Sometimes great short-term sales success can be a bad predictive of future sales excellence. Let’s take a look at why that might be and examine the consequences. There are a number of market and company specific reasons why this troubling dilemma tends to materialize at various times. MORE
New Sales Reps. What would successful sales reps and sales managers tell a new salesperson on how to gain credibility? We posed that question to our customers and heard many great recommendations, like: Listen to the customer’s needs. MORE
Sales performance. Constant change has always characterized the business world. Looking in the rear view mirror has never been a recommended strategy for determining future direction. However, from time to time the nature of the change takes on a different look. MORE
Sales Manager. New sales managers often are promoted for their sales success – not sales management expertise. So what happens after the sales manager assumes the role and responsibilities of their new position? MORE
Sales training. Here’s the conundrum … You have a 250 person sales team. You are a new, first time Sales Training Director. You replaced a sales manager who did no sales training for a long time. To add urgency, revenue numbers have been stagnant for too long. MORE
Millennials and Sales. Millennials, born between 1982 and 1993, are 80 million strong. In 2015 Millennials passed Generation X to make up the largest share of the workforce. In 2020 they will be nearly half of the workforce. MORE
Crafting sales strategy. In B2B sales, one-size-does-not-fit-all is a cornerstone proposition. There are no generic customers; hence there are no winning generic strategies – each customer is unique and every winning account strategy must take that uniqueness into consideration. MORE
Virtual Reality and Sales Presentations. Each year medical companies develop a dazzling array of new products. Some are minor upgrades. While others are extraordinary new products designed to be game changers or, in some cases, “bet the company” entries into the market. MORE
Sales Process. Listen to a conversation about the need for improving sales process and it usually begins like this: “We have very aggressive sales targets and we’re just not getting there.”. “We’re MORE
New sales managers. Congratulations! You’ve done it! You have crossed over! You are now a sales manager. So, what do you do now? Even after some initial guidance from colleagues, most new sales managers find themselves struggling to figure out how to balance the requirements of the position. MORE
Sales calls – ask questions. Today almost everyone has come around to the idea that “ asking questions ” is a critical sales skill. Asking questions is now accepted as a fundamental sales competency. MORE
Companies spend a tremendous amount of time, money and effort every year to improve the productivity of their sales teams. The intervention strategies range from sales training efforts to coaching initiatives to sales tools to marketing materials. MORE
Developing a sales culture. Traditionally when talking about sales best practices, most of the emphasis has been placed on individual sales rep and sales management skill sets. MORE
New Sales Managers. Customers expect salespeople to know more today than ever before … and to know it at a higher level of proficiency. This difference constitutes an inflexion point. Customers now want sales reps who are trusted advisors not product facilitators. MORE
Recent years have seen a tremendous disruption in how customers buy. And if buyers change how they buy – salespeople need to change how they sell. Customers want fresh ideas and creative insights for addressing a set of needs and opportunities that are both new and challenging. MORE
Complex Sales. When comparing small transactional sales to large complex sales, the differences in the buying process are difficult to overstate. MORE
Sales Management Excellence. Herminia Ibaraan, an INSEAD professor, published a provocative book arguing that in today’s market if you desire to get better at management you must venture outside your comfort zone. Being stuck in outdated mindsets or ways of doing things will not lead to success. MORE
Sales Training – 2026. As a way of exploring the future of sales training, let’s time travel to the year 2026 and examine the major trends of the day. Suspending disbelief, assume you have time traveled and have arrived in the summer of 2026. MORE
Happy New Year. Wishing you a successful sales year. Keep an eye on the Sales Training Connection for new ideas that may help you improve your sales performance. To a smashing 2017, Janet and Richard MORE
July 4th Fireworks. Wishing everyone a happy 4th of July holiday MORE
Medical Device Selling Trends. ORTHOWORLD published an article in their February 2012 ORTHOKNOW newsletter summarizing key points Richard shared in a Medsider podcast with Scott Nelson on emerging trends in medical device sales. MORE
Sales coaching. When top sales managers are asked what advice they would give to someone wanting to improve their coaching, a pervasive answer is – stop trying to teach your sales team and start trying to help them learn. . This is hardly new news. MORE
