This article comes from Nicholas King’s insightful talk, ‘Igniting growth: The synergy of sales excellence, intrapreneurship, and coaching in the modern workplace’, at our 2023 Sydney Sales Enablement Summit, check out his full presentation here.

How many of you believe that the vast majority of your workforce possesses far more talent, ingenuity, and capability than their jobs require or even allow them to use?

Well, you're not alone. I'm Nick King, and I've been at Oracle as one of their sales trainers for about five years.

In my experience, this question, first posed by Stephen Covey in 1989, still resonates just as strongly today as a powerful reminder of the untapped potential within our organizations.

We're always focused on enabling others – our sales teams, our service teams, you name it. But today, I want to flip the script a bit, I want to talk about enabling you. 

Not the professional you, but the person you.

In this article, we'll explore how the fundamental truths we teach in sales can apply not just to selling, but to many other facets of business and life. We'll also delve into everything from the concept of intrapreneurship to the power of coaching.

So, are you ready to ignite some real growth?

Intrapreneurship: The key to unlocking potential

Now, let me introduce you to a term you might not be familiar with: intrapreneur. Get used to this word, folks, because it's going to be crucial moving forward!

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An intrapreneur is someone who goes above and beyond, not because of financial rewards, but because it's in their nature.

They're the people who know who they can serve, are willing to try new things, and take risks. 

Sound familiar? It should, because these are also the attributes of top sellers.

In my career, I've noticed that the sales gene pool seems to attract people very much like this, we're a good breeding ground for intrapreneurs!

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Understanding the buying process

Here's a fundamental truth I've learned in my career: it's not so much about subscribing to the sales process as it is about understanding the buying process. 

Sales should augment the buying process, not the other way around.

Let me give you an example. When I get an RFP (Request for Proposal), it's essentially a list of wants. But the real magic happens when we stop and ask,

"Why do you want that? What's driving that? What's the intrinsic need?"

And guess what? We can apply this same philosophy to our engagement with the business and the people we're working with internally. It's not just about what they want, but why they want it.