When was the last time you noticed that a colleague was excited about sales training? After having created many a training deck myself, I frequently feel badly about my inability to muster enthusiasm and prioritize time to invest in skills development. When today’s prospects and clients have high expectations for highly personalized consultative interactions, how can one-size-fits-all training still be an effective activation agent for a direct sales team?

That’s where sales readiness comes in. Forrester defines this segment as:

Digital tools that increase sellers’ and managers’ effectiveness through practice, coaching, and collaboration. Leveraging repetition, gamification, and analytics, these tools help firms increase sellers’ and managers’ skills, improve brand and message consistency, and enable sales leaders to make data-driven decisions to maximize commercial outcomes.

And it comprises active, agile, and scalable products from numerous vendors with varied tenure.

Many organizations with which we speak have started the pivot toward this more comprehensive view of thinking by assessing and supplying what truly enables sellers’ success. A primary challenge is selecting the right tools and technology partners. Mary Shea’s new report, “Now Tech: Sales Readiness Tools, Q2 2018,“ considers 15 participating vendors and provides a basis for evaluating products that best suit your organization’s needs. In the report, she also provides the context within which to evaluate your options as well as a comprehensive view of comparative features and functions.

While selecting a partner is just one step along your journey to readiness, it’s an important one. Leverage this report to help shift your sellers from ennui to engagement.