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Session Descriptions
Sessions are listed in chronological order.
Click on presenter name or image to view biography.
Attendee Quick-Start Guide
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021
Sales Prospecting: How to Use Value to Fill the Pipeline
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021 – 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EDT
Presenter: Neil Wood, Senior Consultant, The RAIN Group
Nothing has changed more in sales in the last decade than prospecting. It is more difficult than ever to get through and get meetings. Based on groundbreaking work from the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, this session will dive into what works and what doesn’t to break through, secure meetings and win sales. If you want to be a top performer in sales prospecting, this session is for you.
In this training module, participants will learn how to:
• Develop a compelling value proposition to get decision makers to accept a meeting
• Deliver value proposition over the phone, email, social media, etc. to get appointments
• Work with gatekeepers to drive prospecting success
• Leverage the power of LinkedIn to develop relationships
• Establish credibility, rapport and trust early in the sales process
• Maximize motivation, energy and execution for prospecting
How to Profile an Account
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021 – 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EDT
Moderator: Brooks Mattice, General Manager, Mel Foster Company
Panelists: Lou Copley, Area Sales Director, Avnet Inc.; Zach DeVillers, CPMR, CSP, Director of Sales, Brainard-Nielsen Marketing; Bob Gourdeau, Vice President of Sales – Americas, AVX Corporation
This moderator-led panel discussion will cover the basics of how to profile an account today. This group of panelists, an expert cross-section of respected industry leaders consisting of a manufacturers’ sales rep, manufacturer and distributor, will provide insight to questions such as where and how to start to profile an account. Attendees will walk away from this session with a checklist of best practices to help them start implementing the tools that they have learned immediately.
How to Get More Done: The 9 Habits of Extreme Productivity
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021 – 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. EDT
Presenter: Neil Wood, Senior Consultant, The RAIN Group
Sellers today are more distracted than ever. The never-ending dings, rings and buzzes that interrupt their workflow every few minutes is killing their focus and productivity. And, it is killing your sales results. You need a highly motivated and focused sales team that brings their A-game day in and day out. This session teaches sellers and sales managers how to get more done in the time they have, helping them to achieve exceptional increases in productivity and results.
During this dynamic session, attendees will gain knowledge on how to:
• Maximize motivation, energy and execution for achieving goals and igniting proactivity
• Reengineer habits to drive success and happiness
• Control time with the simplest, most effective time management system
• Ignore distractions, focus and get in the Extreme Productivity Zone
• Implement an accountability system to maximize execution
• Achieve maximum output per work hour by focusing on the activities that get outsized returns
• Attendees will receive a downloadable Productivity Planner.
Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021
Time and Territory Management
Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 – 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EDT
Presenter: Kate Rhoten, CPSC, Executive Director, MRERF/IPA
A simple but powerful method to improve sales performance is to assess how effective you and your team are at sales territory management and, specifically, managing your time. Many factors that influence sales results are outside of the sales reps control, but time is the one variable that sales reps have maximum influence over. This session will help you gain insight and understanding on how to best optimize your sales territory management strategy and use your time wisely in this new age of selling to hit your sales goals. Learn valuable tips that will ensure a productive and well-planned territory visit from this session that is taught as part of MRERF’s popular CPSC (Certified Professional Sales Consultant) training.
Utilizing Search Engines for Lead Generation and Winning More Business
Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 – 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EDT
Presenter: Sam Richter, CSP, CPAE, Hall of Fame Speaker, Leading Authority on Sales Intelligence, Bestselling Author
In sales, you can get a prospect list, start calling with “A” and ending with “Z” and mathematically, someone will buy. Or, you can find the right prospects, at the right time, with the right message. This jaw-dropping presentation will deliver techniques and resources you can immediately use to find more opportunities and grow your business.
