Monday, April 26th, 2021
Open courses and events 7.2 2021
Sales Essentials for Success – Cranfield Executive Development 2-3 June 2021 Sales Essentials for Success gives you the tools to build and create a sales function that is strategically directed and controlled. You’ll gain a fundamental knowledge of the tactics that must be employed on a daily basis to succeed. £2,200 + VAT (concessions available) – execdev@cranfield.ac.uk +44 (0)1234 589292https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/open-executive-programmes/growing-businesses/sales-essentials-for-success…
Monday, April 26th, 2021
APS events 7.2 2021
Webinar: Cracking the Code for Communicating Price Increases 29 April 2021, 15.00-15.45 pm BST (09.00 am CST) Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions – Nearly 70 percent of companies describe their price increase conversations as “50:50” or worse in terms of how well they go over with customers. It’s no surprise that most price increases aren’t received well….
Friday, February 26th, 2021
Open courses and events 7.1 2021
Key Account Management Best Practice – Cranfield Executive Development 10, 12, 26 Mar 2021 – live online Joining an experienced group of fellow KAM practitioners, you will gain: State-of-the-art knowledge and tools for creating an effective key account management process. Strategic understanding on how to focus your time and attention appropriately in the development of key accounts. Improved collaboration skills…
Friday, February 26th, 2021
APS events 7.1 2021
Webinar: Coaching your sales team through personal change. Why is it important? 4 March 2021, 14.00-14.45pm GMTPresented by Grant Van Ulbrich, Director, Sales Transformation – International, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. We’ve all heard about change management through our work careers, and usually whenever organisations launch a new programme, there’s an element of change management that is involved. However, recent research…
Tuesday, November 10th, 2020
Write like a pro
As a sales leader you may be a great talker, but how do you find your written voice? No matter how skilled you are as a practitioner, no matter how you have grown and flourished professionally, if you cannot express yourself with simplicity, in language unencumbered by business jargon, your work counts for little. Nowhere is this more evident than…
Monday, November 9th, 2020
Mind the (skills) gap!
Article summary Finding the time for training and development while meeting customer needs (and achieving bottom line results) is a universal struggle faced by nearly all sales executives. The struggle is especially real for those in the highly competitive IT industry, where rapid strategic and industry change require ever-increasing time and effort to stay “in-the-know”. SAP’s Sales Coaching Team has…