Monday, February 19th, 2024

What salespeople need to succeed in a new sales role

Of course, every new salesperson needs to have a clear understanding of what they are selling. But product knowledge is never enough to ensure success. Bob Apollo lists five things every new (and existing) salesperson needs to master: +


Monday, February 19th, 2024

Five things to consider before stepping up to a sales management role

For many salespeople, their obvious career goal is to advance into sales management. Unfortunately, this can turn into a frustrating move. Here’s what aspiring sales managers need to consider: +


Friday, February 16th, 2024

Your first day

What should a salesperson expect from their first few days in a new sales role? I suppose this article could have been titled “What do I wish I had known or done in my first day as a salesperson?” And maybe I might have benefited from reading it then – but that was a long time ago, and in a… 


Thursday, April 20th, 2023

Embracing all generations in the workplace

This paper has been adapted from the author’s Masters project and discusses how leaders can best cultivate “superpowers” that are applicable to multi-generational organisations and teams. Background During my time at the SAP Global Platinum Customer Unit in Walldorf (Germany), I was invited for a meeting with the Dutch SAP Managing Director. During that meeting he offered me the job… 


Thursday, April 20th, 2023

War on attrition

How can effective coaching support the retention of employees within an organisation? Introduction This work-based project covers the topic of employee retention. The subject is very relevant for my organisation as we are 20 months into what’s being labelled the Great Resignation (Klotz, 2021). Employee talent is the lifeline of any business. My research project investigated how a successful coaching… 


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… 


Friday, February 26th, 2021

Team tenure

Why understanding team tenure can be a key to healthy sales-team dynamics and a rapid alignment of teams. The longer a team has spent together with the same composition of team members, the more harmonious interpersonal relationships become. The shared experience builds trust and psychological safety, leading to smoother team processes, more effective use of resources and increased team performance… 


Friday, February 26th, 2021

Welcome aboard (digitally)!

How sales-enablement platforms can help us make a success of virtual onboarding. One positive to come out of 2020 was the accelerated push for digitalisation. For some, this meant learning to video call friends and family. For others, it meant moving every single work-related process from in-person to online. Now, we’re comfortable with hosting entirely virtual events, conducting virtual sales… 


Monday, July 6th, 2015

Best practice for running an effective salesperson onboarding programme

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…