Sales training. If you look back over the last decade, a number of industries have gone through dramatic change. They have changed what they buy, how they buy, and what they are willing to pay for it. The future will produce more of the same with the changes likely to be even more dramatic. MORE
Sales teams – more people with “sales antennae up” = more wins. The investment required to make a sale is lower when selling to existing customers versus new customers. MORE
Listening in sales calls. While most salespeople have come to agree that asking questions is a key skill, many still underestimate the contribution of good listening to achieving top performance. It is the forgotten twin in the proposition – ask, listen and then talk. MORE
Winning sales – connect the dots. Often a sale is lost even when the solution is a good fit because the salesperson fails to make the connection between the solution and the customer needs. The seller gets Step 1 right – they develop a good understanding of the customer’s needs. MORE
Negotiation Strategy. There are a substantial number of skill sets and bodies of knowledge that constitute the discipline of sales negotiation. MORE
AI and Sales Management. Sales leadership talks about it all the time. Sales consultants advocate it and sales managers say they would like to do more of it. The “it” of course is sales coaching. MORE
Listening isn’t a spectator sport. You have to get in the game. You must convert from thinking about listening as something that is passive – to something that is active. MORE
After many years of sitting in on sales calls and even more providing feedback to salespeople in sales simulations, we’ve noticed there definitely is variability in the amount and quality of pre-call planning. MORE
Sales coaching puzzle. A while ago we received a call from a company wanting to talk about coaching training for their front-line sales managers. MORE
Onboarding new sales reps. Today a sales team must not only be able to sell a competitive advantage; they must be a competitive advantage. In most companies, it is increasingly difficult to sustain a competitive advantage by traditional means. MORE
Sales Strategy. When you listen in on strategic account review sessions between Sales Managers and sales reps all too often the conversations is primarily about what has gone wrong – “Why did we lose that big sale?” or “How come the forecast figures are off?”. MORE
Selling to C-Suite Puzzle. In major accounts sales success at the C-level is a “do or die” proposition. What makes it particularly challenging is “one strike and you’re out.” ” There’s no second chance to get it right. MORE
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving … and for many a long weekend filled with fun, football, and perhaps some shopping MORE
Sales Training and Start-ups. Why do some start-ups make it and some don’t? As one might suspect, given the staggering number of start-ups formed every year, there is no shortage of information on critical success factors. Some common ones are: Timing, working capital, and the leadership team. MORE
Sales Training Connection
DECEMBER 14, 2016
Selling to C-Suite Puzzle. In major accounts sales success at the C-level is a “do or die” proposition. What makes it particularly challenging is “one strike and you’re out.” ” There’s no second chance to get it right.
Sales Training Connection
OCTOBER 4, 2016
Sales Process. Listen to a conversation about the need for improving sales process and it usually begins like this: “We have very aggressive sales targets and we’re just not getting there.”. “We’re
Sales Training Connection
OCTOBER 13, 2016
Sales training. Here’s the conundrum … You have a 250 person sales team. You are a new, first time Sales Training Director. You replaced a sales manager who did no sales training for a long time. To add urgency, revenue numbers have been stagnant for too long.
Sales Training Connection
NOVEMBER 17, 2016
Virtual Reality and Sales Presentations. Each year medical companies develop a dazzling array of new products. Some are minor upgrades. While others are extraordinary new products designed to be game changers or, in some cases, “bet the company” entries into the market.
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Sales enablement is not really a new concept; it has been around for over 10 years. However, understanding the full application of sales enablement is a very different thing.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 4, 2018
Medical Device Selling Trends. ORTHOWORLD published an article in their February 2012 ORTHOKNOW newsletter summarizing key points Richard shared in a Medsider podcast with Scott Nelson on emerging trends in medical device sales.
Sales Training Connection
SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
Sales coaching puzzle. A while ago we received a call from a company wanting to talk about coaching training for their front-line sales managers.
Sales Training Connection
NOVEMBER 24, 2016
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving … and for many a long weekend filled with fun, football, and perhaps some shopping
Sales Training Connection
OCTOBER 17, 2016
Developing a sales culture. Traditionally when talking about sales best practices, most of the emphasis has been placed on individual sales rep and sales management skill sets.
