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  In a brave new world of business powered by the digital revolution, what roles do brick and mortar corporate universities and digital learning opportunities play in successful, forward-thinking companies? McKinsey Quarterly’s “Learning at the Speed of Business” addresses that question, offering an in-depth look at the evolution of corporate learning and development (L&D). Building…

 Focus on getting feedback from your team on how you can improve.   I think I found the secret to building a teachable team. You know that imaginary world where everyone on your team is open and receptive to feedback, where defensiveness dies and the goal shifts from self-image preservation to a hunger for constructive input.…

Even if learning about sales training statistics doesn’t get you tapping your toes, it is still something you should know about if you are concerned with the performance of your sales team. Maybe you had not considered outsourcing your sales training, or perhaps you are just looking to gather some information about how it can…

I see a lot written about effective strategies for dealing with objections, and I agree with most of the common wisdom about handling real/honest objections. What I think most experts, and reps, fail to understand, though, is that the typical strategies or steps that are effective in responding to a real objection fail miserably when…

Like many parents of young kids, I live under the oppressive thumb of kid-movie overload. I often leer at our Disney movie collection with a plot to “Let it Go”… perhaps deep “Under the Sea.” However, the previews for the new animated movie Inside Out have both my 3-year old daughter and me equally excited.…

Thinking of starting a sales training program within your organization? There is a wealth of information available on best practices and steps to implementation success. But do you know what NOT to do? The following is an excerpt from the ASLAN Training whitepaper: The Six Pitfalls of a Sales Training Initiative. Here we will cover the first…

Spending too much time on low probability prospects can put a serious damper on your sales execution and the receptivity of your audience. A sales team that is not effective at qualifying prospects before they begin their sales process is a bit like someone holding a heavy metal concert for a group of classical music…

A common tool for the sales executive who crushes their numbers every year is having several potential customer referrals always in the pipeline. Do you? If not, you should probably be asking for more. Why don’t you? Are you afraid you’ll bother your customers or seem salesy (combination of sales + cheesy)? Let’s take a…

Simply put, you’re coaching the wrong people. Okay, maybe this sounds a little assumptive, but I’m basing this bold statement on 18 years of consulting. And without fail, when asking managers who they coach, the answer is always the same: everyone. And that, my friend, is a mistake. It’s not a mistake to care about…

A few weeks ago while honoring my dad on Father’s day, I was reminded of a truth – a basic principle that is so counter intuitive I need more than a post-it note to jog my memory. I need a huge flip chart positioned strategically in my bedroom. He was surrounded by a wife, three…