Does Anybody Really C.A.R.E.? 4 Ways to Strengthen Business Relationships in the 21st Century

“People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Dr. John Maxwell
(A Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books that have sold more than a million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.)

Business relationships have dramatically changed with the introduction of 24-7 information, global competition and technology that allows rapid innovation and duplication. Combined, these forces all reduce the differentiation of products and services even as solutions become increasingly interconnected and complicated. Layered atop those factors is the heightened sense of risk-aversion in the business world. Add in the churn of functions and roles and suddenly business relationships don’t “feel” the same way they used to. It’s almost as if those relationships have lost their value for both the buyer and the seller. The truth is, relationships are as important as ever, but the dynamics of what makes them valuable have changed.

More than ever, our customers need to know we really care about them, their companies and the future of both. It’s up to us as sales professionals to take the lead with developing our business relationships and we can best do that if we continually and consistently are:

C onfirming what we both (customer and seller) know about each other. Doing so limits those false assumptions we can easily make when we lack the facts about each other and from which we can build a solid business relationship. Typically, this would take place at the beginning of the business relationship, but with time comes change and it could be very beneficial to reconfirm what we think we know, as well.

A sking for information we don’t know about customer. Imagine how flattering it is to our customers for us to demonstrate our sincere interest in them, their business, their products and services, their competition and their customers! Relevant questions do just that and have the effect of paving the way for the possible solutions we might offer.

R evealing what our customer might like to know about us. Once we’ve established an understanding of our customer’s environment, we can begin to consider what appropriate solutions we have that might be of interest to our customers. Targeting solutions to customer needs isn’t new, but effectively doing so is and requires our understanding of more than simple needs. We need to be able to help customers “see around the corner” based upon our expertise, providing a knowledge resource that is very differentiating.

E xpanding the potential benefits available to both of us and our companies. As we learn more about our customers and they learn more about us, we both benefit from an expanded business relationship that holds far greater potential than originally conceived by either of us. As the relationship grows, so does opportunity for both buyer and seller, and that interdependence is a more productive state for both, as well.

Though business is in a constant state of change, the need for customers to know their sales professionals understand the environment occupied by the customer remains constant and our success depends upon our ability to show we really CARE.

Ed Albertson
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

Call Planning for Call Success!

“An athlete may run ten thousand miles in order to prepare for one hundred yards. Quantity gives experience.”

Ray Bradbury (1920 – )
American writer

“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning”. Thomas Edison

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable”. Dwight Eisenhower

“Hoping consumes as much energy as planning”. Unknown sales professional

As sales professionals depart a sales training experience, one of the tools they typically take with them is some sort of call planning form. That form is accompanied with the best of intentions to use it in preparing for their next sales call. Of course, we all have heard where that road that is “paved with good intentions” leads and it is not a desirable destination.

Perhaps we’d engage in call planning more often if we paused to understand why call planning is so valuable to us and to our customers:

1) Planning focuses us on an outcome (Purpose);
2) Planning provides us with rehearsal time (Practice);
3) Planning reinforces our skills and process(Perfection)
4) Planning leads to improved results (Payoff).

Focusing on an outcome demands we consider what the purpose of the call might be, both for us and for our customers. That purpose becomes our guide for handling any deviation from the plan and sustains our discipline to remain on track despite interruptions, objections or unexpected reactions. Considering the limited exposure we have with each other in today’s business environment, being purposeful with time and others’ is perhaps the most considerate and strategic thing we can do in a business relationship.

Every skill-based human activity benefits from practice, be it an athletic endeavor or an artistic performance. Practice rehearses the mind and the body to function in unison and to produce consistent, superior results. Practice produces improvement in skills and provides a greater latitude within the discipline of process than without it. Sales calls have a smoother and richer quality for sales professional and customer alike because uncertainty is reduced and relaxed environment of confidence leads to a level of creativity that is obscured when we cannot escape doubt.

Skill improvement is typically experienced incrementally and in small, manageable steps toward perfection. Beyond practice, call planning with a planning form reinforces the skills learned, eventually resulting in those skills becoming good call execution habits, call after call after call. The very act of capturing our strategy and tactics in one place disciplines us to put into action the process we have learned.

Finally, every bit of data on the subject indicates that planning for anything always leads to better results. The payoff to a sales professional is measured in better use of limited and valuable time, improved outcomes, and further development of competitive skills. As we examine the other benefits of planning, it is apparent that each is inextricably related to the other, increasing the combined value of all.

