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Sunday, April 23rd, 2017
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…
Sunday, January 29th, 2017
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…
Sunday, January 29th, 2017
Robert James Author Robert James has been a business developer tasked with selling software and services to Fortune 500, public sector and SMB accounts in search for new business since 2005. During that time, he says he has generated more than $25 million in new client revenue from cold calling and exceeded quota multiple times for five different companies. Since…
Sunday, January 29th, 2017
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, capability development, and behavioural studies. Each paper has a summary at the start. Sales performance A strong…
Saturday, January 28th, 2017
For the past few columns, I introduced critical issues in designing your own research, with a special focus on how to design experiments. For the next few columns, I’m going to build on those pieces to some extent, to explore a set of issues that I see as perhaps even more important – and especially so in today’s world. Specifically,…
Saturday, January 28th, 2017
The International Journal of Sales Transformation is initiating a major research programme designed to provide increased insight into sales processes and performance. The programme involves a three-way collaboration between leading academics, industry sponsors with an interest in promoting authoritative research with a practical application and the Journal, which will assist in promoting the research and communicating the results. “We are…
Tuesday, November 29th, 2016
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. We have grouped them in the following broad themes: sales performance; customer management; capability development; behavioural studies; and systems and processes. Improving sales performance is the goal of any sales leadership team. In…
Tuesday, November 29th, 2016
For the past couple of columns, I’ve been discussing various issues around how to think scientifically and do experiments. In this column, what I want to do is bring a close to this series by presenting a couple of basic designs that could be used to generate knowledge of what works and what doesn’t in sales forces, including a “not-quite-experimental”…
Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
Comparing Finland with the “new order” of global players. Finland may seem like a strange choice of country to act as a baseline when comparing sales skills around the globe. But consider the nation’s economic history and maybe it is a touchstone for how the rest of Europe is likely to evolve. As a country, Finland was Swedish ruled for…
Saturday, September 3rd, 2016
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. We have grouped them in the following broad themes: sales performance; customer management; capability development; behavioural studies; and systems and processes. In this edition, we start with three articles on sales performance….
Saturday, September 3rd, 2016
In the last issue of the Journal, I wrote about the importance of thinking like a scientist. In simple terms, this is the process of asking the right questions, and avoiding assumptions and ideologies about what “should” be the right answer. If you’ve digested that column, and are ready to think about how best to go about answering those questions,…
Monday, April 25th, 2016
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. We have grouped them in the following broad themes: sales performance; customer management; capability development; behavioural studies; and systems and processes In this edition, we start with four articles on sales performance. The…
Thursday, April 7th, 2016
The data analysis provided here offers insight into what motivates “account managers”. Motivators are the extrinsic factors that determine whether your salespeople really get up in the morning “ready to rock and roll”’ – or not! The global data in the following charts provide insight into what motivates people from different regions. It will help sales leaders decide whether in…
Thursday, April 7th, 2016
Here are some simple thinking tools to help with problem solving and make us better managers. If someone asked you whether you were certain that your sales incentive programme was effective, what would you say? What about if they asked whether you knew whether your firm’s advertising was working? Or how about if they asked if you knew the impact…
Friday, January 29th, 2016
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. We have grouped them in the following broad themes: sales performance; customer management; capability development; behavioural studies; and systems and processes. In this edition, we start with two articles on sales performance. The…
Thursday, January 28th, 2016
Nick Lee on… The myth of natural talent Why the superstar culture is bad for both the “stars” and the rest of the team. One of the more pervasive ideas in the popular perception of success in almost any field is that of the “natural”. What I mean is that we humans appear to be almost hardwired to explain the…
Saturday, October 31st, 2015
These pages aim to keep readers informed of recent published research on sales-related topics, by including abstracts of a selection of peer-reviewed academic material published in a range of journals. We have grouped them in the following broad themes: sales performance; customer management; capability development; behavioural studies; leadership; and systems and processes. In this edition, we start with three articles…
Saturday, October 31st, 2015
As part of his MSc Professional Practice in Sales Transformation, Sony Mobile’s Russell Keating explores how to unlock more sales through a strategic understanding of his client’s key concerns as well as those of his own organisation. This project relates to work with one of the largest mobile phone operators in Ireland, referred to as the “client” throughout this paper….
Saturday, October 31st, 2015
Researchers from Loughborough University suggest that commercial sales “scripts”, and a great deal of communication training, fail to identify what really works to convert callers to clients and optimize the customer experience. Here, they explore evidence-based training for sales conversations – the Conversation Analytic Role-play Method. How do you know that your telephone sales calls, “recorded for training purposes”, are…
Saturday, October 31st, 2015
There are significant opportunities for salespeople to chase as the market opens up and customers search for increased value and innovation from suppliers, not just lower prices. That’s one of the principal findings from a global survey of buyers launched at the UK’s National Sales Conference in Coventry on 8 October. Introduced at the event by managing director Sam North,…
