JANUARY 2010   

Dear Client,

I've been reflecting on some research findings we shared at our latest Sales Leadership Roundtable.

What caught my attention was the engagement levels of salespeople. I was floored by the following statistics from a recent Gallop study measuring sales culture. The average companies scored:

26% - Engaged
55% - Not Engaged
19% - Actively Disengaged

Research also shows that the major determining factor in engaging salespeople resides with the Sales Leader - but of course! Sales Management is a critical component of sales culture.

So, as we start the New Year full of promise - let me pose a few questions:

• How engaged are your Salespeople?
• What can you do better in 2010 to drive higher levels of engagement?
• If you could improve your engagement scores by 10% this year - what impact would that have on your sales results?

With this in mind, we’ve focused this edition of insights! on practical ideas to improve engagement of salespeople.

Please send me your feedback and ideas on how to make this more valuable for you.

Enjoy!

Scott Gilmore
Partner
Fusion Learning

scott@fusionlearninginc.com
EXECUTIVE BREAKFAST RECAP – November 24, 2009
We recently hosted an Executive Breakfast called “Sales Leadership Roundtable.” The session brought together a high caliber panel of your peers, where we leveraged their insights around critical sales challenges and opportunities.

Over 100 executives attended from organizations such as: BMO, Bayer, CAA, Capgemini, Grand & Toy, Honda, HSBC, IBM, Loblaw, Maple Leaf Foods, Oracle, Salesforce.com, Scotiabank, Sympatico.ca, and The Globe and Mail - to name a few. They raved about it.

We’ve captured a series of 2-3 minute audio clips, highlighting the best ideas from the session. Topics include:

• Aligning and engaging salespeople with sales strategy
• Defining sales culture
• Rewarding and recognizing top sales performers

Please click on this link to hear the clips:

audio

Special thanks to our panel guests: Tom Reikman, Senior Vice President Marketing, Aviva Canada; Brian Ford, Head of Sales, HSBC Bank Canada; Lou Gizzarelli, President, Neopost Canada; Neil King, VP Business Development, Shepell fgi.

If you were unable to attend the event and would like to receive session materials, please contact Scott Gilmore at scott@fusionlearninginc.com or call me directly at 416-424-2999 ext. 226.

 
Fusion Learning has been named to the PROFIT 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Canada, for the third year in a row!

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NEW FUSION PLAYER
So, What’s Your Story?

Now that you’ve pressed the January reset button, it’s time to leap forward – with a great story.

We’re thrilled to announce that Craig Wortmann has joined the Fusion Player team.

Craig Wortmann is a three-time CEO, professor, writer, and professional speaker. He brings 20 years of experience in sales leadership and marketing strategy to the classroom through his Entrepreneurial Selling course at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Craig is both a writer and a professional speaker. He is the author of “What's Your Story?”  - a book about using stories as performance tools.

We’ve collaborated with Craig to create a unique sales effectiveness program combining the best ideas, models, tools and learning techniques to help you master storytelling.

Click on the video link below to hear Craig Wortmann describe “StorySelling” - what it is, and what it’s designed to do.