Perhaps the greatest “take-away” from a training experience is not the skills we learn, but the application of those skills to produce the results we seek. Call planning takes us much farther down that road and deserves a second look from us in our pursuit of sales excellence.

Ed Albertson
Vice President, National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

Earning a Higher “Interest Rate” from Your Customers

by Ed Albertson,
Vice President – National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

  

“Would you persuade, speak of Interest, not of Reason.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
American statesman, scientist and printer

Telling versus selling: the great dilemma for sales professionals has rooted its way into the very foundation of human nature. A variety of research studies has consistently proven and quantified the fact that human beings are overwhelmingly self-focused and our perceptual orientation routinely reflects that fact. We can not help but see the world through a lens that first filters how any incoming information affects us and primarily in terms of what pain it may cause or what pleasure it may produce.

Such a self-centered preoccupation often drives sales professionals to resort to logic with their customers as they outline the features and advantages of their offerings. Assured that they are acting within the bounds of reason, they are thus stymied when the customer’s reaction to their efforts is, at best mildly positive and at worst, defensive and possibly hostile. Faced with such resistance, the sales professional draws on even broader substantiation and worsens the entire situation.  Instead of resolving problems for customers, new problems are created and mostly of an interpersonal nature. A sales professional can literally be telling their customer not to be positively influenced by the sales professional’s behaviors and words.

However, the selling process can be made far more effective if the sales professional has a conscious awareness of this aspect of human nature and considers the consequences of acquiescing to its effects. Proactively employing behaviors like listening, acknowledging, and exploring as part of the selling process demonstrates a sincere desire to understand a customer’s point of view and projects the empathy that builds trust, credibility and rapport in a relationship. Through the effort of making these “deposits in the relationship bank,” a sales professional can reap a higher rate of “interest” by their customer, both figuratively, and literally.

Ed Albertson is Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s executive blog – Carew Insights. Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Win, Place or Show?

by Ed Albertson,
Vice President – National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

 

“Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.” 

We sales professionals take great pride in our eternal sense of optimism and our ability to thrive through sheer will under even the most difficult circumstances. We train for, plan for, end execute with that sense of optimism as we attempt to move our sales effort forward toward obtaining a customer decision. However, lest we create our own drama of disappointment, we are well served to retain an acute awareness of what our customer is doing in their decision-making process.

A valuable method for developing that awareness is to see things from our customer’s point of view and to consider where our customer is in their decision-making process. If we view our customer’s process as one of a problem-solving nature, we can better determine where they are in their decision-making process and what our appropriate efforts might be to help with that process. A customer’s problem-solving activity involves a five-step approach as follows:

1)   Identify a goal and the barriers to that goal 

2)   Analyze the situation 

3)   Explore the options 

4)   Create an Action Plan 

5)   Monitor and follow-up the results

Given those five steps in which our customer is engaged as they move toward making their decision, we can “map” our efforts appropriately, providing the most value to our customer throughout the process. As our customer defines their goal and barriers, we can learn from their efforts and gain a perspective from their point of view. While our customer is analyzing their situation, we can explore their needs in terms of desired outcomes and problem resolutions. When customers begin to explore their options, we can assist them by outlining our capabilities in easily assessed terms of Features (what they are), Advantages (how they work) and Benefits (what they do for our customer). While customers set about creating an Action Plan, we can present a comprehensive solution that is both customer-centric and linked to their unique needs. Finally, as our customer monitors the implementation and follows up with the results, we can be most helpful with expanding the common ground of understanding, all the while growing our relationship and surfacing future potential for all.

An added bonus of this method allows us to provide our leadership with a much more accurate picture of our position and potential through identifying where our customer is in their problem-solving process as opposed to what we are doing to “sell” a solution. Not only does our projections become more accurate, it is consistent with our focus upon our customer and our intent to help them make good buying decisions. Then we can assure ourselves that our perceived motion reflects not that of the deceptively-moving rocking horse, but rather the forward speed of a thoroughbred race horse.

Ed Albertson is Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s executive blog – Carew Insights. Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Engaging Our Customers for Success

by Ed Albertson,
Vice President – National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

 

“Tell me and I’ll Forget.
Show me and I’ll Remember.
Involve me and I’ll Understand.”
-Chinese proverb.

An argument could be made that we sales professionals, by nature, tend to launch into “show and tell” mode with prospects and customers, enthusiastically sharing all the features and advantages of our products and services.  Add to that the glorious graphics, special effects and marketing capabilities of today’s PowerPoint software, and the temptation to dazzle them with a big show becomes overwhelming.  However, merely telling and showing our customers all the features and advantages of our products and services can risk our becoming a “me-too” commodity in our customers’ eyes.   The most effective sales presentations go beyond a one-way flow of information, and include a plan for involving our customers in the presentation.  Since this typically doesn’t occur spontaneously, we must first consider how to engage customers as part of our sales process.

