Wednesday, September 6th, 2023
My Coaching Promise
Developing a contract between coachee and coach works to improve virtual sales coaching. +
Tuesday, September 5th, 2023
Becoming an effective coach
Following on from our new Sales Tips 101 column, Bob Apollo presents a parallel series of tips for sales managers, starting with the “Keys to effective coaching”. Coaching is perhaps the most important task of any sales manager, and the thing most likely to impact their team’s performance. Here are five principles to bear in mind when developing our ability…
Friday, September 1st, 2023
First-time manager
Navigating the transition from sales to sales management. For many successful and ambitious salespeople, their first move into sales management is perhaps the defining moment in their career. Some will succeed. Some will fail. Some will make the move and then wish they had never abandoned the simpler life of a salesperson. And some will remain perfectly happy avoiding the…
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, 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 leaders should position technology as “teammate”
Analysts suggests that sales organizations which actively position technology as a “teammate” for sellers – rather than just another tool – will unlock seller productivity and enable highquality deals. Speakers at the Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference 2023, in Las Vegas on 16-17 May, explored how technology – particularly artificial intelligence – is key in augmenting the unique value…
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. When exploring the different generations, I came across many different descriptions and definitions. To avoid confusion, I have decided to use the definition from Purdue University: The aim of my research has been to…
Thursday, April 20th, 2023
War on attrition
How can effective coaching support the retention of employees within an organisation? The challenge of employee retention and continued commitment to an organisation has no straightforward documented resolution. A key responsibility of any business is to keep its employees happy and motivated, retain them in the company, but also to ensure they make best use of their individual talents. O’Reilly…
Thursday, April 20th, 2023
Questions, questions, questions!
How and why we ask questions is important. The twins of curiosity and ignorance Dr Marlys Witte is “a surgeon without hands”1, a researcher and educator of medical students and the self-proclaimed mother of the “medical ignorance” movement. She has not just adopted the Socratic method of educating through questions; her medical education model also develops the capability to be…
Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
Quarterly forecasting or healthy pipeline?
Sales operations are having a golden era. Organizations that understand this will come out winners in the years to come. Tomorrow is happening now – like, now now! From forecasting to demand management, sales operations is moving from an enabler to a player, but the move must be intentional; it will not happen by coincidence. Here’s why. The business of…
Friday, September 30th, 2022
Conferences and exhibitions 8.5 2022
National Sales Conference (UK) Thursday, 10 November…
Thursday, September 29th, 2022
Making conflict work
While conflict needs to be managed well, it can also be productive. Conflict is a frequent challenge among business relationships with customers, partners and suppliers. Inside organisations, conflicts within teams and cross-functionally are also common, yet sales professionals often feel ill-equipped to manage conflict well. Unresolved conflict can spread and grow, and result in stress and well-being issues for those…
Friday, April 22nd, 2022
Conferences and exhibitions 8.3 2022
GSSI – Global Sales Science Institute –…
Tuesday, January 11th, 2022
The power of relationships and purpose
Digital is enhancing the way we manage business and sales organisations, but analytics are underpinned by relationships and human behaviours. The value tied up in customer relationships is vast but hard to measure; purpose is now a profit centre and predictable human behaviours can help us to forecast sales more accurately. These were just three of the key takeaways from…
Monday, January 10th, 2022
TOTAL Coaching
Developing and implementing a coaching culture within a sales environment to effect real transformation in coaching across your organisation. Throughout my career in sales leadership with SKF, the Swedish-based world leader in supply of bearings, seals and rotating equipment solutions, I have considered the importance of continual improvement in individual and team performance to be a fundamental element towards success….
Monday, January 10th, 2022
Creating an effective coaching culture
How embedded is coaching in your organisation? Let’s explore the fundamental question first: does coaching work and is it worth investing in a coaching culture? The use of coaching has increased, complementing established learning interventions and the research evidence of its effectiveness is robust. A recent review of quantitative studies concluded that workplace coaching does show a good effect size…
Monday, January 10th, 2022
Is coaching the critical sales management skill?
It’s all about time, skills and mindset. Successful sales managers must master a range of important skills. They need to make sure that they recruit the right people and help them to realise their potential, encourage their teams to follow and contribute to the organisation’s learned best practices, ensure that opportunities are well-qualified, that pipelines are well managed and that…
Monday, January 10th, 2022
Conferences and exhibitions 8.1 2022
AMA Winter Academic Conference (in-person) – Las…
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021
Conferences and exhibitions 7.4 2021
Global Sales Transformation XVI 7 October 2021…
Monday, September 27th, 2021
The role of trust in sales
If we expect our customers to trust us, we need to develop both an internal and an external culture of trust. Trust is an essential foundational element in any sales environment, and it can (and must) take many forms. Perhaps the most obvious manifestation lies in the relationship between the salesperson (and the vendor they represent) and the customer’s decision-making…