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Find out why waiting for perfection is costing you money.
Sales Training Connection
FEBRUARY 22, 2017
Listening in sales calls. While most salespeople have come to agree that asking questions is a key skill, many still underestimate the contribution of good listening to achieving top performance. It is the forgotten twin in the proposition – ask, listen and then talk.
Sales Training Connection
MARCH 1, 2017
New Sales Managers. Customers expect salespeople to know more today than ever before … and to know it at a higher level of proficiency. This difference constitutes an inflexion point. Customers now want sales reps who are trusted advisors not product facilitators.
Sales Training Connection
JANUARY 4, 2017
Crafting sales strategy. In B2B sales, one-size-does-not-fit-all is a cornerstone proposition. There are no generic customers; hence there are no winning generic strategies – each customer is unique and every winning account strategy must take that uniqueness into consideration.
Sales Training Connection
MAY 16, 2017
Sales teams – more people with “sales antennae up” = more wins. The investment required to make a sale is lower when selling to existing customers versus new customers.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 19, 2017
After many years of sitting in on sales calls and even more providing feedback to salespeople in sales simulations, we’ve noticed there definitely is variability in the amount and quality of pre-call planning.
Speaker: Matt McDarby & Dan Smaida, Managing Directors, Specialized Sales Systems
World-class sales managers have long used creative means to solve for time and distance. In this webinar, you’ll learn how modern sales managers are using new technology plus old-school sales management to develop their people without burning out.
Sales Training Connection
DECEMBER 31, 2016
Happy New Year. Wishing you a successful sales year. Keep an eye on the Sales Training Connection for new ideas that may help you improve your sales performance. To a smashing 2017, Janet and Richard
Sales Training Connection
JANUARY 31, 2017
Sales performance. Constant change has always characterized the business world. Looking in the rear view mirror has never been a recommended strategy for determining future direction. However, from time to time the nature of the change takes on a different look.
Sales Training Connection
JANUARY 10, 2017
AI and Sales Management. Sales leadership talks about it all the time. Sales consultants advocate it and sales managers say they would like to do more of it. The “it” of course is sales coaching.
Sales Training Connection
JULY 27, 2016
New sales managers. Congratulations! You’ve done it! You have crossed over! You are now a sales manager. So, what do you do now? Even after some initial guidance from colleagues, most new sales managers find themselves struggling to figure out how to balance the requirements of the position.
Speaker: Ray Makela, CEO Sales Readiness Group
Companies spend about $20 billion a year on various forms of sales training. Still, many sales leaders report low ROIs from their sales training initiatives. So how can you ensure that your investment in sales training is producing excellent results? Join us for this complimentary webinar as Ray Makela, CEO at the Sales Readiness Group, discusses five essential factors to achieve sustainable success from your sales training investment, and how to leverage eLearning to maximize results.
Sales Training Connection
JANUARY 27, 2016
Sometimes great short-term sales success can be a bad predictive of future sales excellence. Let’s take a look at why that might be and examine the consequences. There are a number of market and company specific reasons why this troubling dilemma tends to materialize at various times.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 13, 2016
Winning sales – connect the dots. Often a sale is lost even when the solution is a good fit because the salesperson fails to make the connection between the solution and the customer needs. The seller gets Step 1 right – they develop a good understanding of the customer’s needs.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 26, 2017
New Sales Reps. What would successful sales reps and sales managers tell a new salesperson on how to gain credibility? We posed that question to our customers and heard many great recommendations, like: Listen to the customer’s needs.
Sales Training Connection
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
Onboarding new sales reps. Today a sales team must not only be able to sell a competitive advantage; they must be a competitive advantage. In most companies, it is increasingly difficult to sustain a competitive advantage by traditional means.
