“Coffman Group has helped us attract talented sales people. They have an online testing instrument that assesses the skills and personality traits crucial to a candidate’s success in sales. I get results electronically, almost immediately, so I can objectively assess each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. That has really helped me make better, more informed hiring decisions.”
Name: Mark Volz
Firm: Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Phenix Label Company, Inc.
Employees: 90 employees, seven in sales
Industry: Label printing industry
Territory: Nationwide
Objective: To implement a selling strategy with a common process and language
It’s easy to find one-day sales seminars, according to Mark Volz, vice president of sales and marketing for Phenix Label in Olathe, Kansas. But, their effect is marginal—and fleeting.
“Everybody puts on seminars,” said Mark, who utilized the Coffman Group’s services for more than three years. “Coffman is unique in that it provides weekly reinforcement of management and sales training. As they told us, ‘you can’t teach someone to ride a bike in one seminar.’”
Instead, Mark says, his staff now “lives” the Coffman method, happily participating in weekly training meetings and monthly classroom sessions where they do role playing to enhance their sales skills. And new hires go through what Coffman calls “boot camp.”
Those new hires are another area where Mark says the Coffman Group was invaluable.
“They have helped us attract talented sales people,” Mark explained. “They have an online testing instrument that assesses the skills and personality traits crucial to a candidate’s success in sales. I get results electronically, almost immediately, so I can objectively assess each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. That has really helped me make better, more informed hiring decisions,” he added.
Since adopting the Coffman method, Mark says revenues have grown 50 percent for Phenix, which provides high-end national product labels, as well as electro-magnetic and accousto-magnetic labels used by mass merchandisers and video stores.
And, it’s allowed them to standardize their sales techniques so that everyone is using the same approach and “speaking the same language.”
It’s an approach that employees and prospects embrace with enthusiasm.
“It has helped our sales staff share experiences and keep improving, so they want to keep doing it. It challenges them to raise the bar and improve their skills as salespeople,” Mark said.
“It’s also been a drawing card for prospective employees who learn about the program and see the potential to grow in sales with our company.”
