Institute for Excellence in Sales & Business Development Announces 2013-2014 Program Calendar

VIENNA, Va. - Aug. 28, 2013 - PRLog -- The Institute for Excellence in Sales & Business Development (IES&BD) today announced its 2013-2014 program year, which will feature monthly workshops from some of the nation’s leading authors, speakers and thought leaders in the sales and business development world. Previous IES&BD workshops were led by renowned sales luminaries including Neil Rackham, “Challenger Sale” author Matt Dixon, and Emmy Winning Broadcaster Jan Fox. IES&BD programs are held at the Gannett/USA Today headquarters in McLean, Virginia.

Marcus Sheridan, founder of The Sales Lion and one of the premier inbound and content marketing experts in the world, will kick off the programming year with “How Selling Professionals Can Use Content Marketing to Blow Away the Competition.”

The complete program year is as follows:

• September 20, 2013: Marcus Sheridan, “How Selling Professionals Can Use Content Marketing to Blow Away the Competition”

• October 25, 2013: Steve Charles, “The Three Most Important Things You Need to Know to Sell to the Federal Government Today”

• November 15, 2013: Tim Riesterer, “The Power of a Marker: Using Whiteboards to Create More Sales Opportunities”

• January 24, 2014: Tom Snyder, “Prospecting 201: Getting Deeper, Richer Engagements with Your Best Targets”

• February 21, 2014: Lisa Earle McLeod, “Selling with a Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud”

• March 21, 2014: Bill Cates, “Turning Referrals into High-Value Customers”

• April 4, 2014: IES&BD Annual Sales Excellence Award Event recognizing corporate and organizational sales excellence.

• May 16, 2014: Ian Altman, “Same Side Selling: Avoiding the Adversarial Traps that Stall Deals and Encourage Pricing Pressure”

• June 20, 2014: Jose Palamino, “Value Proposition Selling”

• July 25, 2014: Steve Richard, “Practical Prospecting: How to Reach Your Top Target in 10 Minutes or Less”

• August 22, 2014: “Storytelling is the New Orange: Engaging Prospects in Ways You Never Thought About Before”

“If you’re a selling professional on the fence about using content marketing to drive your revenues, you must attend the September program featuring business blogging and content marketing guru Marcus Sheridan,” said Fred Diamond, Founder of the IES&BD and President of DIAMOND Strategic Marketing. “Marcus has worked with thousands of selling professionals to help them blow away the competition and achieve remarkable sales performance by deploying the most effective content and personal branding strategies.”

Diamond said that the IES&BD monthly programs are regularly attended by the following audiences:

• Seasoned and successful B2B sales professionals looking to stay fresh on the latest and greatest sales techniques and technologies.

• Sales managers and their 3-4 person sales teams.

• Service professionals, such as attorneys, lawyers, consultants, and accountants, who need to generate revenue for their firms.

• Business owners now tasked with bringing in sales. This is often represented by someone who is now the sales leader but has not had any real sales training.

• Millenials new to selling as a career.

• Marketing professionals who support the selling function.

Douglas Bailey, Senior Sales Executive at TriNet, a leading Professional Employer Organization (PEO), is a regular attendee at IES&BD programs. “Having been a member of the IES&BD for two years, I’ve found the following three benefits. First, access to leading experts in sales and business development that I am able put into immediate action. Second, skills and techniques I’ve found useful for improving communications in my personal life. And, third, meeting decision makers in businesses that are potential customers and business contacts.”

Bailey said the benefits have been evidenced in his performance, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’m experiencing my best year in sales with a 31% increase prior to IES&BD.”

The IES&BD monthly programs start with networking and hot breakfast at 7:30 a.m. at the USA Today/Gannett Headquarters in McLean. The speakers start at 8:15 a.m. and continue until 10:30 a.m. IES&BD sponsors include Access National Bank, HireStrategy, People Stretch Solutions, Vorsight, SJV Media, Team Visibility, Sonic Promos, SysArc, DIAMOND Strategic Marketing, Bendure Communications and the Washington Business Journal.

About the Institute for Excellence in Sales & Business Development

The Institute for Excellence in Sales & Business Development (IES&BD) is a center of actionable best practices, insights, tools, thought leadership, and recognition in the Mid-Atlantic region. It was created to develop excellence in sales and business development professionals and to help organizations maximize their selling efforts. The annual IES&BD Sales Excellence Awards recognize companies and organizations for excellence in sales training; sales innovation; sales management; customer partnering; and strategic alliances. The IES&BD Lifetime Achievement Award has become one of the most coveted prizes for sales professionals. Learn more about the IES&BD at www.i4esbd.com or by calling 888.443.9943.