Understanding the difference between change leadership and change management is essential to orchestrating a successful change initiative. Here are some guidelines to get you started.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/08/Ensure-Sales-Training-Success-with-Change-Leadership-and-Management-Part-1
Perhaps you are thinking, “I don’t have time to train a whole selling system!” If so, you have arrived at the right blog post. Here are the top three training modules, in terms of importance for your team.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/08/My-Favorite-Sales-Training-Complaint
If you’re just tuning in, this series started with a post on Key Gaps in Our Sales Performance Ecosystem.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/08/How-to-Select-and-Prioritize-Sales-Enablement-Initiatives-Part-2
I’m in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to do sales training for a global organization, and while in my hotel I have a most unusual moment.
It’s breakfast in the lounge and at a table next to me a well-dressed businessman is Skyping his wife. I’m half-listening to the dialogue when her voice suddenly gets loud and she says, “Oh, honey—I was kind of in a hurry today. So I took the helicopter.”
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/07/What-Makes-World-Class-Sales-Pros-World-Class
The ancient Greeks gave us great words to convey the value and opportunity that coaching represents. Let me explain. There are two ancient Greek words for the concept of time: “chronos” and “kairos.”
“Chronos” refers to the chronological measure of time, and it’s what’s meant when you talk to sales representatives (SRs) about time management, productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness—the better use of their time on territory.
“Kairos” refers to a supreme moment; in other words, a moment of truth, or the right, memorable, or opportune moment. It’s a moment of indeterminate time in which something emotionally special happens. It’s the moment when you and the SR just know that “we get it”—when a real spiritual connection occurs.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/07/Sales-Coaching-in-2013-Merging-Ancient-Greek-with-Modern-Engagement
Much good is happening.
The past few years have been an exciting time to be in the sales performance improvement profession. Analytics abound. Technology tools proliferate (and put the right stuff at the fingertips of sales reps, when it’s needed). Marketers are creating insightful content and influential sales messaging is being developed. Scientific talent selection practices are becoming more mainstream. Training professionals are focusing more on learning systems, transfer, reinforcement, performance support, and trying to provide platforms to influence, or at least encourage, informal learning. Sales process and methodology are getting the attention they deserve. And perhaps it's been driven by the changes in the buying process and current buyer's market, but there has been a cyclical but welcome return to a focus on the customer, complete with new approaches like buyer personas and buying process mapping. Definitions still vary widely, but Sales Enablement has arrived.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/06/Key-Gaps-in-Our-Sales-Performance-Ecosystem
As a training professional, I’ve seen situations where sales organizations want to onboard their reps as effectively and as soon as possible. What I’ve noticed is that no matter the sales organization’s size, industry, or situation, they have similar issues in terms of how to create an effective program, including resources, dependencies, and considerations. That said, here are my ”deep thoughts”—the key things you should keep in mind when creating or revising your sales onboarding program. You may consider them no-brainers, but I believe they are worth repeating.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/06/Sales-Onboarding-Deep-Thoughts
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/ASTD-Blog/2013/04/ASTD-2013-Press-Release
I never realized how important sales and marketing skills are to the L&D professional.
Twenty-some years ago I was tasked with teaching programmers to code in a new and different way, using a language (C) that was new to them. The course materials were rational and well-ordered, and the hands-on exercises ranged from the basic to the challenging. I didn’t write the course, but I enjoyed teaching it. The problem was, some of the participants in the programming course just didn’t “get it.” I found myself selling the new ideas to the participants to get them to appreciate the emerging technology I was teaching them. And as a “techie,” I didn’t think of myself as a salesman.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/L-and-D-Blog/2013/03/Learning-to-Sell-Selling-to-Learn
Produce lasting results and a top-performing sales team.
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2013/03/Seven-Keys-for-Sales-Training-with-Maximum-Impact