“Sales Coaching Rocks.” My roots in performance  management go back to having  been a singer-songwriter performing at NYC’s hottest clubs and venues like CBGBs, DownTime, and the C-Note, and south to Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, one of the world’s preeminent listening rooms.

My appearances brought me to the attention of London Records when Vice-President of A&R Walt Maguire heard me performing at Malachy’s II in NYC and signed me as a songwriter. From there I spent 10-years during the height of the British Wave becoming  a producer, A&R scout, and engineer. I had the opportunity to work with some very cool artists, including The Moody Blues, The Rolling Stones, Al Green, Van Morrison, David Bowie, Genesis, John Mayall with Eric Clapton, John Miles, ZZ Top, 10cc, and many others. I had the thrill of producing legendary jazz pianist Erroll Garner, Texas band Greezy Wheels of Austin Music Hall of Fame notoriety, and chart topping singer songwriter Leslie Pearl.

My studio years at London Records working with solo artists and groups were the foundation of bringing out the best in performers while satisfying the 4th largest recording industry giant’s need for continuous commercial success. What I learned and mastered in the studio about focused practice, continuous learning, honing your craft, knowing your audience, and persevering in spite of obstacles I creatively translated into the corporate world where as a senior executive I:

• Led MCI Telecommunication’s regional mega sales centers in NY, TX, AZ, CO and IA growing MCI into the 2nd long-distance provider in the U.S.
• Drove a 55% upgrade penetration increase, 18% revenue lift, and broke all PPV records for Cablevision of Connecticut negating SNET’s attempted entry into the cable TV market.
• Navigated DSL.net to exceed its monthly and quarterly sales targets consistently across a 3-year period.
• Increased net revenues 38% in less than 9-months for Grand Circle Travel, a global enterprise committed to changing people’s lives by offering high-impact travel experiences.
• Led two professional UHL sports teams, one owned by ESPN Sports Center anchor Steve Levy and former NHL coach Barry Melrose, to profitability in a single season and directed the first sports event to sell-out the Richmond Coliseum by producing “Battle of the Bands Over Ice” securing major sponsors including VH-1 Save the Music, Harley-Davidson, and Sam Ash Music.

As Sales Performance Coach I will:

• Perform telephone monitoring during one-on-one engagements between prospects and sales representatives and do ride-alongs to assess and  improve sales performance and drive consistent sales success.
• Ask open-ended questions to identify and remediate personal blocks to selling success while guiding reps toward self-identification and ownership of performance issues.
• Support and motivate reps through honest and constructive feedback.
• Plan interventions before a sales representative fails to meet quota.
• Perform one-on-one Monday check ins and Friday check outs.
• Role play winning sales performance sessions.
• Mentor sales managers on goal setting, conducting. performance reviews, and account and territory planning.
• Facilitate training on negotiation, persuasion, upselling, cross selling, and competitive differentiation.

So, if you want to turn your sales performers into sales superstars and your sales teams into revenue rock & rollers, then do as the Four Tops sang: “Reach out and I’ll be there:”