We’ve done Q/A’s with Chad Balistrieri and Ryan Lewis, both former sales reps for Salesforce. You can find those here and here. It is time to introduce you to another one of our trainers, and former IBM sales rep, Dale Thorn. From talking with Dale, you can tell how much he values mentoring inexperienced professionals. If that doesn’t tell you the kind of person he is, then hopefully this Q/A will help you understand how much pride he takes in building and nurturing strong relationships with people. -- Here is the Q/A with Dale: Q: If you could give one piece of advice to any entry-level sales person, what would it be? A: “Know who you are and be confident. In order to be successful, you need to know who you are and be confident in yourself first before you can help others learn what they need so they can also then be more confident.” Q: If you weren't generating revenue for tech companies, what would you be doing? A: “Revenue is the output of what I really love to do which is helping people. I would be coaching, training, mentoring, or volunteering to enable others to be in a better place in their lives.” Q: What was your first sales job? A: “Worked in restaurants. One time I pitched an entree to a table of eight executives and then I asked them how I could make my pitch better. They all had great advice and they loved that I asked.” Q: What is your favorite exercise/lesson/drill to teach in the sales bootcamp? A: "4 Factors of Impulse and Personal Pitches.” Q: How does someone new to the industry know if they are going to a good/legit company? A: “Everyone has answers to everything, but what is even harder to do is ask the right questions. Reach out and take time to talk with someone from the company or who is no longer part of the company. You'll get the insider’s perspective (usually positive) and the outsiders perspective (usually negative) to get a great perspective. Plus, always do your own thorough market research.” Q: Favorite part of the sales cycle/process? A: “First meeting and Signed Agreement are a tie. The first meeting is the start of a relationship, and the agreement is the documented start of a great, long term relationship.” -- Dale is an extremely dedicated individual and we are lucky to have him on our side. He pushes the students of our sales bootcamps to get better each training session. The students come away from the bootcamp with a whole new perspective on relationship building and a plethora of sales skills in their repertoire. We are extremely proud of the group of trainers that our students get to learn from. They all have different experiences and styles that have brought them ample professional success and will continue to do so for many years. Don’t you want to learn some sales skills from these talented professionals? -- If you are interested in some of the concepts that our trainer Dale teaches to the students, then go check out our free online mini bootcamp. The online sales training videos will help you learn sales skills as well as give you a preview of what our bootcamp training is like. And if you're asking yourself: "How can I find a boot camp near me?" Our sales bootcamp can be completed virtually so you can do live, instructor-led, online sales training as long as you have a computer and WIFI.
