Posted on February 11th, 2010 by Dave Stein
That’s a question I’ve been asked again and again by journalists, sales leaders, sales training company CEOs, corporate training departments, consultants, and our clients, when they first contact us.
When I tell them that’s not a question I can easily answer, many offer to pay me just for providing them with “just one name.”
If they press [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Sales Training Companies, sales process | 5 Comments »
Posted on January 18th, 2010 by Dave Stein
For those of you new to this blog, my firm, ES Research Group, evaluates sales training companies. We deliver our findings in the form of reports, which we sell on our website, and through consultations with companies evaluating sales training providers.
First a bit of background.
For us, gathering data about sales training companies falls into seven [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Buyers, Industry Analyst, Methodology, RFP, Sales Training Companies | No Comments »
Posted on November 9th, 2009 by Dave Stein
For those of you who read Part 1 of this series and asked for more, thanks for your feedback, and here it is.
Sales trainers and sales training firms have a big challenge over the next year: many customer training budgets have shrunk or been eliminated entirely; the trainers’ own revenues are significantly down—there has been [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Economy, Hiring, Measurement, Methodology, Sales Training Companies, Technology, coaching, sales process | 9 Comments »
Posted on November 4th, 2009 by Dave Stein
I finally got around to meeting my telephone and e-mail colleague, Tom Martin, face-to-face a few weeks ago. Tom is someone I hold in high regard for his experience, integrity and deep understanding of the sales training industry.
Tom is a 20-year veteran of the sales methodology and training industry, with a diverse set of global [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Interview, Methodology, Opportunity Management, Sales Training Companies, sales process | 14 Comments »
Posted on October 29th, 2009 by Dave Stein
As ESR continues to dig into the sales-related challenges of our clients’ companies, we often see a lack of understanding around the issue of relationships between sellers and buyers—often referred to as relationship selling.
Here are some points to consider or debate (with me or among your team):
Beginning in 2000, I heard sales leader after sales [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Relationships, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies | 6 Comments »
Posted on May 4th, 2009 by Dave Stein
What’s going on here?
Sales training has been around for more than 100 years. Yet every year, new approaches appear with the promise of being “The Silver Bullet.” Old approaches—even those that are relevant to fixing the proble—are labeled “old-school,” and rejected.
On Amazon.com there are 29, 469 books under the category of “How to Sell.” In [...]
Filed under: Account Management, Buyers, Economy, Industry Analyst, Professionalism, Research, Technology | 26 Comments »
Posted on April 8th, 2009 by Dave Stein
ESR’s Sales Training Vendor Guide: Third Edition was published this morning.
The Guide analyzes, compares, and contrasts 23 leading sales training providers across many areas including:
Solutions Range
Range of Target Companies
Range of Target Audiences
Range of Training Programs
Adaptability
Range of Instructional Aids & Tools
Quality of Instructional Design
Measurement Programs
Post-training Reinforcement
Supporting Technology
Yield Growth
Return-On-Training (ROT)
Utilization among sales teams
Ease of Learning/Adoption
The Guide weighs [...]
Filed under: Book Recommendation, Buyers, Methodology, Research, Sales 2.0, Sales Strategy, Sales Training Companies, Technology, sales process | No Comments »
Posted on April 2nd, 2009 by Dave Stein
The TAS Group has invited me to deliver a complimentary webinar next Wednesday, April 8th, at 1:00 pm EDT. During the webinar, I’ll be sharing ES Research Group’s latest findings about trends in sales training and sales training providers from ESR’s Sales Training Vendor Guide, Third Edition, which will be published next week.
How to get [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Presentations, Sales Training Companies, sales training | 4 Comments »
Posted on March 30th, 2009 by Dave Stein
A while back messaging and branding expert Maureen Blandford asked me to lend an endorsement to what was then her new book, Branding Doesn’t Work in Business to Business. I had not met Maureen. I was skeptical. By the time I got through with the book, I was a Maureen Blandford fan. Why? Maureen provides [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Marketing, Sales Strategy | No Comments »
Posted on March 26th, 2009 by Dave Stein
I’ve been involved in a number of posts on The Customer Collective where there have been some personal attacks by a few social media zealots against some of us that have a more balanced view of the capabilities and tools required for effective B2B selling going forward in this new(est) economy. Jonathan Farrington1, Dave Brock, [...]
Filed under: Buyers, Economy, Professionalism, Relationships, Research, Sales Strategy, Technology, sales process | 5 Comments »
