In that 1990s sci-fi favorite, The Matrix, Neo trains extensively in a variety of martial arts, weaponry and more to save what is left of mankind from “Agents” that seek to annihilate them. The “training” for Neo lasts about 10 hours. All he does is “jack” into the Matrix and get a high-speed, comprehensive skills download. Immediately thereafter, he became the definition of a selfless, a$$-kicking hero. Instantaneous downloadable skillsets. Whoa. Hours of our lives would be

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” This expression of frustration was supposedly uttered by John Wanamaker, a 19th century Philadelphia merchant. I’ll bet my top hat that you recognize this quote. It’s used in meeting after meeting and routinely by business executives that want greater productivity from their spend. Let’s play a quick game, fill-in-the-blank style: “Half the money I spend on [insert action here] is waste

Interest in Sales Enablement is growing exponentially if attendance at the Sales Enablement Soiree in San Francisco this past week is any indication. One of the planning committee members shared that this year’s enrollment was up more than 400% over last year’s event. Each of the panel sessions I attended was SRO. And for good reason – the panelists were informed, insightful, and open. The folks from Salesforce .com – Karen Hennessy, Jared Litwin, Lorri Bates, Beth Kaplan – p

“Your goal shouldn't be to buy players. Your goal should be to buy wins.” – from ‘Moneyball’, 2012 It isn’t a coincidence that the teams still playing baseball in mid-October have payrolls that are among the top 10 of all MLB teams. Grow it or buy it…but you got to have talent to succeed. Buying talent – particularly experienced high performers – is expensive. As a result, many of the senior sales executives we have spoken with indicate that they are looking to balance new ta

Sales Operations executives are being asked to do more with fewer resources. The authors suggest a systematic approach to identifying, sizin

Executives are concerned that their strategic account management teams aren't up to the task of maximizing revenues. This is a way to ge