Thursday, May 21st, 2020
The digital takeover
McKinsey & Co’s latest B2B DECISION-MAKER PULSE…
Wednesday, September 11th, 2019
Virtual training can be better than the classroom
New, controlled field test proves effectiveness of online alternative. When it comes to creating lasting behaviour change in salespeople, the assumption is that virtual sales skills training is a pale imitation of in-person classroom training. But what if an online training alternative could be proven as effective, if not more effective than classroom training? Can you imagine the possibilities for…
Tuesday, September 10th, 2019
Research identifies three key sales competencies
As B2B buying behaviour evolves, how can sales organisations adapt? This is the third of a series of articles in which Dr Simon Kelly, Dr Paul Johnston and Stacey Danheiser explore customer value and differentiation. In this article they offer an early view into their latest research around the roles and competencies required by salespeople to help their organisations differentiate…
Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
Easier continuing professional development
CPD is vital in today’s sales world, and the “Journal” is aiming to help. Continuing professional development is widely recognised as fundamental to the improvement of standards and skills for individuals, their industries and professions. Yet, until recently, CPD has not been top of the agenda in sales. Why? Let’s face it, sales may be the world’s oldest profession, but…
Thursday, March 21st, 2019
Which sales methodology is best for your organisation?
There is a general recognition – backed by the latest research from CSO Insights and others – that sales organisations that have adopted a structured approach to selling consistently and often dramatically outperform their less-effective competitors. One of the key foundations of a structured approach to selling involves the adoption of an appropriate sales methodology. You might think of these…
Wednesday, December 13th, 2017
Continuously developing sales competencies
I’m not sure that what you might describe as the “traditional” approach to sales skills development – sending salespeople on an occasional formal sales training course based on one of the many standard methodologies – ever delivered consistent results in terms of driving sustained performance improvement. And that was in yesterday’s relatively static marketplaces! In today’s fast-changing business environment, sales…
Wednesday, December 13th, 2017
Boost skills to drive growth and productivity
Despite high employment, UK labour productivity growth remains weak while job prospects of many adults are hurt by poor basic skills such as literacy and numeracy – that’s the view of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD. A recent report from the inter-governmental organisation, Getting Skills Right: United Kingdom says that to boost the country’s growth, productivity and…
Friday, September 22nd, 2017
Why EQ drives performance
Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack. Peter Salovey and John D Mayer coined the term “emotional intelligence” in 1990, describing it as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among…
Thursday, September 21st, 2017
APS “Sales in a Box” a hit in schools
Association of Professional Sales fellows are inspiring the next generation of salespeople via the “APS Sales in a Box student initiative to promote professional sales as a career in secondary schools. The programme provides guidance for anyone to promote professional sales as a career and is especially important in the context of employers admitting their first intake of B2B Sales…
Wednesday, September 20th, 2017
Critical skills for 2020
High levels of emotional intelligence applied the…
Friday, April 28th, 2017
The Sales EQ: How Ultra High Performers Leverage Sales-Specific Emotional Intelligence to Close the Complex Deal
Jeb Blount (author), Anthony Iannarino (foreword) The sales profession is in the midst of a perfect storm. Buyers have more power more information, more at stake, and more control over the sales process than any time in history. Technology is bringing disruptive change at an ever–increasing pace, creating fear and uncertainty that leaves buyers clinging to the status quo. Deteriorating…
Tuesday, November 29th, 2016
APS joins forces with Huthwaite International to focus on skills and training
The Association of Professional Sales (APS) has announced a partnership with one of the sales world’s leading training, consultancy and research groups, Huthwaite International. The APS says that its new skills partner Huthwaite will “bring fresh insight and research to the profession, as well as working hard to drive the highest standards of quality and excellence across the sales industry”….
Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
Sales skills among emerging and established economies
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, January 30th, 2016
Sales managers’ skills, critical reasoning and motivators around the globe
Continuing from the review of sales manager behaviours by region in the previous edition of the Journal, this time we are looking at regional variations in skills, critical reasoning and motivators (what motivates the individual sales manager) across the same group of sales managers. Data published in edition 1.3 (October 2015) indicated that sales managers in China were behaviourally less…
Tuesday, July 7th, 2015
Global gaps in core sales skills
Methodology This dataset was provided by a sample of 500 people who sat the Core Sales Skills module of SalesAssessment.com’s Universal Sales Skills Audit (USSA) during Q1 2015. The sample consisted of a block of anonymised data, with a random start point in the USSA candidate database. This random sample included candidates from the UK, USA, Dubai, Jordan and Egypt….
Saturday, July 4th, 2015
No plans for sales in schools despite demands for more vocational education
Industry leaders are calling for a comprehensive shake-up of the UK’s educational system to reflect the needs of employers. This includes delivering a mix of academic and vocational options for 14-18-year-olds. However, there is no mention of how sales might fit into these plans. In a recent speech at the Sunday Times Festival of Education at Wellington College, John Cridland,…