Yes, it's a tough marketplace...now what?

Fold up your tent? Pull in all expenses? Take your salespeople off the road to save money? Wrong, wrong, wrong. Time after time in cycles like this it is proven by solid sales organizations that you cannot cut your way to long-term growth.

Think about it: If there is LESS business out there, that means there is MORE competition for it  -- Are your salespeople equipped to suddenly meet new challenges, try new things? What are they doing DIFFERENTLY? Simply pounding them to make more mediocre sales calls doesn't make them better calls. "Hope" is not a strategy, as has been written. INVEST in sharpening their sales and management skills and you can beat your competitor to the punch in both lean and robust times. Training for Winners helps you do just that.

A turbulent economic year means new challenges, new mountains to climb, new obstacles to overcome. Are you -- and is your team --ready for this? Many indicators point to an unsettled market for at least the near future, which means increased expectations by owners and increased competition for new business. Engage Training for Winners and your team will be a better sales force, a better management unit!

Why? Because we go beyond the "light touch" and coach salespeople and managers in areas that other training programs don't even touch --The subleties, the nuances, the reasons behind why buyers buy or don't buy, etc. We don't think making people remember mechanical lists is helping them learn the real-world applications.

Getting your team together for a training experience, workshop, or a retreat to re-focus, re-charge, and re-invigorate will reap benefits to help you meet market demands and challenges. It is very cathartic to your team to do this, even if you think everything is A-OK. We ALWAYS uncover things that need to be worked on, no matter how great the organization is. If you aren't getting better, you're getting stagnant. Don't kid yourself -- most things don't improve, and most people don't improve, simply by osmosis. We can help you!

You'll notice the Eagle is everywhere on our site. It's our logo for a reason -- they are special! In our workshops, we congratulate our "Eagles" -- those people who come up with the "ooh and aah" ideas that soar above the other 90% of the crowd. These are the ideas that stick in customers' minds, that make things better, that do what the rest of the crowd doesn't do. On the other hand, we try to help the "Ducks" who quack and make noise complaining without a better idea. We all have heard that quacking noise before. Go sit near the water cooler and you'll see.

Ask yourself -- Who are the Eagles and Ducks on your team?

The competition to earn "eagle" status during our skillshops gets quite exciting. We take very good care of our eagles with exciting incentives and fun giveaways...why not, they earned it!

Good to great... Can you do it?

Gary recently was the featured keynote speaker assigned with infusing momentum and enthusiasm with the kick-off address for Straw Hat Pizza's annual meeting of its owners and operators, held at the beautiful Portola Hotel & Spa at Monterey Bay (CA), where the group's theme was "Going From Good to Great." The thrust of Gary's advice was three-fold:

* Listen to your customers, as they don't have to be there;

* Look to improve the "little things" that make a big impact (cleanliness, etc.);

*Ask each employee for at least one idea per week on ways to improve the business, which will get them involved and give them a sense of ownership. And, don't forget to reward their thinking!

The group responded enthusiastically when he challenged them for new ideas to be written on empty pizza boxes. They "delivered" the ideas to each other at tables, and iby the end of the session over 250 new ideas were shared!

It doesn't always take $10,000 to go from good to great. Often, it's more about paying attention and some old-fashioned sweat equity. We can help you find those areas in your business.

Double-Eagle and a heating pad...Now that's hot!

Speaking of eagles, we had a rare double-eagle at my two-day sales training workshop for the Broadmoor Resort (Colorado Springs). Mark Klein, Director of Conferences, earned the honor with several great observations. And when I mentioned that I was nursing a bulging disk in my back during my visit, sales manager Jeremy Wilson snuck off and ordered a heating pad delivered to my room -- what a relief! The Broadmoor does so many little things right and they certainly proved their 5-Star rating to me many times during my three-day stay. Thanks!

Here's another Eagle Sighting we're excited about...Back by popular demand!

