Pressman PR

A sales training system which has revolutionised business performance has extended its reach in the East Midlands thanks to a Nottingham businessman.

Experienced local company director Graham Podmore, who has a 25 year proven track record of developing business and sales teams, has acquired a regional franchise of sales and sales management training giant Sandler.

He is continuing Sandler’s award winning methods in the East Midlands beginning with a series of free seminars for local business-owners and directors.

Growing a business has never been easy and in the current economic climate the challenge of increasing sales is greater than it’s been for decades. But Mr Podmore believes that the Sandler system and his wide ranging business experience means he can add value to any enterprise that is open to improving their skills and ambitious to grow their business.

Mr Podmore, who lives near Southwell, said: “I talk to many business owners and some are content to batten down the hatches and do nothing until the economy picks up. I say to them, ‘Lets hope it picks up quickly then, but are your competitors taking the same view?’

“Other business owners I speak with are thinking much more proactively and want to actively take share from their competitors by being better and smarter in tough times. They are the people who stand to benefit the most from investing in Sandler training at this time.”

Mr Podmore was attracted to the Sandler model because of its reputation as a world leader in sales & management training. The company was founded in the 1970s by American David Sandler who had developed his own unique system for sales training.

Sandler is now recognised as a worldwide market leader in sales and management training and the company operates worldwide through 220 training centres across the globe delivering sales training in a dozen languages.

The company’s unique approach incorporates training in sales behaviour, attitude and technique rather than just offering selling tactics. They only allow highly experienced sales and management professionals to represent them and insist that all their franchisees have excellent track records in business rather than being simply trainers.

It was the company’s market leading position which first attracted Mr Podmore. He researched Sandler and was so impressed with what he found that he ended up visiting the firm’s head office in Baltimore, Maryland and then buying a franchise in the East Midlands.

Now he is offering the model which has revolutionised thousands of businesses worldwide to East Midlands companies beginning with a series of free seminars.

Mr Podmore said: “It is exciting to be able to offer this great opportunity to businesses in the East Midlands. In a recession it is more important than ever to have a well motivated, efficient sales force that is firing on all cylinders and moving your business forward for you. Sandler can help East Midlands companies to achieve that.”

Mr Podmore, a Nottingham University engineering graduate, began his sales career in 1986 when he joined food packaging coding and marking technology specialist Prestek as employee number three.

He built the sales and distribution team there and helped grow the company into over 20 overseas territories. Prestek were named Nottinghamshire Company of the Year twice and by the time they were bought by American rival Markem in 1996 more than 60 percent of the business turnover came from exports markets and it enjoyed UK market leadership with it’s products.

Mr Podmore’s next move was to start his own company with a small team of partners. Zipher operated in the same industry but utilised new technology to bring improved products to market.

Mr Podmore and his fellow directors sold the company in 2004 for a significant sum to US based conglomerate Danaher. He worked for the new parent company for four years following their acquisition of Zipher but after running his own company he decided corporate life was not for him.

He said: “When you’ve worked for yourself and run your own business it’s hard to lose that level of independence and control. I decided to start looking for other opportunities and that was when I discovered Sandler.

“I found the Sandler Selling System® resonated with my own views about the selling process. It felt comfortable and a good fit for me but it also showed me many explanations and solutions for the problems I had struggled with for many years, first as a sales person and then as a Sales Manager and Director. I am really excited about having the opportunity to share that with ambitious businesses so that they can not only have the benefit of my experience, but also a short cut on the learning curve that I was on for 25 years.

“Whether you are a frontline sales person or the owner or partner in a business or professional practice, you will be engaged in selling your products or your company. Yet most people who find themselves in a selling role have no formal training, system or process to follow - they operate on gut instinct. That’s ok if their instincts are good but what if they are not, and how do they train others they might recruit? How do they teach their team to acquire that same gut instinct and how can they manage and coach their people properly?

“Without a system it’s impossible to do. But by using Sandler’s proven system with its fantastic track record it is entirely possible to systematically replicate sales success. Sandler can also help those who are responsible for business development, but who don’t see themselves as sales people or are uncomfortable with that label – partners in professions such as lawyers, accountants, architects or financial advisors – because it is a system which trains people to help customers discover their need for products and services in a non-pressurised, collaborative and questioning style.”

“It takes a lot of pain out of the process of growing a sales force that delivers and of growing a successful company.”

Sandler Training’s next free taster seminar takes place at Ruddington Grange Golf Club on 30 April followed by a second one on 15 May. To book a place please call 0845 4238395 or email graham.podmore@sandler.com You can also find out more by visiting www.emids.sandler.com.

ENDS

Further information is available from Steve McComish at Pressman PR Ltd.