The most effective method for involving our customers in our presentations is to invite them to become an active participant in the communication.  Fundamentally, we can choose between 1) asking questions throughout our presentation or 2) incorporating pauses and strategic silence at appropriate points in our presentation.  Typically, the pause is best positioned after we’ve made some statement of capability in the form of a benefit to our customer.  Pausing afterward allows for “thinking time” and a response from our customer that may provide insight into the relevance and the value they perceive in the benefit.

Asking questions is certainly the more proactive means of involving the customer.  Questions intended to garner customer input and feedback can be simply distilled into two separate types: Open-Ended and Closed.  Closed questions require merely a “yes” or “no” response, suggesting acceptance or rejection.  Because of the simplistic nature of the answer required, closed questions can be considerably risky and difficult to deal with, depending upon the answer.  In a group presentation, a single response can easily shut down further valuable discussion, discouraging additional, more encouraging feedback and perhaps even leaving us in doubt of the true reactions throughout the group.

Open-Ended questions require more than a “yes” or “no” response and are usually begun with words such as “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How…”  Open-ended questions are much less risky than closed questions and will lead to far more interaction between us and our customer.  Additionally, when presenting to more than one person, the open-ended question allows for multiple opinions and responses across the entire group, instead of having the matter “closed” by a single, perfunctory response from one person.

Never underestimate the role of the customer in a successful sales presentation.  The considerable benefits of involving our customers in our presentations make it worth investing time to carefully consider and plan the questions we’ll ask, as well as where in the presentation they are best asked.  Such planning enables us to decide “in the moment” how to phrase the questions that best involve our customers so they can effectively learn about the true value of our offerings. 

Ed Albertson is Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s executive blog – Carew Insights. Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Become a Trust Advisor

by Ed Albertson,
Vice President – National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

 

“See, when we first started letting customers review books, some publishers were startled by this, because, of course, customers give both positive and negative reviews. I got letters from publishers in the early days, some quite hostile, saying, ‘Don’t you understand your own business? You make money when you sell books. Why would you allow negative reviews?’ The reason is because it’s helping customers make a purchase decision, which creates real value for customers. You know, making a bad purchase decision isn’t just a waste of the money you spent on the product; it’s a waste of your life. If you buy a book, you may spend $20 on the book, but you’re going to spend ten hours of your life, that’s a big deal.”

Business Week interview with Jeff Bezos (founder, president, CEO and chairman of the board of Amazon.com) on March 16, 1999 (http://www.businessweek.com/ebiz/9903/316bezos.htm)

I felt it was worth committing an entire paragraph to this decade-old vignette about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com because the story captures the true spirit of selling in the 21^st Century. The irony of that story appearing during the last year of the twentieth century could not have been more significant, unless it had appeared on New Year’s Eve, 1999. With the arrival of the new century, the art and science of selling fundamentally changed forever and there is no going back.

To be effective and successful, sales professionals must become that trusted advisor to their customers. Sales professionals need to be singularly focused on helping their customers make wise buying decisions. Such a focus earns us the right and privilege to be consulted on customer buying decisions in a way that yields more than short-term profits. Such a focus delivers long-term, healthy relationships.

Trusted advisor sales professionals will find themselves in Preferred Position with their customers, able to influences customer specifications and decision criteria. Trusted advisor sales professionals also find that their customer typically comes to them first as the source of choice. And in the inevitable event of a problem or mistake, the customer of the trusted advisor sales professional is more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt or a second chance. Finally, as a trusted advisor sales professional, you’ll set the standard by which all other competitors are judged — a truly enviable position.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful New Year!

Ed Albertson is Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s executive blog – Carew Insights. Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Become a Trusted Advisor

 

by Ed Albertson,
Vice President – National Accounts
Carew International, Inc. 

 

“See, when we first started letting customers review books, some publishers were startled by this, because, of course, customers give both positive and negative reviews. I got letters from publishers in the early days, some quite hostile, saying, ‘Don’t you understand your own business? You make money when you sell books. Why would you allow negative reviews?’ The reason is because it’s helping customers make a purchase decision, which creates real value for customers. You know, making a bad purchase decision isn’t just a waste of the money you spent on the product; it’s a waste of your life. If you buy a book, you may spend $20 on the book, but you’re going to spend ten hours of your life, that’s a big deal.” 

