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January 03, 2006
Blogging at a Publisher's National Sales Meeting
This week I'm attending the National Sales Meeting for Prentice-Hall. I want this blog to be independent of commercial interests and products, so I'm not going to describe the content of these meetings nor why I was invited to attend.
As I sit in these meetings, however, I do wish every professor could attend at least one of these sessions. I have been amazed and delighted with what I see and hear. I think you might be, too.
Like many professors, I have mixed feeling about seeing my book sales rep. Sometimes, in fact, I'm downright unhappy to see them -- I don't have that much time. Maybe I should rethink that attitude.
This week I see the tremendous effort Prentice-Hall makes to give its sales reps solid product knowledge. They want the reps to become our helpful, problem solving colleagues, and not just order takers. I also see the effort they make not to waste our time. Previously, I had no idea of the depth of training and education that occurs at meetings like this one.
Also, it's difficult not to be carried along by the energy and enthusiasm of sales reps. They clearly like what they do and they want to be better at it. They also want to learn our needs and respond to them. It's very movtivating; I wish you were here.
Posted by DavidK at January 3, 2006 08:12 AM | Permalink