In this session attendees will discover:
• How to use search engines, social media and the Invisible Web as powerful sales and competitive “intelligence agents”
• How to generate opportunities using sales trigger events, so you are calling on the prospects who most likely need your solution, right now
• How to leverage information in emails, phone calls and social media outreach to make a great impression, ensure relevancy and provide ongoing value
• The Sales Intel Engine, and how you can use it to automate and implement what Sam will share
Excel and PowerPoint 101
Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 – 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. EDT
Excel Presenter: Byron Holloway, Sales Manager and Senior Application Engineer, Fralia Company & Associates
PowerPoint Presenter: Jeff Weber, Senior Designer, Laird Connect
In this training module, you will learn the essentials of how to effectively use Excel and PowerPoint tools to help you be more efficient at your job. Enhance your understanding of these useful tools during this hard-hitting class and will provide you with resources and references that you can use to continue your education.
The Excel half of the session, led by a Microsoft-certified trainer for MS Office products, will concisely teach you how to navigate the program and the fundamental skills you need to successfully use it. You don’t need previous experience with Excel to be able to complete this course. This session will start with basic skills, then move to more advanced features and techniques.
The PowerPoint half of the session, presented by a professional designer, will cover the basics of creating great slide designs. A key to an awesome PowerPoint presentation is to combine good content with great design. Sure, your presentation’s content is important, but it is essential to marry it with a great PowerPoint design so that your audience stays engaged. Attendees can expect to learn tips, tools and tricks to help make their presentations stand out from the crowd.
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021
Foundations of Consultative Selling: Leading Masterful Sales Conversations
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021 – 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EDT
Presenter: Charlene DeCesare, Certified Sales Leader, Lead Consultant, The RAIN Group
The landscape of buying and selling has changed more in recent years than it has in preceding decades. Buyers are more sophisticated than ever and awash in information. At the same time, executives are searching — often in vain — for new ways to innovate, compete and improve their success. When sellers bring valuable insights and ideas to buyers, they strengthen relationships, differentiate from competition, and win more sales. Focusing on how to lead masterful sales conversations, this session introduces the strategies and tactics that are the foundation of successful selling, and provides you with the skills needed to become top-performing sellers.
Participants will learn how to:
• Lead masterful sales conversations from beginning to end
• Inspire buyers with ideas that matter to them
• Use questioning techniques to uncover the full set of customer needs and desires
• Sell ideas, insights and perspectives that influence the buyer’s agenda and inspire buyer action
• Increase relationship strength by maximizing seller-driven value
• Use cognitive reframing and disruption questions to open buyers’ minds to new ideas
• Maximize motivation, energy and execution to inspire buyers with new ideas
How to Develop Joint Customer Action Plans Between Sales Reps, Manufacturers and Distribution
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021 – 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EDT
Moderator: Walter Tobin, CEO, ERA
Panelists: Brad Burroughs, East Regional Sales Manager, Ohmite Manufacturing; Lisa Dietrich, Distribution Sales Manager, Conley & Associates; John Drabik, Senior Vice President Sales and Product Marketing – Americas, TTI Inc.
With the need for collaboration between sales reps, manufacturers and distributors more important thanever before, this moderator-led discussion, featuring a panel of industry experts, will address the need for, as well as the “how-tos” for successful interaction between all three “legs of the stool” to help service the end customer. The discussion will provide attendees with best practices that will include quoting, buddy calls and doing effective branch product training.
The Six Essential Rules of Sales Negotiation
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021 – 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. EDT
Presenter: Charlene DeCesare, Certified Sales Leader, Lead Consultant, The RAIN Group
Negotiations are all around us. From negotiating an important sales opportunity to negotiating with your kids at bedtime, we are constantly working to reach agreement with others. In this session, participants can expect to learn how to negotiate the best solutions, win sales and enhance the strength of their relationships along the way. Attendees will gain helpful tools and takeaways on how to negotiate the best deals, shorten sales cycles and improve close rates, and receive a downloadable Sales Negotiation Planner.
• The learning objectives for this session will cover:
• How to master the 6 Essential Rules of Sales Negotiation
• Understanding negotiation strategy
• Planning to win when negotiating
• Learning to trade and not cave
• Identifying and responding to buyer negotiating tactics
• Maximizing motivation, energy, and execution for negotiating the best deals