Do you make decisions, or do you make the right decisions?

Much of today's sales training market research has focused on a reactive approach to competitive markets. While these discussions are relevant and provide insight to the challenges faced by sales managers and sales trainers, they are often conducted with little regard for the entire selling system required for sustained sales excellence. As such, until now, very little research has been conducted on the strategies or best practices of executing a sales training and performance initiative to drive sales outcomes (even in areas such as sales management research).

Think about it: Why is there so much sales content on 'how' to sell and so little content on 'what' to do to make salespeople better?As a sales training decision maker, you are directly responsible for improving one of the most important occupations in your organization -- the sales team. Over $15 billion (USD) is spent every year on sales training in the United States alone (according to ASTD's latest State of the Sales Training Industry report).

The money you help invest in your sales team should be spent wisely, yield a specific ROI, and help move your organization toward its short- and long-term goals. To achieve this, you should leverage sound, objective, and comprehensive research to help you:

• Increase credibility within the sales organization

• Strengthen the link between sales training and generating revenue

• Determine the business impact of sales training better

• Improve personal sales training competency