Implications for B2B Selling in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
[This article was originally published as part of the Sales Education Foundation 2018 Annual Magazine, co-authored with Robert M. Peterson, Ph.D., Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Sales, Northern Illinois University Professional Sales Program] “The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the […]
Continue readingWhy I Decided to Join the SPARXiQ Team
[NOTE: This post was originally published in late November of 2018. I have updated it to reflect a few changes, including the company rebranding, my title, and some cool new solutions that we offer.] The position change announcement feature on LinkedIn has become the birthday announcement on Facebook. Except for anyone with a large network, […]
Continue readingMaximizing the Power of Role Play and Sales Simulations
It’s unfortunate that role play has a low level of acceptance in many sales organizations. Done well, it’s one of the very best ways to train, coach, and improve skill levels. In this post, I’m not going to attempt to convince you that role play is an outstanding learning or performance improvement tool. For that, […]
Continue readingTransform Your Sales Results with a Systems Approach – Part 4: Sales Training
In Part 1 of this series, I shared that the solution to our current sales problems and the vehicle for transforming your sales results is a Systems Approach to Sales. The four systems I cited are: Sales Selection System Sales Readiness System (formerly Sales Support) Sales Training System (formerly Sales Learning) Sales Management System In Part 2 of […]
Continue readingThe Oversimplification of Sales Performance Work
The Oversimplification of Sales Performance Work Yes, you read that right. I’m worried about some of the things I’m reading and trends I’m seeing in the world of sales performance improvement. Simple is good. Oversimplified is not. If you’ve been reading my work for a while, you may remember that I define performance levers as […]
Continue readingTransforming Sales Results is Back
Ch-ch-ch-changes If you haven’t seen my social profile updates yet, change is afoot. Friday, March 7 was my final day at Richardson. Monday, March 10 is my first day at GE Capital. (Technically, I guess that means I’m unemployed this weekend. Hadn’t thought about that until this instant.) Past Can something be bittersweet and exciting […]
Continue readingFinal Thoughts Before the Crickets Chirp
This past week, I was asked by my new employer to press the pause button on this personal blog, to become part of the collective voice at The Richardson Sales Excellence Review™ Despite the fact that I regret my wishy-washy, stop/start behavior with this blog, I couldn’t be more pleased to become part of the blogging […]
Continue readingImprove Your Sales Coaching with Two Simple Steps – Part 3
I guess it’s somewhat funny that a simple, two-step addition to sales coaching has taken a 3-part blog series to communicate. Hopefully, it’s been a good journey for those who have come along for the ride. In Part 1, I laid out the overall framework of the two-step addition, and explained Addressing the Right Issues, […]
Continue readingImprove Your Sales Coaching with Two Simple Steps – Part 2
In the first post in this series, I wrote that there are many good coaching models for having an open, engaging discussion with a rep, but not as many that focus on rigorous diagnosis and the application of the best solution, based on that diagnosis. Which, this time, leads us right into some details about […]
Continue readingImprove Your Sales Coaching with Two Simple Steps – Part 1
Coaching & Fashion – Models Abound There are many solid models for generalized sales coaching and sales rep development. Most of these models address how to coach – meaning, how to conduct an effective, interactive coaching session. Appropriately, these models usually include some sort of Socratic, dialogue-based, facilitative approach, similar to effective selling, interactive classroom […]
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