Paul Alves | CEO of AG Salesworks

On Thursday, February 21st, our Professional Selling Skills 1 class had the privilege of hearing from Plymouth State Graduate and C.E.O. of AG Salesworks. Below are some student reactions to the presentation and included is a short quote from Paul about how impressed he is with the PSU Sales program and the advantages it gives PSU Students: 

"I was thrilled to learn of Professor Nadeau's Professional Sales course a couple of years ago, and am not surprised of its popularity and growth. It is my understanding that very few Universities offer such a program, giving PSU graduates a significant advantage as they enter the workforce. Having the necessary skills and understanding of sales principles from day one will surely improve their chances of landing a great job, and excelling as they embark on a sales career." -Paul Alves C.E.O. AG Salesworks

Below are some student reflections on Paul's presentation: 

     "Coming into class I had no idea what to expect from Paul. As far as I knew it was just another person coming in to talk about the real world, but was I wrong. What we got was someone that was truly passionate about sales and was willing to share some of life’s lessons for us. When Paul first started talking he seemed really comfortable up there and that definitely grabbed my attention. There is nothing worse than hearing someone present when they are quiet and not always sure what they are going to say next. What I thought was really great was how he started off by talking about himself and his family. He was able to paint a picture of himself for us.

     Paul then started talking about his journey to becoming the C.E.O. of AG Salesworks. Through this process he kept going back and stressing how hard work pays off. First, he stated how he had to work hard paying his way through college by starting a hot dog stand. He then went on to mention how after the hot dog stand, he entered into the sales profession as a door-to-door salesman. Paul said that being in sales can be a journey and you have to be willing to go along with it because you never know where it will take you. Well, turns out that Paul rode that wave and it made him the C.E.O. of his company.

     One of the biggest takeaways I got from Paul’s presentation was the flexibility and freedom you have as a sales person. He went on to say that the harder you work the luckier you are. I believe this is something that is lacking in the real world today. People go into jobs expecting respect and stuff like that but what people don’t realize is that recognition is earned through hard work. With hard work comes flexibility, and being able to make your own schedule is huge. You are not forced to sit in an office from 9-5 like a regular job; you’re out and about talking with clients at all times. One of the biggest things that stood out to me is the fact that there are going to be some days were you don’t have to do anything as long as you work hard and hit your goal." -Jesse Kutz 

     "Paul Alves is a CEO of a very profitable tech company, and is a role model to all future sales and business people. I learned a lot from Paul, but what I appreciated the most was his simple, personal insight to the topics at hand. He gave fluid advice as to what to do in certain situations, and was very informative. He spoke with knowledge on networking, and when to release a product, and simply kept me intrigued the entire time. 

     Paul’s first profound comment that he made was, “The basics of selling is just good communication”. This hit the nail on the head for me. I am a firm believer that if you know how to speak someone’s language you can relate to them much better; and when you relate, people trust. Communication skills are so important in sales, and Paul gave solid, concrete proof that it worked for him. 

     Another part of Paul’s lecture that I enjoyed was the topic of “Not selling”. I quote Paul: “Sales people are not selling, they’re helping someone purchase something, solve a problem, and fulfill a need”. When one takes a second to reflect upon that, you can see how intelligent a statement that really is. If you spend your entire presentation selling a product to someone, you haven’t a clue what they are looking for. I can be the best speaker/ salesman in the world, but if I’m selling wood burning furnaces in Africa, I’m not going to get many bites." -Daniel Shamberger 

     "When Paul first stepped towards the front of the classroom to begin his presentation, I immediately started looking at his body language. You can find out a lot about someone by the way they carry themselves, and in this case, I did. Paul came off as an easy going, yet hard working person who is very passionate about what he does. As his presentation went on, I started to gain more and more trust and knowledge, not only about Paul, but about sales itself"…. 

     "For me personally, I am considering a career in sales. I was kind of on the fence on this decision considering I don’t really know a lot about what it takes to be a successful sales person. I hope to learn a lot more about this profession in this class, but Paul really helped clear some things up that I had concerns about. 

