The State of Sales Training 2012 (Part One)

On December 7, 2011 ESR delivered a webinar presentation on the state of sales training (download the MP3 or PDF—free registration required). It was an hour full of valuable intelligence and insight for sales training companies and sales trainers in corporate L&D organizations. Here are some of the points I made during the event. First, [...]

The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation

If you’re in sales management or especially in a higher level sales executive position and you don’t know who the Sales Executive Council (“SEC”) is, you should. They’re part of the larger Corporate Executive Board, a $440 million public corporation that provides insights and tools to executives of large corporations through a participatory membership-based model. [...]

Announcing ESR’s Sales Thought-Leader Panel Series

Sixteen of the World’s Top Sales Experts are Meeting. Get a Seat at the Table. Over the next two months I’ll be moderating four, unscripted, unrehearsed panel discussions on today’s pressing sales issues. Here is the press release, issued today. As you look at the panelists below, you might not recognize all their names or [...]

About Salesreps: Can You Transform a C Player into a B Player?

We read a lot on the sales blogs and in articles about A, B, and C players.  Those pieces have covered various methods, learning approaches, and tools for transforming C’s into B’s, and B’s into A players. We have a strong view at ESR about this subject.   With the right approach, time, and support, you [...]

If I Have to Sit Through One More Sales Training Class…

To Sales Reps and Their First-Line Managers: You have the right to be: Assessed for your individual strengths and weaknesses, Educated and trained in areas where you need improvement in ways you learn most effectively and efficiently, Provided with the tools and support to sell, Sent back into the field with improved selling capabilities, no [...]

Recruit a Mentor

Tougher times call for stronger personal/professional support systems. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach and mentor many talented sales professionals, sales leaders, and other executives around the general subject of effective selling within their organizations. I provided them with support, contacts, insights, my experience, expertise, opinions and balanced [...]

Sales 101 Isn’t Enough, Says a Panel of Experts

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting an  sales expert round table hosted by Focus.com entitled, What Advanced Selling Capabilities are Required to Win Today? Focus.com came to me asking what topic I’d like to discuss.  The list is always long, but it occurred to me that a discussion among five experts in advanced selling [...]

Four Sales Effectiveness Predictions for 2011

I was recently a guest presenter, along with Greg Brush of InsideView, on a webinar hosted by The TAS Group. I talked about ESR’s predictions for 2011.  There are a lot of predictions floating around the sales blogs these days.  I don’t feel a need to repeat what others have said, so you might find [...]

Miller Heiman’s Advanced Concepts

Last week Miller Heiman announced Advanced ConceptsSM, their new multi-media, virtual learning offering. Clients who are using Miller Heiman’s content have been saying they want to take their application of the Strategic Selling process to the next level.  The new tool provides content above and beyond what is typically offered in Miller Heiman’s programs.  Miller [...]

Can An Independent Sales Trainer/Sales Consultant Provide Real Value To A Large Company?

Yes. That sole trainer (or two- to three-person firm) won’t be rolling out simultaneous live instructor-led training classes in 20 countries.  Nor will they be getting in front of every one of 3,000 reps in the North American operation of a large client during a rapid 6-month deployment. But we have seen one- to three-person [...]