BOOK BRIEFS
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Book briefed by Jeanne Farley
If you work in sales enablement or learning and development (L&D), you may have wondered whether you have the right learning materials to truly improve how sellers sell. If so, then The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement by Mike Kunkle might be your new best friend.
You may find the challenges described feel very familiar (which, honestly, can also be a little validating). Earlier in my career, an L&D leader I worked with, Leslie Baran, introduced our team to this 2021 book. We regularly referenced it to shape our focus on improving selling behaviors and outcomes, including nuggets like this:
Training doesn’t drive performance — behavior does. And behavior only changes when it’s defined, coached and reinforced over time.
At its core, The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement is all about shifting from random acts of training to a structured system that builds selling capability over time. Kunkle breaks down what it takes to move beyond one-off onboarding and product training into a repeatable approach that defines how your best reps win. You can then turns those behaviors into teachable, coachable competencies.
Kunkle reinforces that high-performing sales organizations:
Clearly define the competencies that drive success.
Align those competencies to stages in the sales process.
Equip managers to coach those behaviors consistently.
We are often bombarded with requests for all sorts of training and may find ourselves asking, “What training should we offer next quarter?” Kunkle encourages teams approach their strategy by asking, “What do our sellers need to be able to do differently in customer conversations to win more often?” This question will drive a strategy squarely focused on improving how the sellers sell.
For L&D professionals trying to build a competency model, this is where the book really shines. It walks through how to:
Identify the critical skills that drive performance.
Align those competencies to your actual sales process.
Reinforce them through manager coaching (not just LMS modules).
Measure whether behavior is changing in the field.
The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement is a true resource as it helps you connect learning to outcomes like pipeline progression, deal velocity and win rates. It’s not just about course completion.
If you’re working to create a competency program that’s grounded in what drives commercial success (and want to get away from flavor-of-the-month training), this book gives you a practical roadmap to define, develop and sustain the capabilities your sales team needs to win.
Jeanne Farley is director of sales training, diagnostic imaging, for Philips Healthcare and a member of the LTEN Editorial Advisory Board. Email her at jeanne.farley@philips.com or connect through www.linkedin.com/in/aboutjeannefarley.