Nigel’s career started by selling office supplies, by walking from company to company to obtain orders. His success often saw him selling office equipment and printing machines plus accessories. Following very successful sales results he was promoted to assistant branch manager, then to manager and as a result of his success was given the job of General Manager in Kenya. After four years he was promoted to managing director plus looking after branches in five other countries in Africa. From three small offices in Kenya the company grew to nine offices plus a factory.
As if that was not enough, Nigel came to South Africa and later went into publishing. Following his retirement in mid-2017, he decided to put his knowledge back to South Africa by starting up Redwood Sales Training offering one-day courses on the basics of selling.
As he stated, “If I didn’t do something I would have died of boredom!”
In many ways it is wonderful to pass on expertise and knowledge to others; it’s not about taking but giving back.
A frightening statistic is that all sales staff receives product knowledge but most do not get any training on how to sell. Anyone can be an”Order Taker “but how do you become a professional? This is where Nigel comes in and takes over in his “ONE DAY COURSES”
Nigel has always said it is not an easy career path but can be fun and rewarding if sales skills are perfected and with access to their product knowledge they will gain confidence, be more of an expert to be professional, and with hard work and dedication over time they will see the difference.
Devoid of the sales skills is not going to lead to a successful career, and one must have a passion for the career chosen.
Nigel has deliberately chosen to offer training for up to a maximum of 5 sales staff at one time, because he can easily interact with them and help them to become better sales professionals. It also helps Nigel to find their strengths and weaknesses. Nigel offers to train the staff on the company premises which directors and sales managers prefer.
The actual training covers such aspects as preparations/ telephoning/ cold canvassing/ reception and receptionist/ first impressions/ spotting selling signs/ selling with client’s negative responses/ competition/ closing the sales/ finance and so much more, all of which will make the candidate… A more rounded professional and of course a better sales person.
He reminds everyone that no sales equals no company.
One aspect that has really got to Nigel is the fact that most sales staff are frightened of asking for the order and do not have the guts to ask about payment.
It is very clear that talking to Nigel, that he is not only very professional but has a sense of humour and passion for what he does.
The one quote that is so true “THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN TRAINING YOUR EMPLOYEES AND HAVING THEM LEAVE IS NOT TRAINING THEM TO OR HAVING THEM STAY” Henry Ford
Please contact Nigel on 083 377 5297/ nigel@redwoodtraining.co.za
