Executive Mentoring:
A course in leadership

“Helen’s Executive Mentoring program has paid off, with big dividends!  From assessing strengths and weaknesses to applying newly found sales and management skills, Helen's program is a 'must' for today's publishing executive.” --Greg Tres, Sales Manager, Water & Wastes Digest

 

Perhaps some people are born leaders...but most are trained that way. It's not just experience and sales ability that creates a great sales manager; it's step-by-step instruction in organizing, training, delegating, hiring and motivating. Your success is measured by the performance of those you guide. A full skill set includes competence, confidence, and communication--and that's what you get when you learn with Helen Berman's Executive Mentoring program.

Customized mentor programs can include:

The role of the sales manager 

• Balancing personal sales skills with management abilities
• Identifying sales and marketing strengths and weaknesses
• Constructively establishing your authority
• Becoming an industry expert

Training the trainer

• Running productive, interactive meetings
• Creating short, effective logistics sessions
• Brainstorming
• Using case studies and war stories
• Positive v. negative coaching techniques
• Solving specific sales problems
• Building the team bond

Research and analysis

• Competitive media analysis
• Finding and exploiting your competitive advantage
• Protecting your Achilles heel
• Spotting industry and competitive opportunities--and threats

Managing the selling process

• Translating corporate goals into action
• Getting integrated media sales--consistently
• Demonstrating effective use of research and marketing tools
• Encouraging sales creativity
• Positioning, packaging and promotion
• Creating new products and services

Time and territory management

• Balancing short- and long-term group goals
• Maximizing each territory's potential
• Developing and overseeing target-account programs
• Negotiating account and territory goals
• Implementing systems for accountability
• Reducing the paper pile
• Working with split accounts
• Meeting deadlines

Sales presentations

• Honing the sales story
• Playing up the power of the media brand
• Demonstrating powerful, customized presentations
• Incorporating new realities into presentations

Sales motivation

• Recognizing and rewarding sales greatness
• Beating sales slumps
• Riding the sales roller coaster
• Breakthrough motivation techniques
• Improving team communication
• Day-to-day tips for staying focused

Team assessments

• Developing the Dream Team
• Identifying poor performance--before it hits the bottom line
• Finding, hiring and compensating high-powered salespeople
• The art of the employment interview
• Deciding when to make a change, and how
• Integrating new hires

Stress management

• Maintaining cool under fire
• Dealing with internal company problems
• Handling conflict and dealing with resentment
• Modeling behavior you expect from others

Management problem-solving

• Communicating with top management
• When to get help
• Staying objective and on-task
• Spotting problems early and taking quick action
• Negotiation for and using company resources for sales growth

People management

• Getting salespeople to buy into new ideas and projects
• Dealing with different and difficult personalities
• Identifying your management style
• Using both analytical and emotional skills (and teaching your team to do the same)

Leadership on the road

• Traveling with salespeople
• Planning, supervising and working trade shows
• Helping salespeople reach decision-makers
• Mentoring on the road
• Managing from a distance