Wednesday Apr 16, 2014
7 - 7:30 a.m. breakfast and networking Sheboygan County Chamber
John Rogers, Program DirectorFOCAL POINT: Sales Prospecting in Today's Business Environment
Ryan Kauth Kristin Bell Abell Michael Wentworth Chuck Brys
“Understanding Sales Prospecting in Today’s Business Environment”
Sales prospecting, whether via cold calling or warm leads, has certainly changed in today’s environment. Yet many foundational habits remain the same. The theme of the panel discussion for this FOCAL POINT is the current state of sales in the B2B world. What does it take to close a new sale from a new customer today? The three target options are existing customers, referrals and cold calls. Most companies struggle with growth because their sales team focuses almost exclusively on generating revenue from existing customers. Generating new sales from new customers is a ground war, and the only way to win it is with boots on the ground. The web and social media world is an air war. Learn from the pros on what it really takes to find, engage and close a new customer; who this process starts with; and how the strongest sales person in the company cannot sit on the bench.
Ryan Kauth, Wisconsin Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UW-Green Bay, will lead the panel discussion. Panelists include:
Kristin Bell Abell, the founder and director of Lakeshore Technical College’s Center for Entrepreneurship offering business counseling and training to the community and students in Manitowoc and Sheboygan Counties. The Center for Entrepreneurship specializes in meeting the needs of Lakeshore area firms from start-up to expansion. She is a graduate of UW-Madison and received her Master of Business Administration from UW-Milwaukee. She spent over 20 years in a family-owned manufacturing corporation, with 10 years as owner and president of Torginol, Inc. Kristin understands first-hand the multiple challenges of running a business. One of her major responsibilities was national sales that included working with architects and government agencies. Kristin is involved in numerous community organizations.
Michael Wentworth, president and founder, TMR Associates Bill has 25 years of experience in sales, marketing and market research. He has spent his career conducting sales calls and qualitative phone interviews with customers, market experts and competitors for a wide range of companies, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Michael earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University. Michael Wentworth’s website is www.b2bappts.com
Chuck Brys, business counseling manager, Wisconsin Small Business Development Center at UW - Green Bay
Chuck has more than 35 years of experience in virtually all manufacturing environments including process manufacturing, machining and fabrication in both job shop and product line environments. His strong financial background led to the last 20+ years of his private-sector career in top executive roles leading sales management, operations, product development and business development as well as mentoring, coaching and developing general management and other top executive talent. Chuck earned a Bachelor of Science degree from UW-Whitewater.
Date and Time
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM CDT
7:30 - 8:30 a.m. presentation
8:30 - 9 a.m. questionsLocation
621 S 8th Street
Sheboygan WIFees/Admission
Chamber members: $5Website
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