I spoke with Edwin Bassler the other day about how he solved a serious sales issue facing lots of companies today: reducing turnover while maintaining or increasing sales. Edwin said, “I became Vice President of Sales with a three-year old startup company that had originally had some successes in building its name and attracting awareness in the marketplace but was failing to monetize this. The sales department had high turnover and had gone from a staff of six to a staff of two. Moreover, they faced several problems including a low-to-no renewal rate from current clients, little new business, a perceived lack of value, and challenges in recruiting sales professionals.”
Edwin went on to say, “To help develop my turnaround strategy, from day one I accompanied my account executives 
on sales calls to both existing clients and to first time calls to learn how they approached the process and to gauge the reaction/engagement from those they were meeting with.”
In the opinion of this reporter, I thought MBWA was a lost art.
“My plan included; daily one on one meetings with the sales team, a structured training program to teach asking the right questions and listening to prospects, how to find prospects and get appointments, cold calling, product knowledge to develop an expertise, and use of sales software, research and tools at their disposal that had not been utilized. I knew I had to be both patient and engaging to maximize the learning process. I installed a rate structure and taught them how to show value. We regularly celebrated and shared successes openly and likewise discussed challenges, failures, and frustrations to not only learn from each other, but to improve consistently.
“For the first time budget goals and accountability standards were set with rewards attached, through an improved and more clearly understood compensation and bonus plan. These changes resulted in current clients renewing at a higher rate and investment. One dynamic of these changes was not only a decrease in sales team turnover but reversed that to have a full force of seven. We tripled business sales, elevated existing client revenue 275% locally and 200%+ in national sales.”
Watch full video interview below
Contact Edwin via LinkedIn or his Career WebFolio.
Fred Coon, CEO
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