Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
Helping cross-functional team leaders achieve better results
Research led to the creation of a “Success Guide to Leading A Cross-Functional Team”. My aim with this research is to help cross-functional team leaders garner better team performance by providing an easily consumable, repeatable set of recommended behaviours and actions to help guide them to success. Team leaders can utilize the knowledge provided from these research findings for guidance,…
Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
People-centred change
This project explores a new approach to change management to enable better value for people. “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change” To a certain extent, I agree with this quote, attributed to Einstein, not because it is from a man recognised as a genius, but because it seems to make sense. There is a qualifying aspect in…
Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
Igniting a SPARK
How to introduce a collaborative change methodology to further support embedding of a sales academy into an organization. “How will I introduce a collaborative change methodology to further support the embedding of the SPARK Sales Academy into our organisation?” Simon Sinek (2011) tells us to start with “why”. My concern begins to formulate by asking myself, “Why did my sales…
Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
Debunking the myths about the future of sales
A Harvard Business School professor’s insights into the science of sales. In this interview with Deirdre Coleman, Frank Cespedes, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, dispels the myths surrounding technology’s impact on the future of sales and why the need to rethink sales also means rethinking sales leadership. He considers the social and financial impact of sales productivity, and stresses…
Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
Student sales stars are real deal
Scotland’s Edinburgh Napier University recently hosted rising sales stars from both sides of the Atlantic at a two-day sales contest. A team from the University of Texas Dallas jetted in to take on talent from Coventry, Sheffield Hallam and the home university at the UK University Sales Competition, sponsored by Textron Aviation. Edinburgh Napier third-year student Max Hampapa emerged as…
Wednesday, December 13th, 2017
Edinburgh Napier honours sales research pioneer
World-renowned sales expert Neil Rackham has been awarded an honorary degree from Edinburgh Napier University. The ceremony on 25 October saw Professor Rackham honoured alongside luminaries from the charity and education sectors. Professor Rackham pioneered “consultative selling” and has been a consultant to executives at more than 40 of the US Fortune 500 companies. He has worked with bosses at…
Saturday, April 22nd, 2017
SEF accolade for Edinbugh Napier
Scotland’s Edinburgh Napier University’s sales programme has received international recognition from the US-based Sales Education Foundation (SEF). Its Craiglockhart-based business school has been included as one of the “Top universities for Professional Sales Education” in the organisation’s 2017 magazine. The SEF, which recognises universities that prepare students for successful careers in professional selling and help to raise the status of…
Tuesday, November 29th, 2016
More universities need to teach sales
More universities need to teach sales – that’s according to Frank Cespedes and Daniel Weinfurter writing in the Harvard Business Review. “For decades, Sales and Academia remained worlds apart and the business world did fine. But Sales is changing, Academia is out of touch, and this is bad for business and the academy,” the authors write. The argue that more…
Saturday, October 31st, 2015
The challenge of sales competitions
Tony Douglas investigates the role and relevance of university sales competitions to sales education from the perspective of business school students. Professional or personal selling has not been regarded by academics in general – nor indeed practitioners – as a profession that can be (or should be) taught at university (Douglas, 2011; Rutterford, 2011; McCourt, 2011). Though this may well…