The ISMM congratulates all the Winners, Runners-up and Rising Stars who received their well-deserved trophies at the recent British Excellence in Sales & Marketing Awards ceremony held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Hyde Park, London.

Please visit www.besma.co.uk to see more photographs of this fantastic evening.

SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by DDI
Winner: Chris Brindley, NatWest
Rising Star: Richard Hill, Brakes

SALES MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by The Telegraph Group
Winner: Sarah Skelton, Pareto Law
Runner-up: Steve Lyons, Brakes

ISMM STUDENT OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by The ISMM
Winner: Rhonda Briggs, Lyreco
Rising Star: Mitchell Brunt, Swagelok Manchester

SALES & MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR (under 50 employees)
Sponsored by Denplan
Winner: Hewden – South East Regional Sales Team
Runner-up: ‘progress’ – Royal Liver Group

SALES & MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR (over 50 employees)
Sponsored by KPMG
Winner: Vodafone – Small Business Channel
Rising Star: npower Business

SALES TRAINER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Hewden
Winner: Carole Hudson, Tack International
Runner-up: Lorraine Hitchman, Silent Edge

MOST EFFECTIVE USE OF SALES AUTOMATION
Sponsored by OneSource
Winner: Jeremy Strang, DHL Express (UK)
Rising Star: Sarah Aspery, npower

SALES SUPPORT/CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Principal Hayley Conference Centres
Winner: the Jan Cavelle Furniture Co
Runner-up: Royal Mail – National Sales Development
Runner-up: Vodafone – Commercial Bids & Pricing

NEW SALES PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Cambridge Professional Academy
Winner: Becky Jesse, Roundhouse Trading
Runner-up: Sarah Harris, npower

SALES PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR (under 50 employees)
Sponsored by Tack International
Winner: Fiona Price, Roundhouse Trading
Runner-up: Marietjie Grose, Roundhouse Trading

SALES PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR (over 50 employees)
Sponsored by Mercedes-Benz UK
Winner: Darryn Welsh, Vodafone
Runner-up: Peter Tyrer, Royal Mail
Rising Star: Lucy Wallace, NatWest

TELESALES PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Campaign Master
Winner: Stephen Booth, Vodafone
Runner-up: Gary Wallace, AXA Insurance

YOUNG SALES PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Sponsored by City Link
Winner: Samuel Kerr, NatWest

The Institute of Sales & Marketing Management’s Successful Selling 2007 conference has once again proved to be the UK’s top sales event of the year. An outstanding lineup of international speakers impressed the audience at the prestigious Birmingham International Convention Centre, during a day packed with the latest strategies and creative ideas to help sales and marketing professionals win more business.

The 2007 event was opened by ISMM Vice President Patrick Joiner and then, right from the start, Conference Chairman Guy Browning claimed everyone’s attention with his firm grasp on the key issues in sales and marketing, combined with an ‘industrial-strength’ sense of humour that had the audience in tears. Author of the hit Radio 4 comedy Weak at the Top, Guy is also The Daily Telegraph’s ‘Pocket Guru’, the man behind The Guardian’s Office Politics column and presenter of Radio 4’s Guy Browning’s Small Talk.

Good advice straight away
Paul McGee – known by many as ‘The Sumo Guy’ – started the day with his intriguingly-titled presentation, How to Handle, Not Strangle Difficult People. An expert in behaviour and social psychology, he helped delegates to see why people view a situation from different perspectives and how to move from a position of stalemate to one of solution and resolution.

Then Jeff Grout took to the stage to discuss ways to build high-performance teams. As Sir Clive Woodward’s Business Manager when England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, he has incredible insight into how great leaders – from business, sport and the armed forces – deal with people, and he shared secrets of establishing trust and understanding. Jeff also showed how leaders create a clear and motivating vision for their teams and inspire top performance.

Thinking out of the box
American TV talk show host Vicki Hitzges was next on the programme, and she proceeded to entertain the audience with her unique style of humour and insight into how ‘going the extra mile’ with customers can pay great dividends.

Just before lunch, Paul Sloane – an expert on lateral thinking in business – impressed delegates with his insight into how really successful salespeople motivate themselves to consistently deliver outstanding results. During the presentation, Paul shared his knowledge of the approaches, thoughts and even words that the top earners use.

Wizard of Oz
Immediately after the break, Gary Bertwistle – rightly viewed as Australia’s foremost creative thinker – introduced the art of creative thinking. In his presentation, Gary explained about essential tools that can enhance creative thought processes and make a significant difference to business. He then explained how to remove the barriers that prevent creativity and discover what can be done to inspire innovative ideas.

