Steve to Speak at Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in July, 2007

Steve Bistritz, developer of SellXL, has been asked to speak at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Denver on July 11. This is the sixth time in the past eight years that Steve has spoken at a Microsoft Worldwide Partner event.

His topic this year will be “ Selling at the Executive Level ”.

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Steve Bistritz frequently speaks at sales meetings and client conferences around the globe. He speaks on a variety of topics including the following:

• Selling at the Executive Level
• Establishing Credibility with Client Executives and Becoming a Trusted Advisor
• Developing Alignment with Key Client Executives
• Effectively Assessing Sales Opportunities

Click here to see video clips of Steve delivering his presentation on Selling at the Executive Level.

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Go to the SellXL website at the following link to hear what a client executive, Steve Tafaro - VP of Sales for Cybershift says about the SellXL workshop. To listen to the interview, go to the SellXL.com testimonials page and click on the Audio Link.

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Free Downloads

1. Ways of Circumventing Roadblocks
2. Summary of Studies Examining How Client Executives View Their Relationships with Professional Salespeople

I have just completed a new handout on Ways of Circumventing Roadblocks that is now used in my SellXL workshop. I am making it available to readers of this Newsletter, simply by clicking the link to the left.

I have also developed a concise summary of some of the research I have conducted over the years with CXO-level executives, where I asked them about their relationships with professional salespeople. That document is also available by clicking the link to the right.

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Free Download of Audio Book – The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The Art of War by Sun Tzu is often called the original book of strategies.

Although authored many centuries ago, the book is still often considered the original authority of business strategies. Quotes like “ Your strength will ultimately become your weakness ” and “ The key to victory is not in defeating the enemy, but in defeating the enemy’s strategy ” find their origins in The Art of War .

You can go to the following website: www.audiobookgeek.com and sign up for a free 14-day pass to download two free audio books, including The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

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Book Review

The Outside-In Corporation: How to Build a Customer-Centric Organization for Breakthrough Results
By: Barbara E. Bund

Bund is a specialist in marketing strategy and is a consultant and Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management. She has published numerous articles and authored eight books, including “Build Customer Relationships that Last”.

In The Outside-In Corporation, Barbara describes how corporations can achieve breakthrough results by gaining a much better understanding of – and thus becoming much closer to – those of greatest importance to success in today’s marketplace. For example, healthcare providers should become more patient-centric, retailers should become more consumer-centric and service providers should become more outcome-focused.

She provides detailed insight on how to identify and research target customers to evaluate your products, processes and marketing strategy from their point of view. She makes her point by citing simple examples. Is it as simple as being an inexpensive product such as the Bic Pen displayed at the check-out counter or is the buying process more complex – like that for a more expensive Cross pen that is typically given as a graduation gift or special award?

She cites IBM as a company who lost their outside-in focus back in the 1990s. In 1996, Business Week described the IBM of the 1990s as “distant, arrogant and unresponsive.” IBM had lost its previous clear focus on the customer’s business problems. She also credits Lou Gerstner for turning IBM away from a “series of intramural competitions” back to a company that now has an outside-in focus again.

Barbara also recognizes a number of today’s companies (Costco, eBay, FedEx, GE and others) for their “explicit customer-based reason" for everything they do in the marketplace. Guided by an outside-in discipline, they have better go-to-market strategies, better communication of their strategies to others and a better ability to adapt when there are changes in the marketplace. They really understand that their customers are “the keys” to their business – and they treat those customers accordingly!

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Professional Society of Sales and Marketing Training
Save the Dates – November 12-14, 2007

There's an organization that exists today for Corporate Sales Trainers and Sales Training Consultants that you probably have never heard of. It's called the Professional Society of Sales and Marketing Training and its website is www.smt.org .

I've been a member for the past 15 years or so and attended SMT's Annual Conference in Amelia Island, Florida in November, 2006 where they had their finest conference ever. I can say that as the immediate Past President because we had an excellent Conference Planning Committee that executed in an outstanding fashion. We had the normal array of General Session Speakers, but the Breakout Sessions were of the highest quality that I've ever seen offered at an event of this type. Many leading edge concepts were presented that showed attendees the state-of-the-art in new training techniques that were beyond the expectation of many attendees.

The 2007 Annual Conference will take place in Falls Church, Virginia, from November 12-14. Check out the SMT website for additional information on this conference.

If you have any questions about SMT, give me a call at (404) 256-1801. I'd enjoy the opportunity to tell you more about this unique training organization that is directed specifically at those of us engaged in the wonderful field of sales and marketing training.

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