Monday, September 30th, 2024
Keep on learning… to be successful
Learning is not just important; it’s essential for success in sales. When we saw the headline on the cover of this Journal (edition 9.5) “Do Salespeople Have Time to Learn” we were left with a massive feeling of déjà vu and drifted towards a discussion of what was top of the pop charts when we first heard that said. Thankfully,…
Wednesday, September 18th, 2024
Research highlights six actionable prospecting strategies
Research by a training company suggests that prospecting advice from US sales and marketing executives has remained notably consistent over the past five years. Key findings highlight the importance of personalization and research, value proposition clarity and creative engagement techniques in successful prospecting. “The sales profession has seen seismic shifts, from the rise of remote sales to the proliferation of…
Monday, April 22nd, 2024
Do you need trust to challenge?
In this dissertation from an MA SALES MANAGEMENT programme in 2017-18, the author explores the extent to which trust is important when applying the Challenger Selling approach. Abstract Challenger Selling was a new sales approach that was popularised in a 2008 Harvard Business Review article by Matthew Dixon and Brett Adamson. They published the Challenger Sale book in 2011, and…
Monday, April 22nd, 2024
Leap of faith
B2B trust research: what’s next? Abstract New academic research on trust will build on insights generated through Mark Hollyoake’s 2020 doctoral thesis (see previous article). They aim to dig deeper into the role of the “Boundary Spanner in relational trust development”, based on eight years of academic research through the University of Southampton. The original research Boundary spanners: What are…
Wednesday, September 6th, 2023
My Coaching Promise
Developing a contract between coachee and coach works to improve virtual sales coaching. +
Tuesday, September 5th, 2023
Sales leaders celebrate forthcoming book launch
Senior sales leaders from around the globe gathered in London on 7 July to celebrate the forthcoming launch of a unique new book they have created. Leadership Narratives: Reflective Journeys of Sales Professionals is due to be published by leading academic publisher Routledge in December 2023. The sales leaders flew in from as far afield as Nevada and Dubai and…
Thursday, July 6th, 2023
Sales Transformation: Leading and selling within and beyond the organisation
In this summary of his doctoral thesis, Grant Van Ulbrich explores how his public works have highlighted how sales can be transformed to sell within and beyond an organization. Introduction In this synopsis of my doctoral thesis, I draw on my professional work in the public domain (ie, public works) to highlight how sales can be transformed to sell within…
Thursday, July 6th, 2023
Build deeper connections
Understanding best practices for a buyer-centric sales approach. A buyer-centric approach to selling is table stakes in today’s competitive business landscape – and yet, buyer-centric approaches across companies and industries seem to be vastly different. It begs the question: How do sales leaders and sales representatives interpret buyer-centricity and are they aligned on its crucial components? To further explore this…
Thursday, April 20th, 2023
Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad 9.2 2023
The research review aims to help readers keep up to date with recently published research on sales-related topics. The review highlights short abstracts of academically peer-reviewed research. This selection of published research is from a range of academic journals. In this edition, the abstracts include four themes that focus on sales performance, customer management, and behavioural studies. Sales performance Salesperson…
Thursday, April 20th, 2023
Three sales books with a difference
A trio of important research-based sales books are in the pipeline this year and all are well worth checking out for different reasons. Book 1 The first of these is Transforming Sales Management: Lead Sales Teams Through Change by Grant Van Ulbrich, set for launch on 3 May 2023 along with the “Scared-So What” personal change app, which will be…
Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad 9.1 2023
The research review aims to help readers keep up to date with recently published research on sales-related topics. The review highlights short abstracts of academically peer-reviewed research. This selection of published research is from a range of academic journals. In this edition, the abstracts include four themes that focus on sales performance, customer management, behavioural studies, and systems and tools….
Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
The SAP Masters alumni community: An ongoing transformational journey
You’ve achieved you Masters, but what next? Can the alumni group help to continue the transformation journey? By November 2019, our SAP Masters cohort was really hitting our stride. Collectively we (and I especially) were seeing success with our papers, we were learning new skills and many of us were seeing growth within our teams as our leadership practices improved….
Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
What does it take to transform?
Tackling obstacles to transformational leadership in corporations. What does it mean to transform and how will you know when it is time? It is likely that we have seen, heard, or felt transformation at some point in our lives. If we were to go around the room and provide descriptions, there is a good chance our definitions will be different….
Friday, September 30th, 2022
2022 8.5 Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad
The research review aims to help readers keep up to date with recently published research on sales-related topics. The review highlights short abstracts of academically peer-reviewed research. This selection of published research is from a range of academic journals. In this edition, the abstracts include four themes that focus on sales performance, capability development, behavioural studies, and systems and tools….
Monday, July 4th, 2022
Without character, ethics is just a rule book
Almost every leader claims to be ethical in business, but do they have the character to foster trust? Ethics, necessary but not sufficient Corporate scandals from Enron to Freddie Mac occurred despite the fact that the organizations and individuals leading them were operating in environments governed by a code of ethics. Yet, people still behaved poorly. Why? Why do people…
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022
2022 8.3 Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad
The research review aims to help readers keep up to date with recently published research on sales-related topics. The review highlights short abstracts of academically peer-reviewed research. This selection of published research is from a range of academic journals. In this edition, the abstracts include four themes that focus on sales performance, customer management, behavioural studies, and systems and tools….
Friday, April 29th, 2022
The rise of e-commerce
IN THE US, B2B SELLERS ARE NOW…
Monday, January 10th, 2022
Creating an effective coaching culture
How embedded is coaching in your organisation? Introduction In the past few decades, coaching has become an established professional learning method. Some sales organisations have dedicated staff coaches, but leaders tend to underuse coaching to tap into the full potential and motivation of their teams. Frequently job ads for sales leaders include the requirement to coach; however, many feel underequipped,…
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021
2021 7.4 Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad
The research review aims to help readers keep up to date with recently published research on sales-related topics. The review highlights short abstracts of academically peer-reviewed research. This selection of published research is from a range of academic journals. In this edition, the abstracts include four themes that focus on sales performance, customer management and sales automation. Sales Performance Being…
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021
The Trust Dividend
The strategic implications of trust building in B2B client relationships and the way towards enhancing them to create mutual economic value. Abstract There is a noticeable lack of clarity around the construct of trust in the business to business (B2B) context. The thesis on which this article is based considers how trust building antecedents operate dynamically within a B2B relationship,…