Tel: 0115 9648214

E: steve@pressmanpr.co.uk

Visit: www.pressmanpr.co.uk

Workfuture article, Nottingham Evening Post

So often the best way to PR a small business is by telling the founder’s personal story. This was certainly the case with Workfuture Ltd, a Nottingham based ergonomics and occupational health company we have been working with. Director Catherine Albert grew up on a two thousand acre sheep farm in the Australian outback. By telling her unusual story - and linking her childhood on the farm to her professional interests in occupational health - we created a press release which led to a good page lead in the Nottingham Evening Post’s business pages this week.

The article includes interior and exterior shots of Mercury House

We were commissioned by NBV (Nottinghamshire Business Ventures) to create some PR buzz about Mercury House - the business centre where our office is located.

We produced a press release - see below - highlighting the great facilities here and name checking a few of our fellow resident businesses.

The release has been picked up by Property East Midlands magazine who have included it in a very nice spread on office accommodation in the region.

Read on for our release…

Crunch Gives Business Centre A Boost

The credit crunch has led to an increase in the number of small businesses inquiring about office accommodation at a Nottingham centre for new and growing enterprises.

Julia Tantum, property manager at Mercury House, part of NBV’s managed workspace solutions, said she had fielded a marked increase in inquires from small businesses in recent months.

The increase has corresponded in the recent economic downturn and it’s believed the centre, in New Basford, could be an increasingly attractive option for businesses during the credit crunch.

Mercury House offers virtual tenancy, allowing home-based firms to benefit from a business address, and 28 serviced offices at rates which factor in a discount for start-ups. As well as being an incubation centre, where the new businesses can access a range of benefits including free mentoring and support, the centre also offers commercial work space for more established businesses at very competitive rates compared to other business centres in Nottingham.

Ms Tantum said she believed the value of the accommodation was appealing for businesses who were looking at ways to reduce their overheads during the difficult trading climate.

She said: “We know we have a great product here which appeals to a lot of small businesses but in the past six months or so we have definitely seen an increase in people inquiring about the prices of our accommodation.

“Whereas in the past it may have been the raft of other great benefits we offer which appealed most to business people, now we are increasingly seeing our low cost office accommodation as being the key to our continued success.

Office rents at the centre, on Northgate, start from as little as £200 per month and VAT is not charged – making the centre an ideal place to launch a business. And with the offices ranging from one person set-ups to suites able to accommodate several workers, Mercury House can also offer companies space to grow.

Gaynor Corkhill, director of PDRS Ltd, a firm which recruits drivers for the transport industry, started out as a virtual tenant at Mercury House in 2006 and took an office there in 2007.

She said: “Initially it was the low rates which were attractive to us. The cost of office accommodation is a huge consideration for businesses and that was the deciding factor in us coming here.

“For us it makes perfect sense to be here because as well as all the support we also have a lot of independence and can come and go as we please which is essential for us as we operate outside of conventional office hours a lot of the time.

“It has turned out to be an ideal base for us because of all the other benefits of being here. I like the fact that everything is on one bill, the heating, the power, the IT support. It’s all included.

“All the technology a business needs is here. It is a place where a business can move in and start trading from day one. The computers, fax machine etc is all set up for you.

“I really would recommend anyone thinking of starting out in business to come down and take a look at the place.”

Another Mercury House resident business is Bancroft Consulting Ltd who provide transport planning services. Director Chris Bancroft came to Mercury House in March 2006.

He said: “The fact that VAT isn’t charged was a help in the early days of the company as was the support with things like IT which is provided as part of the tenancy. It helps to have things like the phone and broadband internet access managed for you. I have confidence that if there is a problem with these things, it’ll be fixed.

“But probably the best thing about being based here is being part of a community where other like minded people are in business for themselves. At the start I didn’t feel isolated as I would have done had I been in the back bedroom at home. It has also allowed me to grow my company and to take on staff as they have seen it’s not just a closed door operation.

“It’s the kind of place where a chat with someone over a coffee in the kitchen can lead to a phone call from someone else with helpful tips on how to run the business.”

Rachel Graham, managing consultant at Rachel Graham Resourcing Associates Ltd, agreed. She brought her business to Mercury House two years ago.

She said: “It’s a cost effective solution, not only in terms of the rent but also in terms of other factors such as free car parking.

“I have looked at other managed offices but have not been tempted to move from here. The networking here is brilliant. Everyone shares information with each other and there is a real family feel to the place. I would definitely recommend it.”

The credit crunch has also caused some business to down scale and has led to an increase in home working.

Property manager Julia Tantum added that many of the new inquiries were asking about the virtual tenancy arrangements at the centre. She said: “Not all businesses need their own premises but they still need to maintain a professional image.

“Mercury House offer the perfect solution, with costs to suit a range of budgets. These range from the use of a Mercury House mailing address and free use of meeting rooms to personalised telephone answering and post forwarding services. Virtual Tenants also have access to a range of NBV business support services to ensure their businesses can move forward.”

ENDS

For more information please call Steve McComish at Pressman Public Relations Ltd on 0115 9648214 or visit www.pressmanpr.co.uk