March 2004    Training Tools l Profit Tools l SEDA News

TRAINING TOOLS

The Changing Role of Inside Sales

Advanced Inside Sales, a self-study CD-based training program, to be published this spring by SEDA, is one step in providing more sophisticated tools for inside sales. The three courses on the CD — Pricing, The Complex Sale, and Quantifiable Value-Added Selling — deal with subjects more generally associated with outside sales; however, they use tactics that inside sales or a team of inside/outside salespeople can use to increase the company’s selling effectiveness. DETAILS

Fundamentals of Safety and Health:

Basic Training for Safety Sales Professionals

SEDA is presenting a unique training program for sales professionals new to the safety and health industry May 14 and 15 in Chicago. William E. Simkins of Safety Sciences Consulting will lead the seminar packed with a concise review of everything safety sales representatives should know about OSHA and critical safety hazard areas. The program is for inside sales, customer service reps and safety sales professionals who are relatively new to the safety and health industry (less than two years) who need to expand their working knowledge of occupational health and safety and OSHA's requirements for employers (customers) in the workplace. DETAILS

April QSSP Class Almost Filled

The April 2004 QSSP Class to be held April 19-23 at the Holiday Inn Hurstbourne in Louisville, Kentucky is nearly filled.  Eight slots are available in the April session and there are still plenty of seats available in the November 8-12 class. Contact Jackie King at SEDA Headquarters at 443-640-1065 x105 to sign up today or link to the QSSP web site  to download more information about the program and the registration form. DETAILS

PROFIT TOOLS

Time to Get Serious About Profit

In recent years distributors have worked very hard to enhance the value they provide to customers. Operationally, service levels have been increased, order cycles have been shortened and error rates have been lowered. From a personnel perspective, customer service has become the way of life. DETAILS

Watching Your Profits Slip Away

SEDA members have made significant strides in recent years in terms of management sophistication. They are using new technology, employing more creative management techniques and analyzing their businesses in more precise ways than ever before. Even so, profits continue to lag. DETAILS

SEDA NEWS

Toronto to Host Safety Week 2004

Safety Week 2004, the safety equipment industry’s Annual Conference, will be held in Toronto, Canada from July 25-28, 2004 at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, located along Lake Ontario’s shorefront in the heart of downtown Toronto. Safety Week 2004 will once again be a combined meeting of the major safety equipment associations: SEDA, the International Glove Association (IGA), the Safety Equipment Manufacturers Agents Association (SEMAA) and the Canadian Glove Manufacturers Association (CGMA).  DETAILS

SEDA Welcomes New Members

Click here to learn more about SEDA's newest members. DETAILS

SEDA Spotlight on Safety Marketing Services

SEDA has a new marketing partner—Safety Marketing Services (SMS). SMS offers effective, detail oriented, marketing strategies for business-to-business customers – with their focus and strength in the Industrial Safety marketplace. Their in-depth knowledge and involvement in the industry gives them an edge over your everyday “ad agency.” SMS utilizes their understanding of today's workplace safety requirements, to help distributors and suppliers build relationships through catalogs, trade shows, print, web and digital media. DETAILS

New Study Helps Distributors Gauge the Effectiveness of Their Sales Force

A new study by The YPS Group Inc. and Progressive Distributor magazine can help distributors determine how well their sales forces compare to their competitors. The study asked industrial distribution executives to rate how well their sales forces execute a core set of 44 sales best practices and also asked how effective each of the practices could be if executed extremely well. DETAILS

In Memoriam - Rich Harper, Safety Marketing Group

Richard “Rich” Harper, 60, President and Chief Executive Officer of Safety Marketing Group, died Saturday, March 6 at home. He had been diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer in mid-January. DETAILS