John Linton Exetel's 2011 finished with residential ADSL sales in December up 26.8% over 2010 with the days since Christmas being up 100% on the same period in 2010. It is quite a strange set of daily results for which we have no inkling of an explanation. However we would be very happy to see the current few days trend continue in to the new year. Arsenal won, both Chelsea and ManU surprisingly lost overnight and it is a bright sunny day in this part of Sydney so maybe it's a sign that 2012 will be far easier for us than dull, daily grind that 2011 has been.
So we begin the new calendar year in an optimistic 'mood' and have all of our January activities already in place and one of them already underway. Our major new initiative is our partnership with AAPT to sell their business data services throughout their exchange coverage areas. In our 'test phases' over the past few months the initially selected SL sales reps have sold well over 60 new AAPT data links to a surprising array of customers and have demonstrated that they have been able to learn both the technical and commercial aspects of this quite complex process as quickly as their Australian counterparts. We have begun to develop a new way of doing the ongoing program of sales and technical training that will be required for both the current personnel and, assuming the program is successful, for the new people we plan to hire throughout 2012 and 2013.
We have planned to use several of our more experienced people in developing 'videos' of key aspects of the the technical and sales aspects of the business and corporate data services with the first two of these videos now being completed as part of the 'testing' of this concept. We will use those as part of the initial training we will carry out in Colombo during the week after next and,depending on the 'reception' will make whatever changes are considered necessary for the following videos. We have yet to put in place the questionnaire processes that need to be associated with the video education and 'skills inventory' for each person but we will develop that software over the next few weeks.
It is going to be a challenge to fully train a large new sales force to sell data link products and it is something I have not done/participated in for a very long time and I am really looking forward to it. The last time I did an ongoing, major training program covering sales and engineering it produced some amazing results and if I hadn't lost focus (partly because of its success, partly many other things) it may have been truly remarkable. This time the lessons of past 'mis-steps' have, hopefully, been both learned and remembered (not the same thing at all). I have always really liked technical selling and have always been able to actually do it better than anyone I have ever competed with. In developing this new training program the issue will be to ensure the required levels of technical/engineering expertise are seamlessly developed as a key part of the sales processes.
I doubt that we will initially get that right. However I think with enough continuous follow up, patience and bloody mindedness we can build an exceptional sales force that will out perform every other provider's sales efforts by a considerable margin.....that's a very worthwhile, if very difficult to achieve, ambition.
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