Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/80263
By Stacy Ward, Managing Editor fedastacy@ver izon.net thought you knew about sales, particu- larly if you're in management or have umpteen years invested in the profes- sion. Veterans are a favorite target and since the majority of frequent fliers are in sales, reeling one in takes minimal effort and two questions: "How long have you been selling?"and"How much sales training have you had in the last 12 months?" S 1 0 FEDA News & Views it next to sales consultant Jim Pancero on a plane and be pre- pared to rethink everything you HowProactive is Your SalesManager? "What's amazing," says Pancero,"is no one ever says I haven't had any training, which is oftentimes the case. Instead, they say 'I've been selling for 15 years, " implying that experience somehow trumps training or altogether negates the need for it. That's a problem for a great number of sales organizations, according to Pancero,who's been involved in selling in one formor another formore than 40 years,earlier in his career as a top sales- person for IBMbefore opening his own training and consulting firm in 1982. Since then,he'sworkedwithmore than 500 companies across industry lines and believes that one of the biggest challenges many sales teams face is overcoming the assumption that"expe- rienced equals trained, "a sales manage- ment philosophy he says often dictates how sales managers lead their teams and ultimately determines their effec- tiveness in helping their companies become more profitable. "With experienced equals trained, the