Once again, professionals who must develop business in the Mid-Atlantic region have a unique opportunity to learn from some of the top sales thought leaders, authors, and speakers in the world. The Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES) has been bringing world-class sales speakers to the DC region for nearly half a decade and is excited to announce the 2016 program.

Headlining this year’s program calendar is “The Professor of Professional Selling” Neil Rackham, and Challenger Sale co-author Brent Adamson.

We’re very excited about the speakers we have teed up for this year. The programs offer fresh strategies for moving sales through the pipeline, becoming a more effective selling professional, and tips for prospecting and speaking to customers more productively.

The rest of the program year is as follows:

  • February 26: Nancy Bleeke
  • March 17: Kyla O’Connell
    • Five Ways to Develop Your Emotional Quotient and Ramp Up Your Sales (NOTE: The date is correct. The March program is on Thursday, not Friday!)
  • April 15: Bill Cates
    • Win More Business with an Authentic Value Proposition
  • May 20: A Special Morning with Neil Rackham.
  • June 3: Annual Sales Excellence Awards
  • July 22: Brent Adamson
    • The Challenger Customer: Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results
  • August 28: Maribeth Kuzmeski
    • And the Clients Went Wild: Building Sustainable Relationships that Acceleration Sales
  • September 23: Lee Salz
    • Sales Differentiation: How to Set Yourself Apart in a Crowded Industry
  • October 28:  Alan Gregerman
    • Innovation: The Real Key to Driving Greater Value for Customers and Prospects
  • November 18: Customer Acquisition Symposium 2016
  • December 9: Julie Hansen
    • Presentation Skills for Making a Quick Impact on Today’s Busy Prospects

Umar Hameed, neuroscience and sales expert, kicked off the program year in January with a well-attended “Building a Powerful Sales Mindset for 2016.” Even though the storm known as Snowzilla was bearing down on Washington DC, over 100 sales professionals attended the entire program and left with implementable tools to help become more powerful in 2016.

SPEAKERS COVER A WIDE RANGE OF IMPORTANT SALES TOPICS

Each speaker has been hand-picked from over 50 nominations we get each year. IES program attendees and members have been asking us to have Neil Rackham on the program calendar. He practically invented the consultative selling approach and has all of the science to explain how you can be more effective in the changing world of selling. He’s continuously pushing the envelope and is one of the most impressive sales thinkers in the world. He’ll be speaking on May 20.

The Challenger Sale often comes up in conversation and during speaker presentations. We’re excited to have one of the co-authors, Brent Adamson, speak later this summer on some of their updated findings from their latest book, The Challenger Customer.

Bill Cates, The Referral Coach, was one of our highest rated speakers of all time. As a benefit to IES members, all past speaker presentations are recorded for watching later. Bill’s program is our most-viewed program of all time.

Plus, we’re always searching for sales speakers who are publishing something new and interesting. We have 6 new speakers this year including our February 26 speaker Nancy Bleeke.

WHO TYPICALLY ATTEND IES SALES EXCELLENCE PROGRAMS?

That’s another great question I get asked a lot. IES programs are regularly attended by the following audiences:

  • Successful B2B (business-to-business) sales professionals looking to stay fresh on the latest and greatest sales techniques and technologies.
  • Sales leaders and their sales teams.
  • Service professionals, such as consultants, recruiters, and accountants, who need to generate revenue for their firms.
  • Business owners now tasked with bringing in sales. This is often represented by someone who is now the sales leader but has not had any real sales training.
  • Millenials new to selling as a career.
  • Marketing professionals who support the selling function.

The IES monthly programs start with networking and hot breakfast at 7:15 a.m. at the USA Today/Gannett Headquarters in McLean. The speakers start at 8:10 a.m. and continue until 10:30 a.m.

IES sponsors include Asher Strategies, ImmixGroup, Sales Performance International, Wexler Consulting Group, Access National Bank, ADP, AHT Insurance, appnetic, Big Swift Kick, Intelligent Office, NetApp, Sage Communications, Vicar Studios, Vorsight, and the Washington Business Journal.

Check out the 2016 IES calendar or call 888.443.9943.