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2 1/2 day Sales workshop for GENBAND
Telecommunications (UK) Limited
GENBAND - Corporate Headquarters Frisco,
Texas, specializes in Internet technology used by telecommunications
companies and fixed, mobile and cable service providers that sends phone
calls over the Internet around the world across over 600 networks,
including two-thirds of the world’s largest service provider networks
spanning more than 80 countries. GENBAND has research and development
facilities in Canada, China, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Texas.
Genband CEO Charles Vogt recently purchased Nortel's CVAS business and
technology.

Dr Dorit Columbus, Ahmed Hamdani, Anna Lapshina - three of the delegates at GENBAND, Maidenhead UK 'Selling for Engineers seminar
Participant comments:
"Presenter's style kept
people's attention by breaking into workshops / role-play to illustrate
points. I have identified areas where I can improve my presentation and
techniques in meetings to be more effective."
"A useful introduction to
sales techniques and strategies for people with an engineering-led
background and experiences."
"Nice guy, very open and
made you feel comfortable. Lots of brainstorming with your colleagues .
. .Good and easy concepts used during the sessions that can be applied
to daily job."
"A pleasant seminar, very
helpful to get some fresh ideas to use in daily life to improve
inter-personal relationships to perform better at work and eventually to
get more sales!"
"Very interactive, lots
of personal experience delivered. The seminar provided a broad range of
aspects of sales work, covering different types of sales. A lot of
experience has been shown and illustrated the cases. Practical exercises
helped to get a firm grip on do's and don'ts."
"Best of all I liked the
practical exercises which helped a lot to understand the course
material. Course is very good as an initial step in sales. Good way of
delivering information - knowledge through fun."
"The seminar was very
practical, with many exercises gutting us to realize the benefits of the
techniques and put them to the test. Would be good to make the course
longer- one day extra."
"Realisation that sales
is within us and that with some guidance engineers can make a huge
difference to the sales cycle by adapting our approach to customer
interaction."
"Relaxed atmosphere
allowing easy discussions. Presentation section was very useful to me. I
needed to clarify that in my own mind and your session did that. An
excellent introduction to sales held in an easy atmosphere."
"This was a good
introduction to sales. Entertaining and insightful."
"Good balance between
presentation and role play."
"Introduction to the
fundamentals of sales techniques based on the teacher's own experience
(as opposed to MBA type of academic studies)."
Customer comments
I
recently downloaded your book Selling for Engineers, which I
found very useful.
I'd
like to get a copy of "Sales Prospecting for Engineers" .
IT
Executive, Brisbane, Australia.
Dear Robert,
I've just downloaded your 2
manuals, How to hire a good Technical Salesman and Sales prospecting
for Engineers.
I brought Selling for Engineers a
while ago.
May I say how delighted we have
been with your manuals and how effective we find the content.
Regards
Mark Sanders
Sabre Home Security Ltd
Dear
Mr. Seviour
I
have just read your two books, "Selling for Engineers" and "How
to Create Powerful Technical Sales Literature". I found them
both full of extremely wise pointers and comments. I believe the
principles presented by the books are absolutely right!
Congratulations on the books.
Paul
Bentley, PJB Business Development
Dear Robert,
We were delighted
with the manuals.
At our last
marketing meeting I said that I was so pleased that I would be
getting in touch with you. It was the realisation that you are
not a large company but a small company that has put an awful
lot of effort into a very good product.
I took your
manuals into the first marketing meeting and left it with them.
At the second review meeting the Production Director found them
so good that he couldn't put them down.
The conscience
consideration (we could have quite easily put it through the
automatic copier and then sent them back to you with a note
saying we are not interested) was not allowed by virtue of the
fact that they were so good and we were delighted with them.
When you are
driving a company forward some tools are useful and some are
essential. These manuals are not only good value for money but
they fill all the gaps we have been looking for.
Colin Dawson,
Managing Director, Daletech Electronics Ltd
"I recently read
a book entitled Prospecting for Engineers by Robert Seviour. It
was written in simple, plain English and made a lot of sense
from a practical point of view (totally the opposite to a lot of
theoretical business books I have tried to read). I got the
impression he is a very, practical, down to earth sort of guy."
Mark Robinson,
Managing Director, Starret Precision Optical Ltd.
That's all worked
fine - great speedy response. Its great to have
good service, I seem to recall I enjoyed dealing with you all those
years ago!
