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I got my first job in financial services with MFS in 1987 and could not have dreamed of a better opportunity as a rookie internal wholesaler. They had (have) some of the best wholesalers in the country and these folks were always willing to share their best ideas that appealed to the advisors we all served and called on. Some of the best wholesalers would record their presentations on a cassette recorder, then give copies of the cassettes to some of the hungry young superstars in the making. As internal wholesalers, we craved success stories and better ways to present a sales idea to the advisors we called.
When I became the manager of the internal wholesalers, we met and shared the success stories we heard, then shared them by phone that week. It was the best way to learn at that time.
Over the years in the 1990s, I was a wholesaler with several firms and enjoyed attending numerous National Sales Meetings with my peers. Most of the meetings were fun and had a few opportunities to bond, but being out of the 'field' during four days of meetings was costly. My FAVORITE part of the meeting was often crammed into the last 2-3 hours on Friday, before we all left for the airport. Those few hours were filled with 5-10 minute presentations from our best, most successful wholesalers or sales managers. They'd share ideas on products, cold calling, asking for referrals, how to strengthen relationships and cross selling. I couldn't write fast enough, so I also recorded their ideas with a cassette recorder. Yes, this is long before iPhones of course. Most wholesalers would leave with a brain filled with ideas, but after a week or two, the memories faded like sunburn. After 90 days, most forgot about eighty percent of what they had learned.
It was a ‘WOW’ in the beginning, but over time the brain didn't remember most of the 2-3 hours of Best Practices. As a top performer and ranked number one in sales among my peers, I repeatedly listened to the cassettes while I drove the highways hosting meetings and seminars. I reiterated what I learned as if I had created this great content.
That’s not stealing content. We call it sharing best ideas with our own personality.
Technological Breakthrough
Well now, with the help of technology, there is a tremendously better way to share these best practices with the wholesalers, RVPs, Sales managers and internal wholesalers.
The impact is powerful, the cost is substantially less than the cost of National Sales Meetings and these training videos from your sales teams are available 24/7. There is a Boston-based company that has developed software that has WOWED thousands of seasoned and successful sales veterans. Allego.com is a Boston based company that has brought training to a level that makes cassette-learning look like I lived in the Stone Age. Think about the amount of time sales managers spent in the field, traveling with their wholesalers and watching them present to groups of advisors. The best manages would offer advice after the presentation and hopefully, the wholesaler would retain it until the next sales manager visit in three months. But now, with the technology that Allego.com offers, whether it’s an existing product or service, or a new offering, your sales rep can record a video to share with you; then you or a designated member of your team can provide point-in-time feedback, accelerating the rep’s ability to master their pitch in every sales situation. - See more at here .
The national sales meeting is still a great opportunity to introduce new products and features that can energize the team.
But be sure to capture the presentations on video and break them into small, searchable chunks so reps can easily refresh themselves on these topics, as they need them. This just-in-time approach to learning ensures reps have access to the content they need at the time they need it most.
Yes, times have changed from the way we did business in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. I wholeheartedly embrace technology if it'll make us more effective at what we do, and from what I see, Allego has done it. Never before could videos be captured and shared so easily.
Here's a link that explains this process even better.
We are in a competitive business. If there are tools that help us improve dramatically in less time and at a lower expense, I'm all ears and eyes!
Just as the cassettes helped many of us remember and then present these great ideas from our best wholesalers, now you can watch actual videos from your peers and sales managers on your iPad or smart phone. This is amazing to a Baby Boomer like me! Sales Superstars are always looking for ways to be more effective. And of course, if combined with solid relationship building skills, we all know that sales will not only increase, they will soar!
Wishing you even more success in the next quarter!