It’s wonderful to watch Kate Bush’s artistry reach another generation.
The Modern Techniques of Sales and Negotiation
A local company, In2 Project Management hosted Jack Corbett to deliver sales training and I was fortunate to win a ticket to the event. Neil Betts and Chris Allford from In2 have been supportive of our project – The VRI – and worked with me in 2014 to help me realise the vision we had for a community space. They are an appreciated part of our whole community approach that has made The VRI what it is.
Jack Corbett practises what he preaches. I got a pre-event call from his sales team to ask what I was most seeking from the training and this was well and truly covered with humour and humility by Jack in the training. He packed a lot into the 5 hour session, covering the process of sales and negotiations as well as sharing a lot of learning, presenting and business improvement tips. I received a call after the event and had the opportunity to work on my elevator pitch with one of ISR’s team members, which was a bonus.
Jack’s company ISR gave participants access to his LMS allowing us a vast range of resources to interact with. The training session was packed with value and my friends who attended were impressed. One of the bonuses he offered was a live call on overcoming objections a couple of mornings later, lots of us showed up.
The last sales training I did, was in the 90’s with Money & You, when I was on the sales team. When the opportunity to do this training came up I reflected on what I needed to improve. That’s where the learning process begins isn’t it? Looking at yourself and thinking about the results you are getting and what could be better. This was reinforced by the call from ISR.
What I most wanted to improve was closing a sale. One of the distinctions I got was to stop talking and give the client/customer/person the opportunity to think. Interestingly I’ve been doing the Lifeline training this year and the learning has been similar. It is more powerful to listen and to allow people to think for themselves.
I’m very grateful to the In2 team for sharing this learning opportunity with our region. The training was very affordable and improved sales is something we can all benefit from. The investment of time (and $$ if I hadn’t been a winner!) was entirely worth it.
Two Weeks
I missed posting last Sunday.
I spent the day at ReActivate Latrobe Valley‘s event: Get Cheffed and was straight to bed at the end. The event was fun. We had around 500 local food lovers come through our market and 100 spectators for the main event. The marquee was full of supporters who by pledging to our crowdfunding had made the Chef off and Chef up a reality. So many people contributed to the day and donated their time or cash or goods. It is overwhelming sometimes how generous people are.
My parents had their 53rd wedding anniversary this week. I got married on the same day as them, 30 years ago, but did not go the distance, despite choosing what I thought would be an auspicious day. I only lasted around 5 years married. Enough time to have two amazing children, so no regrets.
Jane had her final day at Serving the Valley on Friday. She worked tirelessly right up until the last second following up opportunities for participants and sharing news on social media. We will miss Jane’s dedication to Serving the Valley, but fortunately we work together on other projects and are friends. Jane has volunteered at The VRI and Traralgon Neighbourhood House from the start. I am happy for her that she has a more rewarding job and I believe she will make a greater contribution where she is going and that she may be able to improve opportunities for more people. Jane is one of the kindest people I know. We had a great party on Friday night!
Lots of other stuff has happened and I’m left tonight feeling very grateful for all the wonderful people we have on our teams. People who step up to help out and support in lots of ways. Brilliant people who roll up their sleeves and get stuff done, and make it fun.