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Dermot Collins does his stuff on a vidoe podcast
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1:00 am, June 30, 2008
Sales trainer sets up tuition by podcast
Minimum charge is £300 a year for video on demand coaching
By Michael Fahy
A sales trainer from Wilmslow, who makes real sales pitches during his training sessions, is attempting to display his techniques to a wider audience by offering video podcasts.
Dermot Collins, who set up Wilmslow-based sales training consultancy Seven V just over six months ago, said that although lots of companies already offer sales training via e-learning programmes, the difference with his is that it is “application-led” as opposed to content-led.
Rather than giving clients the information on how to sell, he demonstrates how to do it by making real-life calls on behalf of client companies.
Collins, 35, is a former training director at Wilmslow-based graduate recruitment firm Pareto Law. From there, he has spent spells selling at several firms including Eurocall Communications and until last summer was a consultant at Wilmslow-based Select Properties, where he helped to build a team for founder Mark Stott.
Stott has reciprocated by investing in Collins's new venture, which was established last November and has just broken the £100,000-turnover barrier in its eighth month of trading. Collins charges just short of £3,000 a day to companies like BT, McAfee and BMC Software, but he admits that his personalised style of selling makes rapid growth difficult.
He has just taken on two trainers to deliver programmes — both ex-colleagues whom he trained — but reckons the best way to extending his reach to smaller firms, sole traders and even individual salespeople is through secure vodcasts which will be sold on-demand.
These will be offered on a subscription basis, costing £25 per month for a minimum 12-month period.
Strong sales
The podcasts were initially developed as an add-on for clients as an easier reference form than course notes, but he now intends to bolt-on extra content including regular updates from client conferences and a monthly subscribers-only conference call.
Mike Dalton, president of software firm McAfee's EMEA operation, said that his firm had seen “strong” sales results since using Collins.
“Throughout the many live sales calls that Dermot successfully delivers on speaker phone in front of our sales people, he consistently demonstrates a sales talent that inspires attendees,” he said.
Pareto Law's co-founder Jonathan Fitchew, who alongside partner Andrew Sawer sold 70 per cent of their business to Dutch firm Vedior in April, said that Collins' methods were unconventional but got results.
“He's good at keynote speeches when you want to rev everyone up and he'll get on the phone to anyone,” he said.
COMMENTS? mfahy@crain.com
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