The Essential Communicator is a modern, research-backed communication training experience that addresses today’s most persistent workplace challenge: ineffective conversations. Designed as a 1-day or half-day program, it helps participants identify their default communication style through the Communicator Profile and equips them with a simple, practical framework—Clarity, Curiosity, Courage, and Conviction—to improve everyday interactions and essential conversations. Ideal for leaders, contributors, and cross-functional teams alike, this course goes beyond outdated scripts to meet the needs of today’s generationally diverse workforce. Participants walk away with actionable tools, stronger self-awareness, and a shared language to navigate feedback, disagreement, and collaboration—leading to more trust, clarity, and connection across the organization.

The Sales & Marketing Management team attended the annual Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference in Las Vegas in May. The Gartner conference brings B2B sales leaders from a wide range of industries together to take a deeper dive into the trends and practices that are impacting B2B sales. Not surprisingly, artificial intelligence (AI) was the principal focus of the two days of presentations. How are forward-thinking companies implementing AI into their sales process? How are AI investment decisions being made and measured? What common mistakes are companies making in this area? As Gartner put it, AI is transforming sales organizations’ DNA. Of course, AI can’t replace the human element of sales. The report also includes articles on critical human elements of B2B sales and sales leadership, including keynote speaker Keith Ferrazzi’s message that "teamship is the new leadership." Our special report on the Gartner conference includes many of the important insights that Gartner analysts and Gartner exhibiting partners shared during the conference. The collection of stories is available in PDF format, which is easily shareable with colleagues, or you can read the stories separately on our website. If you want to be notified each time Sales & Marketing Management publishes a Focus Report, complete the subscription form on our website.

Let’s face it—communication training is broken. It's too long. Too abstract. Too expensive. And worst of all, it rarely sticks.  

Dr. Mercer will show you how to scientifically + consistently hire "Superstar" sales reps - who are both (1) Highly Productive + (2) Low Turnover.  This presentation is based on Dr. Mercer's (A) 20+ years of scientific research on qualities of "Superstar" sales reps and (B) his 3rd book = "Hire the Best - & Avoid the Rest(tm)".  

In unpredictable times, most sales training falls flat—not because the content is ineffective, but because it doesn’t equip your team to act decisively amid chaos. When uncertainty dominates the headlines, your team needs more than just motivation—they need clarity, confidence, and tools that work. Without this, revenue shrinks, opportunities disappear, and your team slips into irrelevance.  

Are you… In a presales role, struggling to work together better with your sales counterpart?  In a sales role and wish there were a more productive way to work with the other sales roles and with presales?  On an account or opportunity team and find it challenging to work together more efficiently and effectively?  A sales manager and feel presales and sales individual contributors aren’t working together optimally as a team?  In sales enablement, trying to make all this work? 

How Credible is AI? ebook is a critical thinking guide for sales, marketing and leadership professionals. Leveraging AI can enhance your efficiency and reinforce your expertise with clients, colleagues and stakeholders. But just how credible is AI? By its own admission, AI-generated content may contain errors and often lacks the depth of insight your clients truly need. This ebook cuts through the hype and cheerleading to provide executive leaders, as well as sales and marketing executives, with critical thinking guidelines to help you determine what is slop and what is actionable insight your clients actually value.

How do you transform your sales team into a revenue-driving marketing channel? In this playbook, you’ll uncover the key challenges holding your marketing team back, get actionable strategies to align messaging, drive revenue impact, and prove the ROI of your marketing efforts. What you’ll learn: How to bridge the communication gap between marketing and sales teams Steps to build messaging that resonates with buyers at every stage Tools and tactics for quick implementation across your organization

If you can’t get meetings, you can’t sell—and in today’s increasingly AI-driven world, connecting with top prospects is harder than ever.  

Your competitors are using AI for sales prospecting, and they're winning. Businesses that use AI in B2B sales prospecting are 50% more likely to hit their revenue goals by making faster decisions and finding better-fit prospects with automation.  

