Best wishes for a happy and profitable 2016 to all IES Members and Sponsors. We just finished our best year ever and are thrilled for what we have teed up for you in 2016. Here is some information you need to know.

2015 Program Review: 2015 was the most exciting year to date at the Institute for Excellence in Sales. First off, we dropped the “& Business Development” when we rebranded to the Institute for Excellence in Sales or IES for short. Everyone we serve is in Sales, plain and simple, so we decided to embrace the name change and move full steam ahead. We had our biggest Award Event to date and recognized Deltek, Victaulic, Wedding Wire, Carahsoft and StoneStreet Capital for excellence in five categories. We also recognized NetApp’s Mark Weber with our 5th Annual Lifetime Achievement Award.  This year’s Award Event will be on June 9. Mark your calendars.

We had a rich roster of world-class speakers including Mark “The Sales” Hunter, Anthony Iannarino, Kendra Lee, Tim Sullivan, John Asher, Colleen Francis, and Charlie Green. Videos of past programs are available to IES members.

2016 Speakers Announced: The 2016 Program Year is looking to be our best ever with a roster filled with world-class sales speakers and trainers. We are thrilled to bring Bill Cates, “The Referral Coach,” back to the IES. Bill was one of our highest rated speakers ever. We have a strong list of new speakers including Kyla O’Donnell, Julie Hansen, Maribeth Kuzmeski, Lee Salz, and Alan Gregerman. Go to the 2016 Program Page for the complete list of speakers.

January 22 Program: Be sure to register for the first program of 2016. We’ll be addressing ways to sharpen your sales mindset with neuroscience and sales expert Umar Hameed. See you then!

Member Referrals: Members always ask how they can invite their friends or colleagues to become members of the IES. Members can always give out the promo code memberfriend to colleagues, associates, or co-workers to save $20 for any program. Also, whenever someone you refer to the IES becomes an Achiever or Elite member, we’ll send you a check for $100 right away. We love to send out those checks. Just sent an email us with the name of your referral and once they sign up, we’ll send the check right out.

New Member Model Launched: We’re excited to announce new membership levels with additional features and benefits for sales professionals. The pricing for the new levels ranges from $199/year to $979/year. New membership features include participation in the mentor/protégé program, webinars with IES speakers, and access to richer sales leadership content. View the Membership section for details.

2016 IES Sponsors: Some great companies sponsor the IES, either at a Gold or Silver level. IES Gold Sponsors are Asher Strategies, ImmixGroup and Sales Performance International. Silver Sponsors are Wexler Consulting, Access National Bank, ADP, AHT Insurance, appnetic, Big Swift Kick, NetApp, Sage Communications, Target Marketing Group, Vorsight and the Washington Business Journal. If you’d like an introduction to anyone at these companies, email fdiamond@i4esbd.org.

Best wishes for a profitable 2016!