If you haven’t had the chance yet to meet distribution industry veteran Frank Hurtte with River Heights Consulting you are missing out. During his 45 years in the distribution business, Frank has worked for distributors, trained salespeople, launched the popular distributionchannel.blogspot.com, authored books on this business, spoken at countless industry conferences -- all in a most entertaining and thought-provoking manner.
In recent years, Frank has spent a lot of time thinking about where the industry is now headed. This reflection on this business lead to an epic effort to research his latest book, The New Sales Guy Project. River Heights Consulting interviewed more than 200 salespeople and their sales managers about their rookie strategies, sale tips and techniques. The book is now available in paperback on Amazon for $42.50.
Says Frank in explaining the New Sales Guy project, "I have been personally involved in the sales process for knowledge-based distributors for a very long time – 45 years at last count. I have assisted new salespeople in some way or another for at least thirty years.
"As a knowledge-based distributor salesperson with over 45 years of experience, I acknowledge that most of the skills and methodologies I learned early in my career are outdated. While most experienced salespeople do not have as much experience as me, it’s safe to say sales leaders who started their journey after the launch of the iPhone in 2007 have a completely different experience from mine.
“Knowledge-based distribution has always needed a steady flow of new salespeople to survive. At the same time, the complexity of the skillset required of these new salespeople has grown at an exponential rate. New sellers struggle during their first year. Frustration sets in, and many exceptionally talented individuals drop out of the industry. Sales managers complain as they lay out massive sums of money waiting for their sales numbers to grow.”
Here's what the book covers:
1. Why salespeople are created (and not born) and how to view your life in sales
2. How to organize information for future use in your sales career
3. How to learn and understand the thousands of new products your company sells
4. What you need to know about your customers before making a sales call
5. How to make appointments
6. How to conduct your first sales meetings
7. How to involve others in your sales strategy
8. How to build trust by honoring your commitments