I will take up your
kind offer of another title, quite like the sound of Powerful
closing techniques.
If you need any
testimonials from me, let me know, I would be happy to help.
Thanks again, good to
deal with you. All good wishes for 2010.
Peter Taylor
Sales & Marketing
Director
Britannia Kitchen
Ventilation Limited
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
The Selling for Engineers seminar has been
held in UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Austria,
Canada and the USA.
Robert is a fluent speaker of
German and
French; the sales training for engineering company course, can be
delivered in these languages as well as English. Robert is currently in
negotiations with ZF Technologies, Friedrichshafen, Germany -
manufacturers of highest precision vehicle gearboxes. Meetings were
conducted in the German language. The brief is to create use and
maintenance documentation for test equipment which will be used in the
ZF plant in Brazil.
Are you a North American company with a
sales team / sales
rep in Europe? I have presented courses to US companies in the
oil industry in Trondheim, Norway and Aberdeen, Scotland - also to software companies in Hamburg, Frankfurt & Munich,
Germany; to a Cisco consultancy in den Haag, Netherlands and Brussels,
Belgium. In the USA, I have worked with advanced
materials companies in Dayton, Ohio; Chicago Illinois; and with an Irish
company specialising in reduced-cost parts for manufacturers in the
computer industry - the meeting was held in Austin, Texas, the city Dell
computers is located in.
Principal seminar venues in the UK have been Woking,
the University of Surrey, Guilford; the M3 and M4 corridors,
Basingstoke; Brunel University, Uxbridge, Great Missenden, Sunbury,
Hatfield, Portland, Reading, Bristol, Plymouth,
Cardiff, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Bedford, Cambridge, Maidstone, Kent;
Bournemouth, Southampton, Docklands for the City of London, The
Institute of Directors, Pall Mall, London; Birmingham; Warwick,
Harrogate, Manchester, Liverpool, Warrington, Grantham, Hull, Ely,
Cambridge, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Leeds. Peterborough,
Newcastle, Penrith, Sheffield; In Scotland, Edinburgh, Livingston,
Glasgow, Paisley, Glenrothes, Leven, Kirkcaldy, Perth, at the Robert Gordon University,
Aberdeen. In Northern Ireland, the locations included Belfast,
Ballymena. In the Republic of Ireland, it has been Dublin and Limerick.
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Robert Seviour teaches sales skills to
engineers, technical people and a diverse range of industry delegates at his ‘Selling
for Engineers’ seminars.
It’s been a long journey from the
beginning of his career as a ‘hands-on’ mechanical engineer.
“I probably would have stayed in
engineering if a friend had not talked me into joining a direct
sales organisation. There it was all different - what
counted was sales figures, not technical matters. It was a whole
new world to me. To my surprise I enjoyed selling and was good at
it. There's nothing like the buzz you get when you bring in a big
order."
Robert began his working life at a
company called ‘Power Frequency Heating Ltd. in the London suburbs.
This company produced 'pre-start heaters' for vehicles operating in
cold climates and emergency vehicles. Customers included Dennis Fire
Engines, Carmichael Ambulances, Caterpillar Vehicles and Rolls Royce
cars. Later he formed his own sales-led business ‘Robert Seviour – Energy
Control Systems’ which installed ‘smart’ heating controls for large
houses and small commercial premises. An offshoot of this activity
was to design and fit solar heating systems for domestic hot water
plus a few interesting 'one-offs' which included secondary flue gas
heat exchangers for larger domestic boilers. In 1988 Robert sold the business and
accepted an invitation to become North American agent for Structural
Polymer Systems, a manufacturer of epoxy adhesives and composite
materials. He re-located to Vancouver, Canada and developed from
zero a client base of users of this company’s products. The job
involved finding new customers and teaching them how to use these
advanced materials.
Five years later he was asked to return
to the UK and help a scientific organisation develop good technical sales.
This business was an installer of high-tech communications
equipment, the personnel were all engineers with no experience of
sales. Robert coached them in the process of customer acquisition /
business development. The success of this operation led to an
invitation by other companies within the Thorn group to repeat the
same sales course with their divisions. For a year Robert travelled
throughout the UK bringing weekly coaching sessions to Thorn
engineers and salespeople. The products Thorn supplied included
security systems and the design of aerospace equipment. The
demand for sales training within technical companies, or sales for
engineers, was strong and
Robert, trading as Stick + Carrot Sales Training, ran courses for large and small organisations throughout the
UK, Europe and the USA. There were many well known companies,
including Schlumberger, British Aerospace, IBM and Scottish Power.