Then came Andy Hanselman – recognised as an expert in improving business competitiveness with a pragmatic and down-to-earth approach. His stimulating, motivational and fast-paced ‘no holds barred’ style provided practical and real solutions to the challenges facing 21st Century sales and marketing personnel. Using proven techniques, Andy helped conference delegates challenge what they are currently doing and enabled them to identify new ways of selling.

Breaking the ice
Having kept the convention buzz going as Conference Chairman, Guy Browning took to the stage to discuss ‘Tantric Marketing: Positioning Yourself for Sustainable Performance’. Using his well-known wit and expertise, Guy cut through the mass of business clichés to enlighten delegates and sort out what really matters from the rest.

The final speaker of the day was Sir Ranulph Fiennes – aptly described as the ‘World’s Greatest Living Explorer’. Right from the start, he held the audience spellbound with stories of amazing personal conquests over incredibly dangerous situations in some of the harshest conditions our planet can deliver – all mixed with his very self-deprecating sense of humour, that had the audience collapsing in laughter.

See you next year!
As the delegates streamed from the auditorium, crowds formed to meet the speakers and discuss further the strategic ideas they had presented. It took quite some time before the last one left to catch his train! Since then, the ISMM has received very positive feedback, an indication that, once again, Successful Selling has proved to be the ‘must see’ event for sales and marketing professionals.

Tickets for next year’s conference are already being reserved by delegates keen to book the best seats in the house. Successful Selling 2008 will be held in the same superb venue on Wednesday 15th October – to register for further information when it become available, please call June Kelly on 01582 840001 or e-mail her at jkelly@ismm.co.uk.

By creating nine English regions, plus Wales and Scotland (and possibly Northern Ireland in the future), the ISMM proposes to develop regional committees, for which we will need nominations both from individual and corporate members. The committees will comprise a chairman, vice chairman, treasurer (if local events are to involve finance), plus four committee members. Committees would be elected from and by the region’s membership, although the first committee in each region will be appointed by the Institute to get the process moving. A term of office will be three years. The potential would exist in the future of regional chairmen acting as local spokespersons for the ISMM after briefing.

Regional committees will be actively involved in organising local events of interest to the membership, over and above the current regional business seminars, meetings with other Institutes members and barbeques for members. Head Office will be available to assist with mailings and support. Regional Chairmen will be invited to the Successful Selling conference and the British Excellence in Sales & Marketing Awards (BESMA), where they will have an opportunity to share their views and ideas with ISMM Head Office staff.

Positive impact
The rationale behind this new strategy:
• More member involvement and participation
• Extra member benefits
• Better networking between members
• Activities for members families
• Giving members a say about matters of interest to them
• Strengthening regional representation
• Local member recruitment
• Opportunities for corporate members and others to
sponsor events and promote their services.

The regions - in brief

East Midlands: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire

Eastern: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk

London: Greater London

North East: Durham and Northumberland, including Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Tyneside, and local towns

North West: Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire plus Greater Manchester, Liverpool and local towns

South East: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex,

South West: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire, plus Bristol and local towns

West Midlands: Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, plus Birmingham, Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and local towns

Yorkshire and the Humber: Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull plus local towns

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

ISMM Members are invited to contact us regarding this new regional development. To offer suggestions, please e-mail: sales@ismm.co.uk – ideas are welcome.

Use your membership to improve your business performance

Tell us what you would like to be included in the membership offer

We look forward to meeting you at our Executive and Regional Seminars and other events that will take place throughout the year.

The Details That Matter within Sales Contracts

As business relationships develop and their needs become more complex, so have the contracts that reflect and codify these relationships and transactions. Despite this, contract management in most organizations usually involves largely manual, labor-intensive, and disjointed processes, resulting in poor visibility into contracts and compliance as well as missed opportunities for discounts and renewals. In this AberdeenGroup report, learn how getting beyond manual, disjointed processes can improve visibility into sales contracts, helping boost renewals and discount capture.

http://www.aberdeen.com/summary/report/benchmark/RA_SalesCM_VP_2856.asp

The ISMM's profile as a knowledge leader has been boosted with the launch of its Research Forum. The objective of the ISMM Research Forum is to meet the needs of the participating companies for objective examination of specific aspects of sales best practice, establishing the identifiers, the benefits, and how it can be implemented.

Beth Rogers, co-author of the business best-seller Key customers - how to manage them profitably, has been appointed Research Director. "This is a really exciting development for the ISMM," she commented. "Selling is a fundamental function in companies, but significantly under-researched. The ISMM Research Forum will stimulate thought-provoking insight to put sales on the agenda for business leaders and the business media."

Members interested in the Research Forum can contact Beth on 01727 847800. Subscription is discounted for ISMM corporate members.