Geoff Seymour and Max Anderson: strategy.

The sky’s the limit for a Midlands telecommunications company after it secured a lucrative contract with a major chamber of commerce.

Midlands telecommunications company Bluu Sky Connections is celebrating after securing a deal to become the preferred provider for the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce’s 3,000 members.

The company was set up three years ago and managing director Geoff Seymour, 52, admits times were hard in the first year.

No clients

With an empty client list, Seymour turned to Sandler Training to help him start winning business for his Shardlow-based company. The move seems to have paid off with a bulging order book for Bluu Sky and the company is preparing to take on extra staff, which Seymour attributes to taking on board Sandler’s sales techniques.

He told ModernSelling.com: ‘I set up Bluu Sky after nearly 20 years working for other people in the telecommunications industry.

Difficult first year

‘I wanted to go it alone but I wasn’t prepared for how difficult that first year was going to be.

‘I was a self-taught salesman and it had always served me fine in the past.

He continued: ‘‘I had heard good things about Sandler training so I decided to give it a go and the results were amazing.

Immediate impact

‘The techniques they taught were like nothing I had ever heard of before and had an immediate impact on business.

‘Sandler taught me to bring a strategy to a sales meeting and not just “wing it” like a lot of salesmen do.

Seymour added: ‘After that the business kept on coming and the deal with the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce is huge.

Extra staff

‘To cope with the inevitable increase in workload I’m looking to take on more staff and our turnover is predicted to rise by 30% in the next year.’

Sandler regional director for the East Midlands, Max Anderson is delighted for Bluu Sky’s success.

The 43-year-old said: ’I’m an advocate of the Sandler Selling System which goes way beyond mere sales techniques and looks at a client’s behaviour, actions and attitude.

‘You really see the person change and it’s enormously satisfying.

‘Geoff came to me because his business was struggling and I’m immensely proud that he has been able to turn things round so spectacularly.’

Seymour, a married father-of-two, said: ‘Two years ago the business wasn’t growing and the country was heading into a recession

‘Now, thanks to Sandler, we’re on the up and the sky is the limit.’

Happier people, better salespeople

Anderson explained: ‘We get great satisfaction seeing all these people who are often fantastic at what they do but not so great at sales really changing.

‘They often become happier people as well as much better salespeople.

‘We have had some amazing success stories as a result of the training.

He concluded: ‘One of my clients, who had been on our ongoing open Sales Development Programme for over 12 months in his role as business development manager, had such a change in his attitude and beliefs he actually became the MD and he is now a regular on our Sales Management & Leadership course.’

Max Anderson holds a complimentary sales seminar every month for forward-thinking business owners. For more information call 0845 310 0150 or log on to www.eastmids.sandler.com.

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