Growth Matters International

SMDP by Growth Matters International

The manager is the multiplier.

SMDP (Sales Management Development Program) is Growth Matters International's 12-month development program for sales managers. Across three Seasons and nine live instructor-led Episodes, managers learn the 9 Disciplines of Sales Execution, practise them with their own teams between sessions, and work through what they applied in syndicate coaching.

12 monthsOnboarding January 2027, learning starts February 2027, graduation November 2027
9 EpisodesThree hours each, live and virtual instructor-led
3 coaching sessionsIn syndicates, after every Season
Pre and postPrivately assessed across 110 management competencies
See the 2027 open classesHow it worked at Cummins

Why develop sales managers first?

Your company bought the CRM, the methodology and the enablement platform. Results still depend on one person: the sales manager, who decides what gets coached, what gets inspected and what gets quietly ignored.

Most sales managers were promoted because they could sell. Very few were ever taught to manage people who sell. SMDP is built for that gap, on nine years of evidence that when managers are developed, performance compounds.

How does SMDP work?

Three Seasons, each with three live Episodes of three hours, four weeks apart. After each Season, managers bring what they have applied, learnt or are struggling with to a syndicate coaching session with colleagues on the same journey.

Season 1

Impacting Sales Execution

Is your team prioritising the right work, consistently?

  1. Episode 1 Prioritising Your Impact
  2. Episode 2 Simplifying Sales Execution
  3. Episode 3 Building Strong Accountability
Season 2

Impacting Sales Performance

Is your plan for hitting your number working?

  1. Episode 1 Planning The Number
  2. Episode 2 Nurturing Pipeline Health
  3. Episode 3 Driving Deal Success
Season 3

Impacting Sales Talent

Are you intentionally developing your salespeople?

  1. Episode 1 Developing Sales Performers
  2. Episode 2 Coaching Sales Success
  3. Episode 3 Managing Sales Teams
Before

“Upfront, I asked my leader if I really needed this program. I was a 20+ year Sales Management veteran.”

After

“Now, I am so glad he insisted. There were gaps and opportunities for me to learn so much new thinking. Everything I adopted had massive and sustainable impact on the people in my team.”

Ron Merkel, Veteran Sales Leader, CumminsHis advice to you: “Take this opportunity seriously!”

SMDP in the words of the managers who did it

Ron, David, Sheerien and Matt lead sales teams at Cummins and Adobe. Two minutes on what changed for them.

Sales leaders from Cummins and Adobe on what SMDP changed for them: Ron Merkel (Veteran Sales Leader, Cummins), David Eglin (Senior Manager, Adobe), Sheerien Salindera (APAC Digital Strategy Lead, Adobe) and Matt Stranski (Dealer Director, Cummins). Captions are built into the video.

What results does SMDP produce?

Sales managers developed across every region and division of a global manufacturer.

21%+Improvement in overall manager effectiveness, validated through assessment
25%+Improvement in pipeline and forecast management
30%+Improvement in sales culture, the highest capability gain
27%+Improvement in developing, coaching and managing sales teams

Read the Cummins impact study

What do managers say about SMDP?

“Sales Management is the toughest job in the world. Growth Matters is one of the very rare organisations who actually help them do this job successfully.”
Mike Weinberg, Amazon best-selling author and sales management authority
“It has changed my life. It has changed the way I drive my team and our business. My team is now performing, and these frameworks help me every day.”
Koena Koko, Senior Sales Manager, National Service Company
“I have never seen such a robust and yet pragmatic approach to managing performance in salespeople. A must for this profession.”
Samantha Wessels, Global VP of Sales, Technology Company
“What is different about the Growth Matters course is that it teaches us to ask questions and change our thinking. That practically changes results!”
William Du Preez, Executive General Manager
“I am a success story in my company since going on this course. And because of this success, my peers are now able to access this program more easily. We can also apply what we learn together and speak the same language.”
Rochelle Gouws, Regional Sales Manager

Who facilitates SMDP?

Each open class has its own facilitator in its own time zone. Between them, they bring decades of leading sales teams and of delivering SMDP to sales managers.

Andy BrownAndy BrownAmericas class, Tuesdays

Andy has delivered SMDP for 13 years and is one of its master facilitators and coaches. He brings 30 years of management consulting, training and coaching across industries and at every level, in private and public sector organisations.

Wendy-Ann PastorWendy-Ann PastorAfrica, Middle East and Europe class, Wednesdays

Wendy-Ann has more than 20 years of experience building, scaling and transforming high-performance sales organisations across complex, multi-region environments, from national key accounts to large multi-region sales teams.

Darren MitchellDarren MitchellAsia Pacific class, Thursdays

More than 20 years of corporate B2B sales and sales leadership.

2027 open classes: small groups, three time zones.

Early-bird pricing until 30 October 2026. Enrolment closes 15 January 2027.

See dates and prices