...The San Mateo County CVB (CA) recently held its second Training for Winners workshop, "The Sales Boot Camp." The idea came from our many CVB, hotel, convention center, and meeting planner clients who time and time again cited many of the same obstacles and challenges to doing better business together. Thus, Gary developed a roll-your-sleeves-up kind of workshop that brings CVB salespeople together with their members to tackle the day-to-day procedures and working templates for site inspections, handling VIP's, RFP's, communication between each other, setting up sales calls, utilizing satellite offices, and working trade shows together.

In San Mateo County, over 80 people showed up during the event for great in-depth discussions on how best to work together and be seamless for their customers. Five meeting planners (combined experience: 120 years!) generously agreed to come and be part of a panel discussion and interaction with the salespeople on what flies and what doesn't in site inspections, RFP's, etc. The discussion was lively and everyone got to hear from the real buyers on how to improve and work better together as a community, plus how to sell against the competition. Real issues and circumstances were discussed, plus many members got their first in-depth understanding of how the CVB works. The hard question was asked -- "How easy are we to do business with?"

The reviews from the Boot Camp were fantastic...

"We have a jump start on the year because of the Boot Camp," stated Bill Rizzuto, General Manager of the Hyatt Regency SFO and SMCCVB Chairman of the Board, "The workshop enabled us to hit the ground running."

"The Boot Camp was a HUGE success!", exclaimed SMCCVB's Director of International Sales Nina Ramos (916-294-0289), "I've already heard from one sales director that her department has turned over a new leaf and will be doing things differently because of what they learned at Boot Camp!"

The SMCCVB Eastern Regional Sales Manager located in Washington D.C., said The Boot Camp really helped her and those seeking Washington business for San Mateo County: "Satellite offices sometimes face the challenge of being out of sight, out of mind. Gary's Boot Camp helped our hoteliers recognize what an invaluable and often untapped resource we are. I've already seen an increased interest from our hotel partners wanting to discuss sales strategies and do joint sales calls, thanks to Gary's great suggestions on ways we can reach out to each other and create a more powerful sales front."

The SMCCVB sales team moved quickly on the notes and follow-up by holding a sales retreat with Gary later that same day, so to carry out the initiatives from The Boot Camp immediately.

A similar program was also designed by Gary for Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg (VA), drawing over 100 members of local businesses, chambers of commerce, national parks, and hospitality businesses. The theme was "Making Everyone a Salesperson", and it was a certified success, says the organizer Bonnie Smith, Director of Tourism for Spotsylvania County (800) 654-4118.

"Gary delighted the audience with valuable information, and gave them the resources to become enthusiastic salespeople, customer service fanatics, and over-achieving performers, says Bonnie. "We received nothing but praise from our attendees, and requests to bring Gary back again."

If your CVB or hospitality community wants to become more seamless and work on the REAL things that help book more business, contact Gary now!

Training trends -- How do you stack up? What keeps you up at night?

Training magazine recently published its annual report on training trends. Lo and behold, the so-called "soft skills" are finally getting their due and are back on center stage! For too many years since the evolution of the Internet and the explosion of technology all around us, "soft-skill" training (whoever came up with that misleading term?) -- which includes sales, management, and customer service -- was thought of as fluff.

Apparently, some thought that dealing with people wasn't as important or as necessary to the bottom line as the "hard skills" (computer training, etc.). Frankly, we never understood what is so soft about selling to customers, dealing with people, satisfying needs, etc. It seems to us the terms were used bassackwards!

Hmmm... The times they are a-changing. The top three training priorities for this year listed by senior training professionals from across all industries are:

1) Soft Skills (which encompasses leadership development, management development, customer service, team-building, interpersonal skills, and diversity)

2) Business Strategy (made up of alignment of business strategies, culture and change management, and measurement)

3) Sales Training (With an emphasis on high touch & high tech strategies)

We believe that Training for Winners is perfectly suited to meet these needs with the types of modules and topics we have to offer. We don't consider ourselves "trendy", it's just that this survey validates that we are right on with what we have been doing for our clients since 1995.

Are you positioned to meet this new thrust? Call us and book Gary for your next training program, retreat, or speaking opportunity!