learnigfilter
May 14, 2006 3:41 PM

I need recommendations for the best book to buy for my sales team helping them understand the basics of information technology. More specifically we are an organization that offers computer training. Classes cover Microsoft certifications, Novell, Citrix.....etc.... This team is very green and I need to help them learn this stuff faster. Any ideas?
posted by sandrapbrady to Computers & Internet (4 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
If your company offers computer training, don't you already know how to train people in how to use computers and information technology? That's your business, isn't it?

What you're saying is, "My product isn't good enough for my own people; please help me find something better." Say what?

It seems to me that the solution to your problem is to fix your product so that it is good enough for your own people -- and thus better for your customers, too.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:50 PM on May 14, 2006


Wrong; what I am saying I need a BOOk so my employees can read up after hours at home.
There is no need for me here to go into our business developpment strategy. Please just answer the question if you can.
posted by sandrapbrady at 3:57 PM on May 14, 2006


What kind of companies do you typically sell to, sandrapbrady? are you selling to large organizations, therefore you have long sales cycles with many stakeholders?

If so, one book to read (and methodology to learn) is Strategic Selling by Miller Heiman. I took their courses in Reno NV and read their books. The methodology is clear, effective and returns results. Your team will be grateful for the tools, and you will have one common methodology to assess the performance and progress of your team.
posted by seawallrunner at 4:13 PM on May 14, 2006


Introduction to Information Systems by James O'Brien is a pretty well known intro text for business students. Not cheap, but pretty thorough, and now in its 8th or 9th edition. Lots of real world case study materials.

It is a college level textbook, but it is well written for the general reader, and does a credible job of covering technology, applications, development, and management perspectives of Information Technology. Whether any of your people are going to plow through something like this on their own is questionable, but if you require some of the assignments being turned in as part of the job training, maybe you'll get some buy in. If you just want to distribute it for the technology review, that's also a common use of the book in business management and introductory IT courses.
posted by paulsc at 10:40 PM on May 14, 2006


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