Seven lucky readers from Rochdale-based internet services company, Zen Internet won ModernSelling.com’s team-building competition and picked up a £2,500 prize courtesy of Active Consultancy.

But faced with a choice of seven great prizes, including a surfing weekend in Cornwall or going to lunch in France by private plane, what did our winners choose to do? They opted for a trip to London including a night at a top hotel, dinner and tickets to see American comedian Chris Rock. Pack leader and sales exec, COLIN CLARKE takes up the story….

Driving to London in a funky looking Chrysler Voyager, as made famous by The Apprentice, was somewhat of a white-knuckle ride – three fools jammed into the back row with Captain Picard and Number 1 in the directors’ seats, whilst a dodgy Italian was in the front acting as navigator to Sterling Moss behind the wheel.

ICDL’s Andrew Dugdale asks why the selling community is so confused about sales effectiveness.

Almost inevitably ‘no’ is the answer to the question ‘Are two head better than one?’ when talking about sales headcount… especially in light of recent evidence from consultants IDC showing that, on average today, between 1.5 -2.2 salespeople are employed to deliver the same results that could be achieved with one fully effective salesperson, is it any wonder that CEOs (chief executive officers) are looking at the sales function with ever-increasing interest.

The so-called Dragons from BBC’s Dragons’ Den like to strike terror into the hearts of the business start-ups pitching for their hard-earned cash. But they’re pussycats at heart... and very free with advice for budding entrepreneurs. Here are some of the Dragons’ best tips: all are equally applicable to the sales arena as they are to the fledgling business.

Who’d be in the financial services sector at the moment, what with the sub-prime lending crisis, a slow-down in the UK housing market and an increasingly austere regulatory regime?

General Manager of SCI Sales Group, Andy Hollands offers an essential guide to selecting a sales outsourcing company.

ONE 

Spend time researching and interviewing prospective sales outsourcing companies – their people will be at the coalface of your business and will be representing it to potential customers – so make sure you meet the sales team they are proposing. Ideally, the company should have at least 3 years’ experience, so ask for references from previous clients.

If you want to optimise the performance of your organisation’s sales function, first of all you’ve got to ask the right questions. Bill Jackson of AchieveGlobal provides a checklist.

1 Define your company’s value proposition

What is the range of products and services you want to invest selling resources on in order to bring value to your customer? What do you want your sales professionals to focus on selling?

2 Segment your market

Which customers have the highest potential to invest in your products and services? Who needs most of what you are selling? Who values your participation throughout their buying-decision process? Should customers be placed in channels according to their relative potential value?