     My perception of sales has always been that you can work long hours and work every day and still not get anything in return. I have seen this example with my dad. My dad used to own his own telecommunications business and I know a lot of his marketing was through cold calls, especially when it came to new technology. He spent many hours contacting potential clients and it seemed that those long hours only got him very few customers.

     Listening to what Paul had to say, I noticed that you get what you put into it. Looking back now, my dad made a lot of mistakes with his business when it came to marketing his service and trying to get new customers. Paul said that sales are all about patience. My dad didn’t really have much patience when it came to making sales. He wanted the sale as soon as possible. The more patience you have with a potential customer, the more likely you are to complete the sale and earn continued business with that customer. You have to treat the customer like a human being. You can’t look at them as just a dollar sign.

     By listening to Paul, it helped me fully understand exactly what sales are and what you need to do to be successful at it. I know I have a lot more to learn, but with the input Paul gave us, I feel confident that sales could really be a career that I want to pursue." -Zachary Cogswell

Jim Reed Visits Plymouth State University!

Jim Reed was greeted with a very warm welcome from Bob Nadeau's Professional Selling Skills I class. Jim Reed, who is a very successful corporate consultant, expressed his love for Plymouth State by noting that, "Plymouth State University is one of eight schools," that he still visits.
Jim isn't your average guest speaker. Students weren't glued to their desks or instructed to take notes on the PowerPoint presentation that he was using. In fact, Jim is far from that caliber of guest speaker. Jim's lecture was interactive, had students moving around, and had students working together.

Jim first touched on the importance of culture in business today. He discussed how important it is to interact with people of different nationalities as much as possible throughout college and the benefits that will come from it later in your career. Jim also discussed interview tactics and that when looking for careers, you need to identify the market niche rather than enter the general market like "marketing."

Jim stepped up the presentation by splitting up the students into three different groups that represented a corporation: Finance, Marketing, and the CEO. Students were instructed with the simple task of selling Jim a pen. The students took this challenge on and succeeded in selling Jim a pen that acted as a EpiPen as well. After the exercise was completed, Jim revealed the objective of this exercise, which was to help students realize how to sell themselves.

Jim concluded with the most important lesson of the presentation. "Don't use the word passion, show it." To find out more about Jim and his company visit his company website, Jim Reed Consulting. The Plymouth State University Sales Program can't wait to have you back Jim!

Jamison Clouthier Visits Plymouth State | In Depth

Plymouth State University alum, Jamison Clouthier made his way back to Plymouth to give a great presentation about how he arrived at his successful position with HP (Hewlett Packard) today.
Jamison has a strong track record of success that can be directly linked back to his involvement in the Professional Sales Leadership Program that Plymouth offers. Jamison reflected back on his time at Plymouth and mentioned an important event that kickstarted his career, an event he referred to as "a job fair on steroids." Jamison was referring to the NCSC, which is the National Collegiate Sales Competition that takes place in Georgia every year. Although Jamison did not take first place in the competition, he did receive eleven job offers and ultimately decided to accept an offer from HP. The Plymouth State Sales Program gave Jamison this unique opportunity to represent Plymouth State, which he did exceptionally well.

More importantly than describing how the Plymouth State Sales Program prepared him for a career, Jamison discussed the essentials needed to succeed in a sales career after graduation, one of the most important being passion. When describing his transition from college to HP, Jamison told us that it was hard, and the career paths we choose may be hard as well so we need to have passion. "If it is to be, it is up to me," was a quote that Jamison used to stress the importance of having passion when pursuing your desired career. He then went on to say "if you want a job, you can go get it." Not only could you feel the passion that Jamison had for his career, you could feel the passion he had for giving back to the Plymouth State Sales Program.

Overall, Jamison had a very informative and inspirational presentation that would have any student excited about a career in sales. Needless to say, we will welcome Jamison at any time!

Jamison Clouthier returns to PSU!

Jamison Clouthier made his way back to Plymouth State last week to give a great presentation about his personal experiences while entering the workforce for HP. Stay tuned for an in depth review of his presentation!