Business Week interview with Jeff Bezos (founder, president, CEO and chairman of the board of Amazon.com) on March 16, 1999 (http://www.businessweek.com/ebiz/9903/316bezos.htm)  

I felt it was worth committing an entire paragraph to this decade-old vignette about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com because the story captures the true spirit of selling in the 21^st Century. The irony of that story appearing during the last year of the twentieth century could not have been more significant, unless it had appeared on New Year’s Eve, 1999. With the arrival of the new century, the art and science of selling fundamentally changed forever and there is no going back. 

To be effective and successful, sales professionals must become that trusted advisor to their customers. Sales professionals need to be singularly focused on helping their customers make wise buying decisions. Such a focus earns us the right and privilege to be consulted on customer buying decisions in a way that yields more than short-term profits.  Such a focus delivers long-term, healthy relationships. 

Trusted advisor sales professionals will find themselves in Preferred Position with their customers, able to influences customer specifications and decision criteria. Trusted advisor sales professionals also find that their customer typically comes to them first as the source of choice.  And in the inevitable event of a problem or mistake, the customer of the trusted advisor sales professional is more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt or a second chance.  Finally, as a trusted advisor sales professional, you’ll set the standard by which all other competitors are judged — a truly enviable position. 

 Best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful New Year! 

Ed Albertson is Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s executive blog – Carew Insights. Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide. 

I Second That Emotion

by Ed Albertson,
Vice President – National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

 

“The idea that we must choose between science and humanities is false… Our society could not survive without scientific and technological knowledge.  But we would be equally impoverished without humanistic knowledge as well.  Science and Technology can help teach us what we can do.  Humanistic thinking can help us understand what we should do.”

Alan Brinkley, History Professor, Columbia University
Article: Half a Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Newsweek, November 23, 2009

In his recent Newsweek article, Alan Brinkley addressed the balance being sought between the sciences and the humanities in educational approaches, especially in American universities.  But it could easily be applied beyond the ivory towers of higher education to the business world.  Deciding between what we can do and what we should do offers an enigmatic dilemma in almost every walk of life; but nowhere is that contrast more striking than in the world of sales.  The “art” and “science” of selling have warily sparred with each other throughout the development of sales as a profession, and the dynamic tension between the two has been apparent throughout the history of sales training approaches.

Today’s sales professional understands the implication of this dynamic tension; knowing he/she must constantly balance both the interpersonal skills that contribute to strong relationships (humanistic knowledge) as well as the functional activities (science) that one must execute for effective selling to take place.

The efficiency of science and technology in the world of sales professionals is enhanced with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, laptops, online order processing, mobile phones, voice mail and email, to cite a few of the more obvious tools employed today.  However, sales effectiveness also relies upon humanistic knowledge, like developing the other-centered perception of a customer’s business environment, recognizing the various personality styles that make people different, honing the ability to actively listen to understand, and communicating clearly and concisely to others.

Current research continually reveals and quantifies the effect of human emotions upon decision-making.  The savvy sales professional uses the full range of his/her knowledge and experience to turn that emotional impact to their advantage time and again.  Flexibly adapting to each situation requires a nimble style that plans for contingencies and doesn’t just react to ever-changing circumstances.

There is no doubt, we need both.  Effective sales professionals master both the “art” and the “science” of selling, combining them with planning and execution, and fine-tuning the approach with each and every interaction.

Ed Albertson is Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s executive blog – Carew Insights. Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Talent Management Key to Victory in the Field

by Ed Albertson,
Vice President – National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

 

“Of every one hundred men in battle, ten should not even be there, eighty are nothing but targets, nine are real fighters, we are lucky to have them…for they make the battle. Ah, but one, one of them is a WARRIOR… and he will bring the others home.”
 -Heraclitus, Roman General, 400 B.C.

Overlooking the obvious gender bias reflected by the times in the statement above, there is still merit reflected in the general assessment of an ancient fighting force and a possible parallel to today’s sales force.  Given the successes of Heraclitus and his Roman Legions, it is ironic that victories were achieved with what amounts to a fighting force that was 90% ineffective (the eighty “targets” added to the ten “who should not be there”) and relied on the top 10% who were “real fighters” and among them, the 1% of its “warriors,” to carry the day and secure victory.

While in 400 BC there may have been some strategic value in having 80% of the field force serving the function of “targets,” perhaps protecting the 10% “real fighters,” today’s sales leaders can ill afford a field force that is only 10% effective.  However, without a real Talent Management effort, many of today’s sales leaders are fighting their competitive battles with no clear understanding of their sales capacity.  How many are in danger of losing the competitive edge when their most effective “fighters” move along to serve another company?

