Now officially retired from Carlson Software, Robert would like to share his sales and management expertise garnered from more than 40 years of experience in both land surveying equipment sales and sales team/company management. Effective selling in this industry has many components, most of which he has encountered over his career. Robert started as the Southeastern Regional Sales Manager for the Lietz Company (now Sokkia) in 1974, became National Sales Manager and then Southeastern Sales Manager. He was also responsible for introducing a telemarketing program at Lietz to help support the sales staff, setting up the training, and managed the program. Sales increased 37 percent in the target market the first year and more telemarketers were subsequently added. While in upper management at Lietz as National Sales Manager, Robert instituted training programs for territorial sales managers, to help familiarize them with the growing product line and sales techniques. The training program was then expanded to include dealer training programs. All were run consistently over several years, increasing employee retention and staying under budget throughout. From 1995-2003, Robert worked at Nikon Surveying, starting as a Sales Manager and ending up Sales Manager/Department Manager. During his tenure at Nikon, sales went from $6 million/year to approximately $17 million/year. Part of the sales success was due to the Nikon Purchase Program (NPP) instituted by Robert, which involved Nikon financing sales of total stations directly to the end user, paying a commission to the dealer. In its first year, business increased by 51 percent Over 13 years at Carlson Software, retiring in 2016, Robert helped to bring structure to the software development teams and overall company organization. His extensive knowledge of the surveying instrument distribution channels proved invaluable as Carlson moved into a dealership distribution mode. For Carlson’s worldwide employees, Robert worked to be a unifying source of information and the go-to person to have questions answered or problems solved. He also helped initiate and organize Carlson’s successful User Conferences. Robert studied engineering and land surveying at Southern Technical Institute, and has an Associates of Business Management degree from The Center for Degree Studies in Scranton, PA.
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Customer Service = Client Retention
Thursday, January 9, 2020, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
This course will cover the do’s and don’ts of customer service. It will cover what good customer service means and the perils of not providing it. It will also show you how you can improve your profitability by providing excellent customer service and how it has a positive effect on your business. It will cover “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it”. This course not only deals with customer service face to face but how telephone etiquette can improve your business and communicating with unsatisfied customers. In addition, we will discuss how customer service improves your customer retention and increases your profits.
The Theory of Sales - Part 1
Friday, January 10, 2020, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Many people attend professional conferences and some attend business classes to learn how to operate their business better. However, many do not understand the sales process and without revenue their business will fail. This class is designed to introduce them to the sales process to give them a better understanding of what they need to do to increase their revenue.
This course provides the background understanding on the ways business is transacted and the importance of sales in the business. With that understanding, an explanation of the sales processes and the terms used in sales will be done, using numerous examples. A key part of integrating this newfound knowledge into the business involves developing a credible “Mission Statement” as well as your business’s “Value Proposition.” How to determine if a customer is a prospect or a suspect will be covered. The importance of differentiating yourself from the competition even when it appears that you and your competitor appear to be offering the same thing will be also discussed. Profit (and margins) can be calculated in various ways. Full knowledge of what is reflected in the profitability number must be understood to properly assess the health and future of the business. Issues that can occur from improperly developed profitability numbers will be presented.
The Theory of Sales - Part 2
Friday, January 10, 2020, 1:30 - 5:30 p.m.
This course builds upon The Theory of Sales Part 1. This class is designed to take the student further into the sales process including closing the sale and asking for the order.
In this course we will get into some role-playing involving sales situations and how-to greet customers professionally. It will also include how to recognize the sales opportunities by getting into using the 7 steps of the sales cycle. There will be a detailed presentation and examples of the steps: how to prepare for the sales call, the most critical skill that leads to sales success, handling sales objections, asking for the order, the perils of discounting and how to close more sales. The course will conclude with the habits and attributes of great salesmen.