Articles & Resources
Articles
Browse this section for articles on
Strategic and consultative selling
Management & Leadership
Coaching & Personal Development
Making the business case for technology
Strategic and Consultative Sales skills
Could you
be the greatest?
What's the difference between a good salesperson and a great one? Anna
Britnor Guest puts together the recipe for exceptional performance
Are
you made of the right stuff?
Many IT sellers start their careers in another area, or as part of the
sales team's support staff. So, if you're interested in moving into the
area, or want to encourage someone else to, check out Anna Britnor Guest's
handy guide...
Training
and developing winning UC sales teams
If Unified Communications (UC) adoption is inevitable, why do we need
training in how to sell it?
Comparing
IT sales with other industries
IT sales is a broad field but how does it compare with other business-to-business
sales professions?
The Big Picture
Anna Britnor Guest FInstSMM examines the art of sales territory management
- a complex project with an amazing choice of options.
Selling
Strategies in the 21st Century
Quick tips on buying and selling
Come in from
the Cold
Cold calls. We've all made them (and hated it) and received them (and
hated it). Yet even in the technology-driven world of the modern sales
professional, cold calls still have their place. But a different approach
is needed, argues Anna Britnor Guest.
Customer Comeback
So you think you know what your customers are really thinking? Anna Britnor
Guest asks IT managers to spill the beans on the salespeople who make
them smile - and seethe!
Sales Coach series
The following sales tips were published as a monthly column in Infomatics
from 1999 to 2002:
Cold calling
First meetings
Targeting
accounts by culture compatibility
Targeting
accounts effectively
Understanding
authority and influence
Influence
buys from influence
Listening skills
Closing the sale:
time & money
Taking stock
of progress
Effective forecasting
Moving
from sales support to field sales
Moving up
the value chain
Gaining gravitas
Bearing bad news
Networking
for business
Developing
a professional communication style
Closing
the sale - last minute price negotiations
Managing a lost
sale
Formal ITTs
First
meetings: should I PowerPoint present?
Getting organised
Developing confidence
Holding
in-depth conversations
Presenting for
impact
Career planning
Developing
a consultative selling culture
Managing stress
Working
with angry customers
Working
effectively with colleagues
Assertiveness
Missing Targets
If you're selling into the IT sector please also check out our articles on Making the business case for technology
Management and Leadership
You the Coach
Sales managers who learn how to coach and develop their staff are likely
to score higher on both staff morale and results, says Anna Britnor Guest.
Here's how to get started.
Learning to Lead
Salespeople don't always find it easy to move into a managerial role.
Finding out how to focus on both tasks and team can help smooth the path,
says sales coach Anna Britnor Guest
Coaching, Mentoring and Personal Development
General coaching and mentoring articles
Coaching
- Take the ride - but avoid the bandwagon
Coaching has been around long enough and is sufficiently ingrained in
many organisations to prove wrong those who dismissed it as a ‘fad’. But,
ask Anna Britnor Guest and Pauline Willis, is the bandwagon starting to
roll?
DIY Development
You know how to manage your accounts, territory and pipeline. But how
are you managing your own learning and development? Sales coach and Infomatics
columnist Anna Britnor Guest gives some hands-on advice.
Organisational
Mentoring
A brief look at mentoring from an organisational, rather than personal,
perspective
Strategy For
Success
Quick tips for making sure your coaching and mentoring gets off on the
right foot
A Coach, A Mentor... A What?...
Mentoring can claim a 3000 year headstart on coaching, but both are proving
powerful aids to personal and organisational change and development.
Professional
makeover: first published as New Year, New You
If we really want to make a difference to our business and personal success
we need to focus on the things that will have the biggest impact. So,
here are some ideas to ensure that this time next year your business really
is on track for long-term success!
Specific contexts for coaching and mentoring
Diversity mentoring
Serving and managing a diverse workforce calls for diverse leadership,
explains Zulfi Hussain
Mentoring on
the Move
A look at how mentoring supports expatriate or mobile workers adapt to
different work and home life environments
Mentoring across cultures
Cross-cultural mentoring provides an ideal opportunity to enhance the
understanding of different cultures for both mentors and mentees. Zulfi
Hussain looks at the recipe for successful mentoring in this context.
Mentoring for SMEs
A look at how mentoring can deliver real returns for smaller businesses
Executive
Coaching in the Legal Profession
Coaching is rapidly becoming a corner-stone for management and staff development
world-wide. Anna Britnor Guest explores how far-sighted organisations
harness the power of coaching to help partners and team members hone their
people and leadership skills.
Fast Coach
The sports coach is dedicated to helping each athlete perform to his or
her highest potential. So why not let a sales coach do the same for your
team, asks Anna Britnor Guest?
The Personal Touch
More and more companies are employing professional coaches to improve
the performance of individuals within the sales team. Anna Britnor Guest
asks why.
Making the business case for technology - specialist IT and technology sales articles
SMB
adoption of Unified Communications comes of age
Unified Communications for the smaller business has been likened to the
proverbial teenage sex - everyone talking about but no one actually doing
it.
Selling
Unified Communications in recessionary markets
This article looks at how to sell unified communications in a recessionary
market by delivering business benefit where it is needed most.
Enabling
business success in a recession
Every company is evaluating its business strategy in the current market.
Spend on IT is carefully scrutinised - and rightly so. This article makes the
case that unified communications is a key enabler for successful recessionary
strategies, delivering business benefit where it is needed most.
Convergence:
in search of the killer app
If all the hype is to be believed then networking will never be the same again. One of the first articles to be published on selling convergence technologies.