Research reported by Dave Hoffmeister, Director of Corporate Relations, DePaul University indicated:

                -Over 2/3 of companies don’t know the cost of hiring their new talent

                -Only 43% of companies have formal training processes

                -25% of companies have a turnover rate greater than 20%

These statistics suggest a significant vulnerability in most companies’ approaches to acquiring, developing and managing talent — the same talent companies depend upon to differentiate themselves in their markets and provide their future leadership.  Considered in this light, it is almost unthinkable that Talent Management would be anything but the highest priority.  Rarely is that the case.   And when the statistics above are applied to a company’s sales force, the resulting vulnerability can be magnified due to the strategic value of the sales force in positioning products and services while creating value for customers in the process. 

It may be time for companies to reconsider how Talent Management is handled and for companies to adopt a more structured process for acquiring, developing and managing a strategic sales force.  Not only can Talent Management solutions reduce turnover by an average of 30%, but productivity can be expected to increase between 30 and 35%.  There is no mystery to this wonderful rate of return.  It is the result of effective candidate pre-screening, followed by an in-depth and comprehensive job competency assessment, and a targeted developmental plan through which high potential achievers can be identified and retained.  With improved job fit, more-focused training and coaching, and continual support, a company can produce and maintain a higher ratio of “real fighters,” assuring more victories in the future.

Ed Albertson is Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s executive blog – Carew Insights. Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.

Take the Fear Out of Negotiations

by Ed Albertson,
Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International, Inc.

 

 

Recent neuroscience research has identified the affects of fear upon the human brain. The not-so-surprising verdict is that fear causes a paralysis of many of the necessary interactions within our brains that tend to produce better decisions and results, regardless of what we are attempting to do. The usual interplay between our logic and our emotions is visibly interrupted, as seen on MRI images of human brains dealing with fear.  Such findings indicate that the more we prepare for situations that might put our minds in this state of alarm (negotiations), the less likely our response will be thoughtless (price concessions).

“Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”
        –          John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961

 In the current economy, the pricing pressures being felt by sales professionals and organizations alike have heightened our trepidation of negotiating terms with customers.  Recognizing that JFK’s Inaugural remarks referred to issues with world-impacting stakes, the similarities for sales people today are no less overwhelming.  Inherent in JFK’s admonition to “never negotiate out of fear” is the realization that prior planning can greatly impact our aversion to the negotiating process.  Chief among the pre-negotiating planning steps we can take is a better understanding of price concessions and why they occur.  Carew International research has identified several key actions to help sales professionals avoid the pitfall of price concessions during negotiations:

 •   Thoroughly know your customer’s needs

 •   Identify your/your organization’s desired outcome

 •   Understand the alternatives

 Though some of the methods for avoiding these failures may seem obvious, here are some brief guidelines for removing the fear factor from the negotiating process and creating our own, better Pathway to Negotiations.

 Thoroughly understanding your customer’s needs is best addressed early in the sales process by undertaking a skillful, well-planned and in-depth exploration of what your customer’s desired situation would be and where their current gaps are in pursing those outcomes.  A thorough understanding of your customer’s needs means asking the right questions of the right people and hearing the right answers before concluding what you believe you have to offer is a “fit” for your customer. When you can match your capabilities to your customer’s needs, the value of your solution is apparent to your customer, thus reducing the need to make concessions.  Simply put, concessions are the by-product of unconvinced customers.

 “Water seeks its own level,” and planning for negotiations is no different. Failing to know what you really want as an outcome before you enter negotiations predisposes you to unsatisfactory results.  The higher you set your own goals and expectations, the higher you’ll reach to attain them.  Always begin negotiating from a position that is based upon a personal commitment to achieve the best outcome for yourself, your company, and your customer.

 Create a “safety net” for yourself and others by determining what a “second-best” solution, or back-up plan, might look like to each party involved, from each respective point of view.  A very fundamental shortcoming of human nature is the preoccupation with our own view of things, to the exclusion of other points of view.  Failure to understand the alternatives available to you, your customers and anyone else who has a stake in the outcome, can narrow the opportunity for successful outcomes for all involved.

 Paying heed to these steps when planning for negotiations will help you approach such events with much more confidence and much less fear; thereby greatly increasing your rate of success.  Indeed, we can exceed the need to concede, and then succeed! 

 For more in-depth information on negotiations strategies, read Carew International’s Defending the Price white paper or visit Pathways to Negotiations on the Carew International website for detailed program information.

Ed Albertson is Vice President of National Accounts at Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s executive blog – Carew Insights. Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.