Since 1993 he has presented the
sales engineer training course
‘Selling for Engineers’
over 600 times.

Delegates working on an exercise at a Selling for Engineers sales
training seminar Aberdeen Scotland
The Selling for Engineers sales training manual
is a sales training course specifically for engineers,
scientists and techies of all types - all about how to
increase sales of technical products and services. It's
sales engineering training from a specialised sales
trainer who has two decades of experience training
engineers in sales skills.
If your
company supplies technical products or services and you
have had little or no formal sales training, buy this
engineering sales book and read it. As well as sales
engineer basics, you'll find many
interesting, useful and profitable technical sales
pointers and marketing
tips. It's a dedicated sales training manual for
engineers, newcomers to sales engineering and sales
managers who want a source of ideas for sales meetings
and to develop commercial awareness for engineers.
57 A4 (US letter size)
pages, many illustrations, price $37.00

Order 'Selling for Engineers'
Contents - how to:
-
Convert more enquiries into closed sales
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Resist being 'squeezed' on price
-
Be more confident about selling
-
Manage your day to free up more time for selling
-
Understand the motivations and wants of your
prospects
-
Reduce frustration when it does not go your way
-
Achieve your sales targets
-
Develop a consultative sales process that works
-
Build successful business relationships
-
Get referrals from your customers
-
Qualify your prospects effectively
-
Find buyers' 'hot buttons' with powerful questions
-
Reduce activities that waste time and energy and cost
you sales
The ability to
promote an idea effectively makes the difference between
failure and success in a professional career.
Topics in the Selling for
Engineers manual
The importance of
sales
The symptoms of weak
sales ability
Comparison of a
'sales-led' versus a 'product-led' company
An ethical approach
to sales
Should we hire a
science graduate and train him/her to sell?
The reason why most
'techies' are not 'natural' sales people
What 'techies' really
think about selling - the negative stereotype
The personality
traits needed for sales
How to take your engineers and make them into your sales force
How to make a good
sales presentation
Inter-personal skills
Sales engineer skills
Sales basics for
beginners
The 'Old Way' of
selling versus the 'New Way'
Common faults
When your are the
customer, what do you look for in a salesperson?
Why does anybody buy
anything? A fundamental understanding
The 'ideal' sales
personality
How to prospect for
new business
Prospecting methods -
mail, phone, visits, email, fax, exhibitions, referrals
How to write an
effective sales letter
What to say on the
phone
'Qualifying' the
prospect
Dealing with common
problems
Setting appointments
Meeting the prospect
- the sales interview
How to deal with
different personality types
Discovering the
buying motivations
Two key words to
obtain strategic information
Professional
listening
Price-conditioning
The sales
presentation
A 4 stage formula
which gives you the best chance of success
The trap of the
friendly, helpful buyer
Presenting to
academics and experts
Asking for the order
Closing the sale
Sales representative
qualifications
Seven classic closes
Good answers to
difficult objections, including
- 'It's too
expensive'
- 'I'm getting other
quotes'
- We're happy
with our existing supplier'
- 'I want to think
about it'
Dealing with
'difficult' buyers
- Handling the
aggressive / dominant type
- Indecisive people
Handling rejection
Common reasons for
lack of sales success - and what to do about them
Building your
confidence
Self-limiting beliefs
and how to neutralise them
How to stay motivated
The only way to get
out of a sales slump
Self-limiting beliefs
and your 'Circle of Influence'
A sales refresher for
older / experienced salespeople
Guiding principles
for Sales Managers
How to win repeat
business.
Professional
complaint-handling
How to grow fast but
stay successful long-term
The reasons for the
rise and fall of companies
The 'Sales Process
Flow Chart'
How
effective are you at generating new business
opportunities?
Do
you convert most of your enquiries into closed sales?
Some simple changes in your sales approach can make a big
difference, let me show you.
The
'Selling for Engineers Manual'
is supplied as an electronic file in
Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format
which you print yourself.
When your credit card is authorized you
will receive an order confirmation via email and instant access to
download your manual from the web.
A charge of
$37.00 USD United States Dollars
(equal to approx
£24 GBP)
will appear on your credit card statement. Sales tax is in addition
in some countries. There are no other charges.
I guarantee that you will like my books.
