Announcing New Sales Management Training for 2008

The Beckham Group has been in the business of working with litigation support companies since 1994. Our focus has always been on permanent placement and professional sales training. As we have endeavored to position ourselves as a valued partner with our clients by providing these services, we have established working relationships with companies in practically every major city in the U.S., as well as Europe. For that success, we are grateful.

As we entered 2008, I said with conviction, "This year is going to be pivotal in the legal services marketplace." As a provider in the marketplace, you have had to constantly stay on your toes to make sure you were evolving with the industry in an effort to remain relevant to your clients' needs. We, too, have always been committed to evolving with the industry's changing needs. The market has changed, you've had to change, and we've changed in order to help you keep pace with the ever-evolving demands of the litigation support space.

One frustration continually expressed to us by our clients is in the area of Sales Management. On numerous occasions, our clients have asked that we expand our services to include a training course for Sales Management. We have listened to your suggestion, and we have heard you!  When you read the following questions, you might ask yourself if you have ever been challenged by similar circumstances:

• Have you ever felt that one more great hire could make all the difference? Have you ever been perplexed with the difficulty of finding such an individual when you really need them?
  
  
• Have you struggled to find the proper balance concerning what metrics should be tracked…without drowning your account managers in reports?
  
  
• Are you concerned that you don't have an adequate system in place to effectively track follow-up, i.e., make sure your account managers aren't letting current or potential clients fall through the cracks?
  
  
• Have you ever wondered if an account manager was being assigned an appropriate mix of accounts/firms, i.e., small, medium, large, corporate, etc.?
  
  
• Have you ever had an account manager on your team who was producing adequately, but whose bad habits created a negative undercurrent with the rest of your team? Have you struggled with the decision of whether or not to let them go? And, if you did let them go, have you been concerned about your legal exposure, or matters related to competing activities in your market?
  
  
• If/when two employees in different positions share the responsibility of securing an account, do you wonder how to appropriately split the commission between the two and ensure the commission structure is fair?
  
  
• Have you ever found it difficult to reasonably project future revenue because of ineffective pipeline management and forecasting?

As we turn the calendar to 2008, we are pleased to announce the first of our Sales Management Training Retreats for the coming year. We plan to conduct the training on a quarterly basis, with the first retreat scheduled for the weekend of April 5th.  A quarterly schedule for additional retreats currently scheduled for 2008 can be found below, or by clicking on the link.

Knowing how valuable the time of any Sales Manager is, we have designed the format of the training to be covered in a three-day course, and to be conducted on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We have provided a bullet point summary of many of the major topics to be included in the training. The bullet points are not intended to outline the entire course, but rather to provide an overview of the course content.

In large measure, the course is built around the realization that the success of any Sales Manager is significantly determined by his or her ability to effectively recruit individuals who have the ability to succeed in the current competitive marketplace, properly train and develop them into peak performers, and to effectively manage and motivate the account managers to achieve their goals and those of your company.

If you would like to register a Sales Manager for one of the upcoming courses, or someone who you feel should be promoted to the position of Sales Manager in the near future, please let us know of your interest by phone or email. If you have questions, just give us a call at your convenience. We look forward to hearing from you!

We wish you the best in 2008!

Daily Subject Itinerary & Quarterly Schedule

Sales Management Training Retreat

Training Seminar Exclusively for Managers with Litigation
Support & Related Companies

FRIDAY

• Defining Your Role as a Sales Manager
• Goal Setting…Clearly Outlining, Defining, and Setting Measurable Objectives to Realize Your Company or Unit Goals for 2008 and Beyond
• Properly Defining and Successfully Implementing Best Practices

Sourcing & Recruiting the Best Talent Available:

• Prospecting/Sourcing Candidates/Recruiting
• How to Effectively Mine Résumé Databases for Qualified Candidates
• Interviewing…Do's and Don'ts that will Improve Your Ability to Select the Right Individuals for the Position / Identifying Future Top Performers
• Utilizing Personality Profiles as a Part of Your Selection Process for Hiring Account Managers

SATURDAY

Training and Motivating Your Sales Team:

• Evaluating Your Current Sales Team
• Strategically Assigning Territory…Small Firms, Mid-Sized Firms, Large Firms, and Corporate Legal, etc., in an Effort to Set an Account Manager up for Success
• Sales Meetings…How to Plan and Effectively Conduct Instructive and Motivational Meetings
• Training and Developing CSR's / Developing Bench Strength
• Overview of The Sales Model/ Sales Process
• Targeted Prospecting Techniques
• Effective Use of the Phone
• Motivating Your Team…Tapping into Their "Currency"

SUNDAY

Managing the Two Most Critical Factors…Time and Your Team:

• Time Management…Yours and Your Account Managers
• Utilizing an Appropriate CRM Tool – Metrics to be Tracked for Sales Activity and Follow-up…Without Drowning Account Managers with Reports
• Teaching Your Account Managers to Target High-Value Prospects
• Team Selling…When and How / Compensation Plans That Address Split Commissions
• One-on-One Conferences
• Pipeline Management and Forecasting...Tracking and Projecting Future Revenue from Longer "Buy Cycle" Projects Involving ESI

Evaluation and Compliance Issues:

• Performance Evaluations
• Minimizing Turnover/Attrition
• Knowing When to Let Someone Go…Making the Tough Decisions Related to When/How to Let Someone go Whose Bad Habits Create an Undercurrent
• Creating the Proper Paper Trail
• Legal Compliance Issues…Guidelines for Protecting Your Company Against Lawsuits Relating to Discrimination and Harassment