2010 QBS Methodology Fall Summit: October 7-8

“Given the ongoing shifts that will continue to occur in the business marketplace, sellers must do everything possible to make themselves invaluable to their customers, colleagues, and company.”         -T. Freese

We’re happy to announce our upcoming QBS Summit! If you would like to renew your focus on increasing your own sales effectiveness, or give your entire sales team an unfair advantage over the competition, join us on October 7 - 8 for the Fall 2010 QBS Methodology Summit.

The boot-camp style event, featuring Alan Rohrer (QBS Certified Trainer) in Phoenix will be held on Thursday, October 7th and Friday, October 8th.

The learning environment will be highly interactive, with participants from a variety of industries including technology, financial services, healthcare, consulting, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, advertising, hospitality, and retail, and feedback from previous QBS Summit events has been “off the charts.”

With limited seating, reserve your seats early since we are expecting a full house. You might also want to bring extra pencils and a stack of writing pads for note taking.

“Tom! I wanted to thank you for an amazing training two weeks ago-my head is still spinning from all of the great info. I met with our Regional Manager yesterday and he wants you to train the rest of our team. You will be hearing from us very soon…”    -Liz B., Michigan…your newest QBS groupie!

Click for Early Enrollment Discount &  SUMMIT DETAILS.

2010 QBS Methodology Mid Year Summit: May 6-7

“Given the ongoing shifts that will continue to occur in the business marketplace, sellers must do everything possible to make themselves invaluable to their customers, colleagues, and company.”         -T. Freese

If you would like to renew your focus on increasing your own sales effectiveness, or giving your entire sales team an unfair advantage over the competition, join us on May 6 - 7 for the Mid-Year QBS Methodology Summit, held in dual locations.

Simultaneous boot-camp style events, featuring Alan Rohrer (QBS Certified Trainer) in Phoenix and Tom Freese in Atlanta, will be held on the first Thurs-Friday in May.

The learning environment will be highly interactive, with participants from a variety of industries including technology, financial services, healthcare, consulting, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, advertising, hospitality, and retail, and feedback from previous QBS Summit events has been “off the charts.”

With limited seating, reserve your seats early since we are expecting a full house. You might also want to bring extra pencils and a stack of writing pads for note taking.

“Tom! I wanted to thank you for an amazing training two weeks ago-my head is still spinning from all of the great info. I met with our Regional Manager yesterday and he wants you to train the rest of our team. You will be hearing from us very soon…”    -Liz B., Michigan…your newest QBS groupie!

Click for Early Enrollment Discount &  SUMMIT DETAILS.

2010 QBS Methodology Winter Summit: Jan 7-8

“Given the extraordinary shifts in the overall business marketplace, sellers must do everything possible to make themselves invaluable to their customers, colleagues, and company.”         -T. Freese

If you would like to kick the NEW year off with a renewed focus on increasing sales effectiveness and giving yourself an unfair advantage over the competition, join us for the first ever Winter QBS Methodology Summit, to be held in dual locations on January 7 – 8, 2010.

Simultaneous events, featuring Alan Rohrer (QBS Certified Trainer) in Phoenix and Tom Freese in Atlanta, will be held on the first Thurs-Friday after the holiday break.

The feedback from previous QBS Summit events have been “off the charts” positive. The learning environment will be energetic and highly interactive, with participants from a variety of industries including technology, financial services, healthcare, consulting, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, advertising, hospitality, and retail.

With limited seating, reserve your seats early since we are expecting a full house. You might also want to bring extra pencils and a stack of writing pads with you.

“Tom! I wanted to thank you for an amazing training two weeks ago-my head is still spinning from all of the great info. I met with our Regional Manager yesterday and he wants you to train the rest of our team. You will be hearing from us very soon…”    -Liz B., Michigan…your newest QBS groupie!

Click for REGISTRATION AND SUMMIT DETAILS.

Sales Training Needs to be More Prescriptive

"A Darwinian-Style recalibration (of skills) is underway where the perception of an individual’s value is more important than the product they sell or the company they represent.”

If you are thinking seriously about delivering sales training to your team in 2010, you should invest the time to understand the differences between traditional sales process curriculums, and something that will give your salespeople an immediate boost over the competition as well as a differentiable advantage moving forward.

The biggest problem with training today is that it doesn’t reflect reality. In other words, ‘just because a salesperson wants to ask a bunch of questions, doesn’t necessarily mean customers will openly share with someone they don’t yet know or trust.’ Similarly, just because you have a good story to tell about your product or service won’t guarantee you an audience with decision makers in key target accounts.

Yes, selling has gotten more difficult over the last several months, but there’s hope. The truth is, asking questions isn’t the most important skill. The real skill is the salesperson’s ability to cause prospect and customers to “want to” engage in a productive conversation about their needs and your value. Let me say it this way: If someone doesn’t "want to" share with you, then it doesn’t matter what questions you ask, and the conversation is over.

As for the training itself, a sales development program must be prescriptive, by definition, if you want it to meet the specific needs of your sales team. For example:

• What range of experience exists within your current sales staff?
• Do you leverage an inside sales team in addition to traditional field reps?
• Are your people paid on commission, bonus, or production incentives?
• Is the effectiveness of your recent marketing initiatives trending upward or downward?
• How much time do sellers spend farming existing accounts versus hunting for new business?
• How many salespeople in your organization? Does that include pre-sales & subject matter experts?
• Has the typical sales cycle elongated or shortened over the last few quarters?
• How reliant is your value message on words like “truly,” “really”, or “better?”
• Are internal champions able to convey the full value of your offering when you’re not present?

Though there are lots of ‘refresher’ courses to choose from, teaching people how to sell is no longer the goal. The objective of a customized sales training course is very specifically to teach sellers how to “outsell” the competition, and how to do so in a environment where competitors are aggressively ratcheting up their sales and marketing efforts to offset the effects of the economic slowdown’s impact on their business.

Put it this way, if you went to a doctor who started prescribing medication without first understanding the specific context of the problem, you would be well advised to run as fast as you can the other way. The same goes for generic training courses!

If you haven’t already experienced the benefits of QBS, then I would like to personally invite you to participate in a QBS positioning assessment as a starting point. Having trained thousands of salespeople at hundreds of client accounts, give us a call…”The Doctor is In.”