Tuesday, September 30th, 2025
Five key questions a CEO should ask the sales leader/department to optimise revenue performance
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2025
Sales execution reimagined
Bridging sales process and methodology for optimal performance. Too many times, we see sales organisations get dazzled by the latest buzzword (“MEDDIC 1 this,” “Challenger that”), after some consulting firm sells it like it’s the silver bullet that addresses low quota attainment. Or an executive grabs the hot new sales book and declares it to be the next gospel: for…
Tuesday, September 30th, 2025
The power of adaptation
Although adaptive selling can transform sales performance, it’s not a silver bullet. We all know that the best salespeople don’t always follow the script. While reps might start out reciting memorized pitches, as they develop they learn to read the room, adjust their approach, and craft solutions that resonate with each unique customer. This distinction captures the essence of adaptive…
Tuesday, September 30th, 2025
Safety, problem solving and creating value between organisations
ISP managing director Guy Lloyd and Warwick Business School’s Professor Nick Lee are in conversation with celebrated sales researcher and author Professor Neil Rackham, known for his pioneering sales research and developing the SPIN methodology. Guy Lloyd: What are the big changes you’ve seen in selling activity since you were doing your research for SPIN Selling? Neil Rackham: I think…
Tuesday, September 30th, 2025
Growing sales is easy…and yet
A sales leader challenges common misconceptions around “silver bullet”, short-term tactics to boost sales. It’s the end of the fiscal period, sales have been tracking well but the OI/EBITDA 1 number isn’t where it should be, so Sales needs to sell more. Its budget time and we grew well last year, but the plan is for up to 40% growth…
Monday, September 29th, 2025
There is no silver bullet
Why the future of B2B selling must be situationally adaptive. For decades, authors of books about selling have sought to promote the perfect methodology – the idea that there is “one best way” to sell. Whether SPIN, Challenger, Value Selling, Sandler, Miller-Heiman, MEDDPICC or many other approaches, each has claimed to provide the formula for sales success. But in today’s…
Monday, September 29th, 2025
The elusive silver bullet
Why sales performance remains stubbornly stagnant. For decades, the sales profession has been on a quest for the mythical silver bullet: that magical solution promising to transform mediocre performers into quotacrushing superstars. From cutting-edge CRM systems to revolutionary sales methodologies, from eye-watering commission structures to AI-powered insights, the industry has thrown everything at the problem. Yet despite billions invested in…
Tuesday, July 8th, 2025
Don’t crash and burn out!
Latest Insights into wellbeing, motivation and sales performance. Sales performance is not just a function of skills and strategy; the wellbeing and motivation of salespeople profoundly influence it. Recent research and thought leadership converge on a clear message: sales teams thrive when their psychological needs are met, their stress is managed, and they feel motivated beyond just hitting a number….
Tuesday, July 8th, 2025
A science-based guide to motivating your team
The authors explore three theories every sales leader should master. Sales motivation isn’t rocket science – it’s far more complicated than that! While rockets (at least on the macro scale) follow predictable laws of physics, human motivation operates in the comparatively much messier realm of psychology, where individual differences, organizational contexts, and market pressures collide in unpredictable ways. Yet, too…
Monday, July 7th, 2025
The human factor
Exploring the vital relationship between wellbeing, motivation, and retention in modern sales. In too many sales environments, performance and productivity are largely seen as endpoints to be optimised through processes, metrics, tools, and training. However, there’s a growing recognition that sustainable sales performance is deeply rooted in human factors – in the wellbeing and motivation of sales professionals. I hope…
Monday, July 7th, 2025
Motivation– a strategic imperative
Exploring the hidden driving force behind sales excellence. Why should we care about how motivated our salespeople are? Do we understand what motivates someone to do their best? How do the drivers of motivation vary between individuals, and can our best intentions demotivate our people? This edition of the Journal explores these questions. I think we can all agree that…
Thursday, April 10th, 2025
Sales Tips 101 – Making a career of sales
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
Hitting the right notes in sales
How can leading indicators, when integrated into the Sales Management System and aligned with leadership practices and organizational culture, enhance predictability, foster customercentricity, and drive sustainable sales transformation within a complex, matrixed organization like SAP? Conducting the symphony in sales In the vibrant world of sales, the role of a leader may be associated to that of a conductor of…
Tuesday, April 8th, 2025
Retaining top sales talent
How do you hang onto the good salespeople your employ? Enhancing mental health and well-being in sales organisations is key. Retaining top sales talent is a growing challenge for sales leaders. Sales professionals today operate in a competitive marketplace where opportunities are abundant, and organisations must ensure they provide compelling reasons for their best people to stay. The ability to…
Tuesday, April 8th, 2025
Making a career of sales
There is no doubt that sales can be an excellent and satisfying career. As a reader of this Journal, I hope that you already believe this as strongly as I do. I am encouraged by the work being done by a growing number of schools, educational establishments and bodies like the UK’s Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP) to establish and…
Tuesday, April 8th, 2025
A global sales playbook
Why winning globally starts with one consistent sales methodology. Global sales success demands precision, alignment and a relentless focus on delivering value. Yet many sales organizations expand internationally without a unified plan. This haphazard approach leads to fragmented strategies, inconsistent messaging and unpredictable results. To succeed globally, companies need a single, consistent playbook built on a proven sales methodology. This…
Monday, September 30th, 2024
A technology teammate
Here are five ways to revolutionize sales coaching with AI….. Adoption of AI has exploded over the past year, forever changing the sales profession and bringing about a paradigm shift in sales coaching. This transformative technology offers new ways to enhance performance while nurturing the invaluable human-to-human relationships that underpin successful sales endeavours. Sales professionals have already embraced AI to…
Thursday, September 19th, 2024
AI in sales: view from our experts
Sales professionals and academics discuss the current state of AI in sales, and look to the future. Bob Apollo, Chief Outcomes Officer, Inflexion-Point As we approach the era of AI in business and sales, it is vital to explore what the key tasks will be, as well as the skills and development paths needed to make a success of the…
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024
Establishing trust with your sales team
Sales managers need to both trust and be trusted by their sales team. Here are a few of the most important ways in which this can be established: +
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: +
