Where's Dwight Shrute When We Need Him?

By Mona Piontkowski, SeminarInformation.com

The role of the sales department has always been important and usually undervalued in a company -(so says this former Sales Manager). No, really, we take for granted the job of the sales force - the gang in the trenches - selling their hearts out so our company can survive and even prosper. As more and more company's report losses and downtrends in revenue, the role of the salesperson is even more critical.

As a fan of NBC's The Office I sit on Thursday nights and laugh at the antics of the sales staff at Dunder Mifflin. They seem like fools, for the most part, hey it is a comedy after all - but when pushed, like the recent episode where the new boss wanted to automate the sales process via the new website - the sales staff went into high gear and Dwight Shrute single-handedly outsold the website. Realistically it's pretty far fetched that a single individual could outpace your corporate website - or is it?

What is the value of the one-on-one sales pitch either in person, by phone or even email? Are buyers more likely to buy from an impersonal website or rather from the friendly voice they've come to know over the years. I think it remains to be seen - but why not value Dwight Shrute a bit more and train him to be the best possible salesperson on your staff - better still train all your staff to be the best they can be.

A few seminars that might steer you in the right direction when it comes to getting new staff trained, polishing up old skills - or retraining seasoned salespersons to state-of-the-art :

Fundamental Selling Techniques for the New or Prospective Salesperson - Level I
(http://www.seminarinformation.com/event/4206)

Principles of Professional Selling
(http://www.seminarinformation.com/event/4236)

The Ultimate Sales Workshop
(http://www.seminarinformation.com/event/23402)

It's Not About Price: Value Selling
http://www.seminarinformation.com/event/21360

No matter how much technology has changed our lives over the past few decades - business is still business. Be it the ever disappearing Mom and Pop store on the corner, the ever-present Starbucks, Dunder Mifflin, or your company - we still all rely on our customers for our revenue and our sales staff to serve our customers so they continue to do business with us and help us pay the bills

Comments

[tucson security]

Take a "safety walk" with your children over routes they often travel. Help them understand how to avoid potential trouble.

[TJ McCue]

Hi Mona,
Great post. I couldn't agree more -- value your people. It is a common saying, but one that in our knowledge economy (and knowledge workers can be outsourced despite arguments to the contrary) can't be overlooked -- the value of your knowledge workers to the organization and to sales.

I do a lot of work helping execs get into social media environments and conduct blog aptitude assessments and i frequently find the best sales leaders are constantly learning, taking courses, listening to seminars (on their iPods), and striving to become better.

Are there other resources, beyond your own company, that you can point me to as well? I'd be interested to point people to these above as well as some others.

There is real strength in the one-to-one pitch and the customization that goes into it. Our company studies each prospect and looks for ways to open a dialogue based on sharing/giving something meaningful to the prospect first -- to get the relationship moving. There's so much hype and fluff out there we've found this to be a great way to open a door.
Thanks
TJ
http://www.q4sales.com