Plymouth State University | Top Sales Universities

Plymouth State | Professional Sales Leadership program was included in the 2012 SEF Top Universities for professional Sales Education.  Included on this exclusive list created by the SEF (Sales Education Foundation) are Colleges and Universities with sales programs that are much larger than Plymouth States, yet we still made the list! I guess we know what we are doing all the way up in New Hampshire!

View the full PDF file here.  

Guest Speaker Jason Swan, From a Students Perspective

Eric Gordon

Guest Speaker:  Jason Swan

Jason Swan

Jason Swan, a Plymouth State Alumni, is a very successful sales person. He graduated in 1994 with a degree in athletic training. He was not sure what he wanted to do when he graduated but ended up moving to Boston because he wanted to be on television. Jason got a job on public access T.V. After spending time in Boston he decided to venture to Indiana and took a job at Fox Sports. He did locker room interviews and shows on the sideline. But was not making enough money and was forced to bartend on the side. He was then offered a production position as a temp, where he moved to Connecticut. He loved the sports environment and he said the job was a great fit.

When Jason was in Connecticut he went out with some old friends to catch up and found out they were making great money, a lot more than him, and he wanted to know how. They set him up with two interviews in the sales field and told him to be aggressive at the interviews and not to be afraid to attack. He went to an interview at BEA and PTC. His first interview at BEA said it went okay but nothing special and his friends told him he wasn’t being aggressive enough. So his next interview at PTC he literally attacked the interviewer and got the job. In 2002, the first year at PTC he made 168k. He said he had healthy anxiety and was extremely competitive with his co-workers. After continuing to work hard he demanded a promotion. So they moved him to San Jose and spent two years bringing his company from 9k to 325k quarterly. He clearly strived for success. This past year Jason made 328k.

            I learned a lot from Jason’s presentation. It taught a very good lesson also. If you try your hardest for something you are passionate about, you are going to succeed. And in Jason’s case he succeeded very well and continues to push himself to become better every day. 

Guest Speaker Heather LaDue, From a Students Perspective

Mason McGuire

Professional Selling Skills 1

Guest Speaker: Heather LaDue

Heather LaDue is a PSU alumnus who graduated back in 1992, majoring in marketing and also with a psychology minor. Heather now works for Robert Half as a sales representative / consultant. Heather’s job is to find temporary, to long-term employees for her clients employment gaps or needs. Basically Heather finds companies that are in need of analysis, CPA’s, book keepers, etc. She then fills those gaps with her association of people that fit the right needs with the correct abilities and qualifications.

Prior to listening to Heather speak I was taking in her appearance. She was well dressed and brought in materials she was going to use for her presentation. Based on her appearance alone I thought that she looked professional.

Once Heather took the stage she indicated that this was going to be the first time she had spoken to a class. Heather spoke briefly about her college experience and her first job at Cabletron Systems where she did inside sales. Heather was making over 300 cold calls a day as a development representative, qualifying people and companies for potential sales. To me that didn’t sound like anything that I would be interested in. But she did say that she gained some great experience from that first job. Those calls made her able to face rejection much easier and eventually overcome some objections.

Heather like most professional sales people really stressed the importance of networking. She talked about how her performance was tracked at Robert Half with their “matrix” system. Through this matrix system you can play with the numbers and figure out your statistics that are related to sales. She spoke about how in sales your performance is directly related to your work ethics, also known as the work to benefit ratio.

Heather spoke about setting meetings with clients. She talked about how to set them and always have an agenda, basically always being mindful of your time and theirs alike. One thing that I found interesting was her sales technique: the Feel, Felt, Found or the 3F’s. Heather reminded us to always believe in what we are selling and the trust relationship between seller and buyer will follow. Heather also talked about the sales funnel and how that works.

In all I would say that listening to Heather was nice, she was honest in explaining her experiences. Truthfully Heather wasn’t the most captivating speaker I have even been around but she did a great job considering that this was her first time speaking in front of a classroom. I’m glad that we had the opportunity to listen to Heather speak.