You Need Flipped Sales Training – Here’s How to Do It

The flipped classroom is a hot topic in education today, to the point you would think it’s a new phenomenon.  While credit for the origin of today’s flipped classroom goes back to a couple of high school teachers in 2007, technology has been transforming and upending the learning process since the invention of writing – […]

Smarter Sales Training Starts with Smarter Learning Objectives

Once upon a time, a private company in the aviation industry approached us because the VP of sales wanted “closing skills training.”  His evidence:  CRM data showing abnormally long sales cycles for their industry, plus personal experience in the field with sales reps following up but not closing. We came into the situation after the […]

It’s Time to Transform Sales Training

sales training

The sales training industry is way overdue for transformation.  How we know?  First, we’re veterans of the sales training industry, and we’ve both spent time on the inside of multiple sales training vendors. And we’ve found the vast majority of client engagements last two years or less. Second, most companies who invest in sales development […]

Getting More From Sales Training: Three Strategies and A Bobsled Analogy

Companies spend a massive amount of time, energy, and money on sales training, only to find the vast majority of the effort wasted.  If you’ve ever been to sales training where the manager or facilitator exhorts sellers to take “one good idea” from an entire day (or two) of training, you know the story. Why […]

What is Specialized Sales Development?

specialized sales development

How’s this for a Mission Statement?  Specialized Sales Systems exists to help companies build their own specialized sales systems that drive revenue growth. Breakthroughs in technology and process make this process better and cheaper than traditional sales training. It sounds clear to us, but as Matt McDarby and I began sharing our message with the […]

What is a Sales Development System?

What is a Sales Development System? If you’re unfamiliar with the term “Sales Development System,” it may be because the sales training discipline historically suffers from a lack of systems thinking!  Now is the time to familiarize yourself. Systems thinking is required if you need your sales force to take results to the next level. […]

Sales Meeting Reengineering: Cut Off The Talking Heads!

cut off the talking heads

Today we’re talking about talking heads, and how to manage a traditional – and limiting – staple of the sales meeting. In my last article, we looked at the unique value of sales meetings – the chance for sellers to: Interact with the company Learn from each other Practice their craft These are active, lab-type […]

BYO Sales Training: Hockey Edition

BYO Sales Training

What do BYO sales training and hockey have in common?  This video highlights a couple of key areas where the lessons of the hockey rink apply to sales training development. In particular, pay attention to these elements: Are you giving your sellers enough time on the “practice ice”?  BYO Sales training relies on a controlled […]

Make Your Sales Meetings Less Boring!

If you’ve planned sales meetings, you know this situation:  Putting together the agenda, you notice a couple of things.  First, there are a lot of “required” presentations by various talking heads in the company, and they’re BORING.  Second, your breakout sessions largely consist of other people from the company (products, marketing, etc.) talking at your […]