A few days ago, I had the opportunity to speak at the Sales Enablement Conference in Paris, bringing together hundreds of professionals from all over Europe. It’s a new job that’s appearing in many organizations to take charge of sales effectiveness, in the same way that Sales Operations handles sales efficiency. The proliferation of digital solutions is improving sales coaching and the sales process. Better sales aids increase sales effectiveness. Sales reps are adopting these solutions, often integrating AI, which are more agile than e-learning platforms. These tools are essential for developing their sales skills. They also enhance their technical and product knowledge. Additionally, they help in understanding customers’ markets […]
Optimizing business performance by strategically empowering middle managers to help B2B companies succeed In the business world, middle managers – in this case, sales managers – play a key role as intermediaries between management and front-line sales teams. Their task is to translate corporate strategy into concrete action, ensuring that the company’s objectives are achieved effectively and efficiently. Despite their importance, they are often underestimated and neglected in many organizations, which limits their ability to ensure the company’s success. According to the recently published book “Power to the Middle” (Harvard Business Review Press, July 2023), equipping these operational middle managers with the right skills and support can have a significant […]
Today, we interview Mustapha BENKALFATE, AI Sales Transformation Partner at Halifax Consulting. Hello Mustapha, would you like to introduce yourself? I’m Mustapha Benkalfate and I’ve joined Halifax to develop the AI and Sales practice. The sales function is indeed the one where the positive impacts of AI are predicted to be strongest according to a recent McKinsey study. I have an entrepreneurial background and set up my own AI company several years ago. I’m also a LinkedIn Learning Instructor on Artificial Intelligence. I have consolidated my expertise through online training and in India, as well as through exchanges with technical executives from major companies such as Meta and Google, as […]
Instead, navigate the negotiation fog to get what you want. Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense under President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, coined the phrase “The Fog of War” to describe the incredible complexity of armed conflict. While negotiation could be said to be the antidote to war, there is still incredible complexity to address when the stakes are high. Hence the phrase, the fog of negotiation. In this first blog article we will address 10 elements of complexity. Introduction 1. When does a negotiation begin? 2. Compromise, the negotiation credit card 3. The most dangerous negotiation 4. Yes means danger 5. No is the way to yes 6. Shake the coconut tree 7. Monsters under the bed 8. Stop […]
The 10 Silence golden moments to stop messing up with the sales! – By Vincent Parachini & François-Xavier Théry We were amazed by the reception of Francois-Xavier’s article about silence. To us, silence is part of the play. Speech and silence are part of the same rhetoric toolbox we, at Halifax Consulting, teach our trainees. But your feedback made us think that we may be overstepping a little bit and some clarity about the key, most impactful, Silence moments, a salesperson can use to boost message impact, should probably not be unnecessary. We, salespersons, literally puts our personal aura and credibility at the service of our company. The trustful bond […]
Sales efficiency is no longer limited to the act of selling, but extends to the whole company, implying a total commitment to customer service quality for greater loyalty, up-selling and cross-selling, which are essential for margins in many companies. Successfully achieving this becomes a key differentiating factor in the market, all the more so in a tense economic climate where winning new customers is becoming increasingly difficult. For other companies whose business model is SaaS, it’s also a key element in generating more revenue and developing the use of their solution. In this case, customer relations also involve a kind of customer education and support for organizational change. The quality […]
Disclaimer: this article was written by a human with the help of ChatGPT 😉 ChatGPT celebrated its 1ère birthday and now boasts over 100 million users. Since then, there has been a steady stream of new products in the field, from Google Bard to Midjourney, Microsoft Copilote and the GPT Store. OpenAI and Microsoft are also starting the year with new products that are accessible to companies of all sizes, and guarantee improved data security. This should remove any objections to the use of these tools in certain organizations. Personally, I use these generative AI tools on a daily basis in a commercial context. They save me a lot of […]
In praise of silence in the deed of sale A few months ago, a (brilliant) real estate saleswoman (we’ll call her Judith, she’ll recognize herself) challenged me by telling me that, during a session I was leading, “the more I keep quiet, the more I sign” … which didn’t fail to provoke a silence in our exchange, but not just any silence, undoubtedly the most productive there is … a silence that made me think, that projected me and that “annihilated” me by its obviousness, its relevance, its strength … Silence with salespeople is a bit like “je t’aime moi non plus”, an ambiguous and contradictory relationship. On the one […]
A salesperson is often compared to a top-level athlete, but in most cases this comparison is far removed from reality, and the analogy is not so obvious. If, despite everything, I had to do one with sport, I’d probably choose American soccer and say that a Key Account Manager (KAM) is the “Quarterback”, the strategist who influences the B2B sales game. Here’s why: A strategic vision: the centerpiece Just as a quarterback evaluates the opposition’s defense before and during the game, a KAM must have in-depth knowledge of the market. This means analyzing customer needs and anticipating competitor tactics. The ability to interpret data, understand market trends and act quickly […]
Times of crisis and uncertainty such as these are good times to dip into some good reading from the past. Let me share with you a few ideas gleaned from Ronald Cohen’s book, “The Second Bounce of the Bullet”, published in 2008, written by this leading financial investor at Apax. Here’s a key idea: any attentive market spectator knows where the ball is bouncing today. Everyone knows it will bounce somewhere else. But few anticipate where, and fewer still position themselves to catch it and take advantage of it. The entrepreneur is one of these, as is the good business developer! To illustrate the principle, the author cites the case […]