You’ve heard the quote, "Nothing happens until somebody sells something." Salespeople are the lifeblood of any B2B company. They are the Olympians of the corporate world, the astronauts of business. And like other elite athletes, dancers, and musicians, not everyone can do what they do.  

Did you know that a Gartner survey revealed 72% of sales professionals feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of skills required for their job? This overwhelm leads to a 45% lower likelihood of hitting sales quotas, directly impacting commercial success.  

Introducing Making SEAMless Sales - the last frontier of sales improvement, benefiting all customer-facing roles by having a unified focus on client success, therefore increasing win rate, margins, deal sizes, revenues, and client satisfaction. Are you in a presales role struggling to work better with your sales counterpart? Are you in a sales role and wish there was a more productive way to work with the other sales roles and with presales? Are you on an account or opportunity team and find it challenging to work together more efficiently and effectively? Are you a sales manager and feel presales and sales individual contributors need to work together optimally as a team? Are you in sales enablement trying to make this all work? This book provides proven insights, methods, and tools, expanding on and refocusing the traditional disciplines of presales and sales, and explores how to work together better as a seamless team at the account and opportunity level. We'll explore and address: The challenges of traditional sales and presales roles. The importance of focusing on the buying process while still executing our sales process. The overarching need for Solution Enablement and Account Management. Why and how buyers buy, and what is needed to persuade them. How working together as a team benefits everyone.

The right enablement solution can elevate your revenue teams’ productivity and effectiveness. But the implementation of your new solution can be tricky and it’s difficult to know where to start. Our 10 Golden Rules for great enablement implementation will equip you with best practices, thoughtfully designed to help you plan ahead and create a clear roadmap for success. What you’ll learn: A framework to guide you through the preparation, rollout, and long-term success of your enablement solution Actionable steps to build a robust revenue ecosystem that empowers teams and fuels continuous growth Strategies to drive lasting engagement through ongoing training, support, and iterative improvement

While artificial intelligence (AI) has had a starring role in overall learning and development (L&D) lately, it has been more of a cameo for leadership development. But that role has started to evolve over the last year, according to the 9th Annual Leadership Development Survey conducted in partnership between Training magazine and Wilson Learning Worldwide Inc.  

In a world where artificial intelligence is transforming the way we work, lead, and connect, one truth remains: technology a remarkable tool, but it’s human connection that fuels creativity and innovation.  

Business contexts are constantly marked by a hunger for authenticity. After all, who doesn’t appreciate an authentic peer or buyer-seller relationship? But it’s not all so clear, scientifically, what it means for someone to be perceived as authentic. Are you more authentic when you give someone a piece of your mind because you value being yourself or when you’re choosing not to say what’s on your mind because you value kindness and politeness?  

Objective: During this live webinar the agenda will actually come from the audience prompting the facilitators to demonstrate coaching conversation models specific to real world workplace situations driven by the audience.  

So much content is painfully boring. We're on a mission to break the boring out of B2B content. It starts here, with the SPLASH Method. The way to check your content for stand out properties and promotion that will let it sing and dance.

When performance falls short, most leaders look to coaching, comp, or headcount. But what if the real issue lies in one of six hidden forces shaping how your reps show up and sell?  

Successful AI adoption hinges on strategic people integration.  

Communication is the number 1 skill in business, according to LinkedIn. Now more than ever, clear communication and visibility are key to success. Expect to learn how to speak and present with confidence, lead difficult conversations to positive outcomes, and position yourself on LinkedIn — together with Oliver Aust, bestselling author, podcast host and founder of the Speak Like CEO Academy.

This webinar is a foundational lesson in using the DISC behavioral classification to quickly connect with prospects. We all have preferred ways of processing information, evaluating options, and engaging in conversations.  

Every buyer has a unique personality—and the best sales professionals know how to adapt their pitch to match. The DISC Personality Model is a powerful tool that helps salespeople quickly identify a prospect’s decision-making style, communication preferences, and buying behavior. By tailoring your approach, you can build instant rapport, handle objections more effectively, and close more deals.