If you don't agree, I will refund your money immediately, without
question.
Once you press the order
link below you will be able to download immediately.
We are in a time when good
sales ability can make the difference between success and
business failure. When did
your company last do some technology sales training?


Verkaufstraining fuer
Techniker, Ingenieure und Wissenschaftler
- welche gerade mit dem
Vertrieb eines Produktes anfangen, oder schon laengere
Erfahrungen in diesem Bereich besitzen. Der Inhalt hat
sowohl produktspezifischen als auch
ingenieurwissenschaftlichen Charakter. Es handelt sich um
einen interaktiven Workshop welcher auf wissenschaftlichen
Grundlagen des Verkaufs beruht. Dieses Seminar wird von mir
bereits seit 18 Jahren, in deutsch und englisch, in grossen
und kleinen Firmen innerhalb Europas und Nordamerika
vorgetragen. Die typischen Berufsbezeichnungen meiner
Teilnehmer sind unter anderem: Sales Engineer, Account
Manager, Business Development Manager, kurzum jeder der
berufsbedingt mit Neukunden zu tun hat.
___________________________________________________________________
Thank You, The manual
downloaded perfectly. . . . I would love to have a copy of Prospecting
for Engineers.
Thank you for your superb customer service - you have learned well!
Mike Kusch
Director Of Technical Marketing
Sherman Dixie Concrete Industries
Nashville, Tennessee
___________________________________________________________________
"It takes no time at all to realise there are
benefits to be had from this presentation".
Ken Wright, Wright Associates.
"Not a jargon-based course".
John Flett, Mott McDonald.
Enlightening, very informative".
Allan McDonald, CAN (Offshore) Ltd.
"An insightful look into the sales world".
Tommy Mackay, CAN (Offshore) Ltd.
New Book,
published 16 February 2012

All you ever wanted to know about
motivating salespeople
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Seminars, talks and workshops are offered to
students at universities and technical institutions without charge or at reduced rates.
Please contact me for more information

Feedback comments from a
Sales
Skills Workshop
University of Edinburgh School of
Engineering.

Engineering students
working on an exercise
"I like what we have learned
today, and I like that the workshop was very dynamic & fun. . .
..interesting and useful ideas."
Carlos Garcia
"Good fun and informative."
Angus McBride
"The interaction with the
groups and role plays were very useful. How to identify the client's
needs was very good. The workshop was very well presented and
interactive. I have learned a lot in a short space of time. It was
excellent to have somebody with actual practical experience to present
their advice on sales in a logical and clear manner - some professors
should attend!!"
Andrew Sheil
"Interesting exercises kept
the audience engaged. A great introduction to sales skills."
Scott Lindner
"Presenter seemed to have an
extensive knowledge of the subject. Good examples, informative notes."
Pawel Milto
"I got some extremely useful
hints on how to go about selling products in a technical environment. .
. the advice on presentations was very useful. Thanks very much, very
helpful indeed."
Euan McPherson
"Interesting logical
approach to selling. . . . . fun and interactive."
David Munn
Participant comments from a Cambridge
University spinout company.
"Thanks Robert, the session
was very useful. Thought provoking. Great overview, tailored to our
needs as and when they popped up during the session."
Matt - Consulting Engineer
"Useful exercises and ideas,
tailored well to our circumstances. Interesting ideas regarding client
focus / self-focus. Lots of new ideas. Well taught, informative day."
Participant comments from SMD, Wallsend, UK
who design and manufacture subsea robotics including remotely operated
vehicles (ROVs), underwater propulsion and control products.
"Good overview of sales
process skills."
"Good refresher on
sales management and techniques."
"I liked the friendly and
informal delivery of the course. There were several new sales ideas /
techniques that I will use."
"A very interactive seminar
which got everyone thinking and talking."
"Clear, simple, easy to
remember points."
"Related often to our
business - real world. A useful overview of the key principles and
considerations relevant to technical sales."
"Enjoyed the first session -
fast pace, practical activities, sense of direction."
UCLA Anderson School of Management, Los
Angeles
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UCLA
Anderson School of Management is perennially ranked among the
top-tier business schools in the world |
presented a half-day
Sales Skill-building Workshop
led by Robert Seviour
Feedback from this sales workshop:
"The workshop was done in a memorable & fun way. The technique was
taught in an easy to understand way. The presentation is well formatted"
"Presentation was clear,
concise & simple, which made it very easy to follow. Just the right
level for me. It's a great intro class"
"The exercises were very
effective in solidifying core concepts"
"I liked getting the
great framework for successfully engaging potential clients"
"It gave me a better
understanding of how to approach clients and increase possibility of
selling"
"Clear, simple thoughts.