Speaker: Joe DiDonato, Chief of Staff, Baker Communcations, Inc
Finding the right learning approach for each topic you have to deliver to your learners can seem like a “problem of endless choices.” In this webinar, corporate learning expert, Joe DiDonato, shares how his teams solved these problems, as well as how new educational technology (EdTech) is changing the sales landscape for all of us. He will also tell you what he shared with the Venture Capitalist community on how to pick which EdTech technologies will likely succeed based on educational research. Joe is an engaging storyteller that uses easy-to-understand language, who promises to share what methods succeeded and which methods failed over his long career.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 12, 2017
Sales Manager. New sales managers often are promoted for their sales success – not sales management expertise. So what happens after the sales manager assumes the role and responsibilities of their new position?
Sales Training Connection
AUGUST 17, 2016
Sales Management Excellence. Herminia Ibaraan, an INSEAD professor, published a provocative book arguing that in today’s market if you desire to get better at management you must venture outside your comfort zone. Being stuck in outdated mindsets or ways of doing things will not lead to success.
Sales Training Connection
JUNE 21, 2016
Millennials and Sales. Millennials, born between 1982 and 1993, are 80 million strong. In 2015 Millennials passed Generation X to make up the largest share of the workforce. In 2020 they will be nearly half of the workforce.
Sales Training Connection
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Sales coaching. When top sales managers are asked what advice they would give to someone wanting to improve their coaching, a pervasive answer is – stop trying to teach your sales team and start trying to help them learn. . This is hardly new news.
Speaker: Mike Kunkle, Vice President, Sales Transformation Services, Fast Lane Digital
More than 8 analyst firms, the Association for Talent Development, and the Sales Enablement Society have all defined “sales enablement” – each slightly differently. In hundreds of organizations, the sales enablement function is run differently, with a different focus, responsibilities, and initiatives. To make matters worse, according to a 2017 study by CSO Insights, “Sales enablement is a growing trend, but sales performance is not improving. Clearly, something is missing.” What’s missing is a clear focus on driving measurable improvement in sales performance and the expertise required to truly move the needle on the metrics that matter. Want to step up, separate yourself from the pack, and maximize your company’s investment in Sales Enablement? Then join sales transformation expert Mike Kunkle for this webinar (where your questions are welcomed and expected!)
Sales Training Connection
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
Listening isn’t a spectator sport. You have to get in the game. You must convert from thinking about listening as something that is passive – to something that is active.
Sales Training Connection
JULY 13, 2016
Sales Strategy. When you listen in on strategic account review sessions between Sales Managers and sales reps all too often the conversations is primarily about what has gone wrong – “Why did we lose that big sale?” or “How come the forecast figures are off?”.
Sales Training Connection
APRIL 20, 2016
Sales calls – ask questions. Today almost everyone has come around to the idea that “ asking questions ” is a critical sales skill. Asking questions is now accepted as a fundamental sales competency.
Sales Training Connection
AUGUST 1, 2016
Sales Training – 2026. As a way of exploring the future of sales training, let’s time travel to the year 2026 and examine the major trends of the day. Suspending disbelief, assume you have time traveled and have arrived in the summer of 2026.
Speaker: Pat D'Amico, Founder and CEO, About-Face Development
Video learning is not new, but the marriage of video learning and today’s technology is transforming our ability to achieve skill mastery in sales. Join us as we delve into how technology advancements in learning are changing the game and why it’s critical to sales success.
Sales Training Connection
JANUARY 13, 2016
Recent years have seen a tremendous disruption in how customers buy. And if buyers change how they buy – salespeople need to change how they sell. Customers want fresh ideas and creative insights for addressing a set of needs and opportunities that are both new and challenging.
Sales Training Connection
MAY 18, 2016
Sales Training and Start-ups. Why do some start-ups make it and some don’t? As one might suspect, given the staggering number of start-ups formed every year, there is no shortage of information on critical success factors. Some common ones are: Timing, working capital, and the leadership team.
Sales Training Connection
JULY 4, 2016
July 4th Fireworks. Wishing everyone a happy 4th of July holiday
Sales Training Connection
JUNE 30, 2016
Complex Sales. When comparing small transactional sales to large complex sales, the differences in the buying process are difficult to overstate.
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This best practices guide focuses on helping you organize, harness and capitalize on the information, buying signals and qualified prospects identifying themselves to you online every single day.
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