Podcast Script for AT&T Sales VP Mike Heath May 2009 by Alice Jacobson
Hello, everyone. This is Mike Heath. Have you ever held a great meeting with a customer but couldn’t quite get a definite commitment? Then four seconds after you said goodbye, you thought of a brilliant argument that just might have clinched the deal? Well, I have, and it was a frustrating feeling, to say the least. But things might have been different if I had had the opportunity to participate in a program like Power It Up. This AT&T program kicks off next week, and you should know that it boasts a boatload of amazing selling tools. The first is a series of role playing exercises that I want everyone on the Sales team to attend. As Willy Loman says in “Death of a Salesman,” “Attention must be paid.” And as Mike Heath says, attendance will be taken! I think you’ll find this a fun and certainly beneficial program that will help you engage a customer successfully face to face, seal the deal, and make your numbers. By now I hope you’ve had a chance to read through and maybe even apply some of the info we distributed a few months ago. You can also access the Power Tools from the Sales Contests and Campaigns section of the Federal Sales intranet site. We’ll hold the first round of role-playing sessions in relaxed team settings between May 18 and June 12. During each 10-minute session, you’ll get a chance to learn about very interesting and federal-specific business cases. A Sales member will deliver a five-minute pitch. After that, senior sales leaders will give feedback, taking the role of agency decisionmakers. More rounds of role-playing will be scheduled every week between June 8 and July 11. At each weekly session, each Sales Center will be represented by one CBM or GSM. I think you’ll find these sessions are a great way to build your confidence, sharpen your sales reflex, and get constructive peer feedback.
So watch for your sales leaders to announce the dates of the role-playing sessions, and make sure to register ASAP. I promise you these sessions will be time well spent.
Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful day.