StrategyDriven Making Change Work Knowledge Center

While never easy, effectively managing change is one of today’s most pressing business imperatives. Customers’ demand that businesses be capable of doing business over-the-counter, online, and at their doorstep while simultaneously meeting their evolving needs, wants, and tastes all at a competitive price point. Subsequently, leaders must continually adapt their business models, processes and procedures, staffing, locations, and support software applications to remain competitive. It is not a matter of whether change will occur but rather if business leaders can rapidly and effectively execute changes in order for their business to survive.

StrategyDriven’s Making Change Work Knowledge Center focuses on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s change management effectiveness; helping them become more competitive in their chosen market. During the six part Making Change Work podcast series comprising this knowledge center, we focus on:

  1. What is Change? and Why is Change so Hard? explores what change is, its relationship to business systems, and why business changes are so difficult to effectively implement.
  2. What are Systems and How Do They Influence Change? explores what systems are and their importance to effectively managing any change.
  3. The Problems of Change Management: Bias, Resistance, and Push explores the problems associated with change management, namely, that of bias, resistance, and push.
  4. If Decisions Are Always Rational, Why Are Changees Resisting? explores the rationality of decisions and their impact on change management.
  5. Why is Buy-in Necessary and How to Achieve It examines the role of buy-in to the change management processes, its importance, and how to get it.
  6. A Radical Approach to Change Management, Real Leadership explores what true leadership is and how it is effectively applied throughout the change management process.

The following articles compliment the Making Change Work podcast series and provide additional insights to effective change management:


About the StrategyDriven Expert Contributor

The StrategyDriven Making Change Work Knowledge Center is co-presented by Sharon Drew Morgen, New York Times bestselling author and developer of Buying Facilitation®, a decision facilitation model that focuses on helping buyers and those who would be impacted by the accompanying change manage their internal, unconscious, and behind-the-scenes issues that must be addressed before they purchase anything or buy-in to the requested change. She has served many well known companies including: KPMG, Unisys, IBM, Wachovia, and Bose. To read Sharon Drew’s complete biography, click here.

StrategyDriven Consultative Selling Knowledge Center

Without adequate sales, any organization will fail – yet even star sales persons experience low conversion rates and long sales cycles. And with today’s abundance of easily accessible product pricing and performance information these individuals face increasing pressure to lower product costs and increase value. With the company’s future on the line, the question becomes: How can sales professionals increase sales, protect margins, and avoid the race to the bargain basement?

StrategyDriven’s Consultative Selling Knowledge Center focuses on the consultative selling tools and techniques executives, managers and sales professionals can use to improve their organization’s sales effectiveness; helping them increase their product and service value and convert more potential customers into buying clients. During the five part podcast series comprising this knowledge center, we focus on:

  1. Action Selling examines the method for establishing and building business relationships; enabling sales professionals to better engage and understand their client’s needs in order to provide greater value and increase sales.
  2. Selling Your Price further explores how the Action Selling process is used to help clients understand they are not purchasing a commodity product but rather one that is highly differentiated by the value you and your company offer.
  3. Questions: The Answer to Sales explores how asking questions enables salespeople to better understand their client’s needs and align their product or service offerings to fulfill those needs; establishing the salesperson as a value-adding consultant rather than a commodity seller.
  4. Masters of Loyalty explores how professional salespeople can move customers beyond being merely satisfied to true loyalty such that they have stopped shopping and are highly resistant to competitors’ appeals.
  5. Sales Strategy from the Inside Out examines how businesses employing a consultative sales method realize dramatically increased revenues.

About the StrategyDriven Expert Contributor

The StrategyDriven Consultative Selling Knowledge Center is co-presented by Duane Sparks, Chairman and Founder of The Sales Board, a Minneapolis-based strategic sales training company that has trained and certified more than 350,000 salespeople in more than 3,000 groups in the system and skills of Action Selling. He has written five sales books, personally facilitated more than 300 Action Selling training sessions and continues to engage in the business and art of the strategic sales process. To read Duane’s complete biography, click here.

The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

From Wall Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, everyone involved in the Financial Crisis of 2008 seems to blame everyone else but themselves for the devastation that has impaired the American economy and that of the world. In this PBS Newshour video, Business and Economics Correspondent Paul Solman meets with Bethany McLean (famous for breaking the Enron story) and Joe Nocera, co-authors of All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, to discuss the events leading up to the financial crisis and each participants contribution to making it happen.

Click here to access a full transcript and mp3 audio file of this video.

The Chinese Currency Debate – What is behind the concerns

Politicians and economists have long worried about the global trade implications of China’s practices to control the value of their currency. This PBS Newshour video, hosted by Business and Economics Correspondent Paul Solman, explains why Chinese currency controls are of concern to the Unites States, Europe, and South American countries.

Click here to access a full transcript and mp3 audio file of this video.

Refusing to Hire the Unemployed

Wendy Powell, author of Management Experience Acquired, was a recent guest on NBC’s Daytime; sharing her insights on:

  • why employers are refusing to hire the unemployed
  • what unemployed individuals can do to overcome this obstacle
  • how unemployed individuals should handle questions about their previous employer during an interview

Wendy Powell on the StrategyDriven Podcast

Earlier this month, we were privileged to talk with Wendy about her new book, Management Experience Acquired, on the StrategyDriven Podcast. Listen as we explore the techniques managers need to know in order to effectively deal with the diverse employee issues that occur in today’s workplace environment.