Easy to implement (using role plays)"
"I really like the
mini-assignments to help me understand the materials & retain the
knowledge. The content is really practical . . .wish the workshop was
longer"
"You are in many
situations where you are selling something - especially yourself"
"The outline of
presentation elements was very helpful. The page with the
'phrases-not-to-use' was very useful"
"I liked the model of
instruction, then exercises. It helped make it concrete for me. I liked
the assignment to different teams and people. It helped me get to know
everyone"
"Dear Robert,
Thank you so much for giving us such a great class yesterday! I’ve never
got a real sales training before and your class really opened my eyes to
an interesting field."
"What you showed us yesterday are really essence of sales practice, and I
definitely would like to review them from time to time to keep what I’ve
learned.
Also, feel free to let me know whether in future you would like to visit
UCLA again and give similar trainings, and I will be more than happy to
be there!"
"Robert, thank you for the
workshop yesterday. I have tried that first exercise - “Try to sell
Item X to me” with 3-4 engineers already. Every one of them started
data-dumping the features on me immediately. Thanks again for the very
practical and useful workshop!
Best regards, Nan"
"Hi Robert,
Thank you for your great
selling workshop yesterday.
Regards, Ralph"
University of Edinburgh
School of Engineering
presented a half-day
Sales
Skills Workshop
led by Robert Seviour
Feedback from this event:
"Thought-provoking, not a prescriptive lecture"
"Easy to relate material
to real world examples. Real information about sales techniques rather
than abstract theories"
"Very well delivered -
good structure & efficient. Relaxed approach and enjoyable tasks"
"All understood and very
well presented"
"V. informative. Easy to
remember thanks to multiple examples and good explanations"
"Very friendly and
informal"
"The exercises that
showed the intuitive but ultimately flawed sales pitch that I was using
were very useful"
"The things that were
covered were in straightforward terms and gave a good structure to the
sales process"
"Interactive and
entertaining"
"Informative - covered a
lot of aspects of sales which can be very useful in an engineering
career"
"I found the workshop
useful and informative. I would recommend it for final year students"
"Liked the involvement
aspects, time didn't drag as there were breaks and involvement. Really
good use of examples make it really easy to relate to"
"Enjoyed level pitched
at. Interactive level just right for me. Learned a lot. Very
informative"
"I liked the practical
examples. A lot of useful tips for communicating between buyers and
suppliers"
"Introduced me to
systematic methods of sales techniques. Will find this very useful. Good
to get some exercises as these illustrate points very well"
From an event held at UBC - University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada:
"A great crash course for beginners and refresher
for experienced persons"
"Easy to understand - very well
presented. . . . Really helped in structuring the thought process to
concentrate on during the selling process".
"A day boot camp of sales
strategies and way of thinking when approaching a potential customer".
Comments from participants
at an event held at Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, Scotland:
"Great sales course for people new to sales
or if they need a thorough overview of the basic principles".
Mark Graham, Dominion Technology Gases Ltd
"Made me think differently about sales (in a
good way)". Eric Brechet, Engspire.
"The first sales training I have had since
moving into my sales engineer position and I found it very
enlightening". Phil Middleton, Seatronics
Ltd.
"Excellent, informal introduction to practical
selling". Iain Morrison, Reservoir
Management Ltd.
Clients have included aerospace
engineering - Jetstream Aircraft, and scientific organisations such as
the UK National Weights and Measures Laboratory, based near the National
Physical Laboratory at Teddington, Middlesex and in the energy sector,
Scottish Power in East Kilbride.
In Aberdeen, Scotland, the principal centre for the UK oil and gas
industry, I have been proud to work with Performance Improvements, Pi,
who have grown from a handful of engineering consultants in one building
to a sizeable group with offices throughout the UK. Managing Director
Steve Wright believes in the value of relevant sales training, and the
rapid growth of his company (recently purchased by AMEC) demonstrates
its effectiveness.
Hi, Robert,
You did a great job AND we had a lot of fun. I remembering making our
sales guys actually do some telemarketing during the training.
We are doing very well, and continuing to grow.
Diane Dolan, CEO
AmeriWater Inc
Dayton, Ohio
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