Task: Pat owned six communities in the Salt Lake City market.  His marketing budget did not allow for sales trainers and the like, yet he had to compete with the big nationals at every level.  

Action: We went Old School.  We recommended that Pat buy every one of his sales team three books (pick your favorites or we’ll offer suggestions based on your market conditions).  They had book club sessions during sales meetings.  The team got prepared for the shoppers to come!

Result Pat ordered the extended evaluation, which included a video, score card, industry analysis and a detailed narrative highlighting the structure of the presentation, strengths, weaknesses and recommendations.  Although his team initially ranked at the national average, within the year they had substantially increased their shop score cards and sales.

Comment Because this was a smaller, family-owned business, Pat was mindful of how he utilized the shops as a sales training tool.  First, Pat alerted the sales team to the shops, passing out the score card with basically “the answers to the test.”  Any questions?  He answered them.  Pat forwarded the video and reports to each team member via confidential email, giving them time to digest and revamp their sales plan.  Two weeks later, he met with the entire team and together they laid targets and goals for the future.