‘Whether the astronaut or the surgeon, both do continuous simulations to practice their skills and processes for a successful space mission or a successful surgery. In the B2B sales arena, we call these simulations “role plays.” Research shows that only 20% of sales organizations practice role plays on a consistent basis or as part of their training program (Janek).

We have started a ELAvate Sales Success Podcast with our senior consultant Abhilash Sivaramam and the podcast we recorded today discussed the evolution of the Asian B2B customer and the impact it has on your salespeople’s productivity. This discussion with Abhi motivated me to scour the web and AI platforms to garner significant research on how B2B sales environment is changing across the globe. Let’s look at what I found and a solutions for each to improve your sales team success

Over the past 30 years I have observed and coached very successful B2B salespeople. Here are my observations on what characteristics, or competence, a world class B2B salesperson has to have to consistently win and exceed sales revenue targets.

B2B Sales managers across Asia have one of the toughest jobs in any organization. You and I need to motivate, coach and manage the performance of very valuable individualistic self-starting people who can make or break your organization’s revenue goals in 2024. Let me give you some simple yet practical ideas to boost your own leadership and sales coaching to inspire your salespeople to new levels of performance.

I regularly scour the internet for well researched reports on the current views and advice on world class B2B sales productivity management, processes, methods and skills. As I do not have the resources to carry out such global sales research, I look for reputable organizations that do have the deep pockets to do this.

This blog gives you a “checklist” for selecting the right Sales Training Provider. It was originally developed by Brooks Group. I edited the key criteria and have added my key insights for each item to provide you with why each of these 16 criteria is important. There is one question you can ask each sales training provider for each of the criteria as well.

The advent of hybrid selling has led to many blogs and articles on the supposedly new skills of a B2B salesperson in the post Covid marketplace. Let’s review the attitudes or attributes of successful B2B salespeople in this new era.

B2B selling skills really do still make a difference when buttressed by the key attitudes found in this blog. My advice: Hire and promote people for these B2B selling attitudes and train them in B2B selling skills.

Hiring B2B Salespeople is a substantial investment. Without a solid ramp up or orientation schedule, your sales organization can be wasting valuable time and money on sales reps that are slow to produce, or, even quit!

Read the HBR article by Brett Adamson on the changing landscape of B2B selling. It is a very good treatise based on data that Gartner and McKinsey have collected on how Covid is accelerating B2B selling and marketing changes in response to B2B customer changes in how they buy.

Technology and Covid have accelerated changes in the B2B marketplace. How you and your sales teams adapt to these changes will determine your success in 2022. Let’s review the 10 changes that are important

Over the past 30 years I have observed and coached very successful B2B salespeople. Here are my observations on what characteristics, or competence, a world class B2B salesperson has to have to consistently win and exceed sales revenue targets.

Sales strategy experts have determined during Covid the number one strategy to protect and grow revenue is to focus on keeping your existing customers loyal. The B2B salesperson does this by demonstrating excellent customer service skills with an attitude of servant leadership. Excellent customer service is the doorway to farm accounts to expand revenue.

Research indicates the top competency for B2B sales manager success is the “willingness to train and coach.” This is buttressed by the three pillars of “focused on quantitative results,” “conducting joint calls” and “taking initiative for sales success.”

Clarity through Covid is crucial in our B2B marketplace. A recent study by Tamara Schenk of Showpad is telling on the difficulty of closing B2B deals:

Doing research for my next sales training workshop, I assembled sales motivational quotes and pass them to you. Have a good read!

The Covid sales environment has spawned a lot of social media and marketing hype on how to sell virtually. Here are my insights (and those I have gleaned from McKinsey, Gartner, and Korn Ferry) on what I have gleaned is important to you as a B2B salesperson in the “Post Covid-Hybrid” marketplace.