TESTIMONIALS FROM GRADUATES OF THE PROGRAMMES

'In the six months I have been on the course I have found the content to be both stimulating and invaluable in my day to day role within Vhi Healthcare.  I have found the e-learning concept to be a beneficial medium for day to day learning as against weekly lectures.  I have also found it very beneficial to hear the viewpoints & experiences of both my colleagues in Vhi and those from other companies on the course.”

Paula Meehan, Research Specialist - Group Schemes, Vhi Healthcare.

'Work/Life balance - it is difficult enough to get this balance in any role but particularly so when starting a new sales role with long hours and monitored targets.  However the coaching and insight into this process is not necessarily available in your working environment but this course and its recognised qualification provides you with that opportunity.  Its flexibility and adaptability to my working schedule means I don’t ever feel overwhelmed with my studies.”

Damian Oglesby, Sales Development Manager, Hurricane Couriers.

“It gives an informative background to selling which is of great help to me as it's a key part of my every day job. The study process is informal - easy bite sizes within each study module.”

Una Ryan, Senior Manager, Ulster Bank Ireland Ltd.

“I have found the course to be very interesting, both from a theory and practical point of view as it has made me more disciplined and focused to achieve my goals while increasing my confidence. Also it has made more aware of the role that companies should play in coaching salespeople to increase performance levels.”

Maria Broderick, Corporate Sales,
Pallas Foods.

“I would like to say that the course has provided me with the facility to gain a recognised qualification in selling by offering a unique innovative style to teaching that encompasses e-learning with study workshops to provide the student with an insight into the dynamic world of sales.  I found that this method allowed me to adopt a flexible approach to learning that blended perfectly with my hectic day to day working environment.”  

Greg Dowling, Hibernian Insurance

“Having attended several different sales courses with conflicting content, first impressions when noticing this course was that it looked like something I could benefit from in my current role.  Upon completion I must say that due to the combination of the strong course content, and the confidence I now have in my own abilities following implementation of several of the techniques learned, I consider myself a more complete and professional salesperson. At this stage, I am very interested in taking the next step and registering for the next programme.” 

Jason Campbell, Kerridge Computer Systems

“I have found the e-learning programme to be very accommodating and user friendly in relation to my new sales role within 3M Ireland.  The idea of not having to attend a night course appealed to me from a work life balance perspective.  It has helped me to organise, identify and focus on the very important issue and that is my customer. It has helped me plan my territory and prioritise my work load along with giving me the insight into how the whole buying and selling wheel operates. I would have no hesitation in recommending this course to anyone in a sales environment, in particular someone who is just beginning their career in sales!

Ashling Murphy, 3M Ireland

Other testimonials

‘If you are serious about a career in sales, then this is the most important course you will ever attend. It helped me to increase my sales by 25% year on year and gave me back the enthusiasm I had been lacking’

Content: - ‘The content was new and thought provoking and I have been using it not only in my sales role, but things like body language have spilt over into every facet of my life. It is really refreshing to not only understand what the course is telling you but to be able to put it into practice is a breath of fresh air. This isn’t another course written by someone who has never sold anything except the course, this is written by someone who has a great inside knowledge of what we face everyday’.

Application: - ‘This course was extremely relevant to my job as currently I do 50% new business development and 50% account management. In this course I received great advice on winning new business, tips to delve deeper into my customer’s requirements and my understanding of their needs and making sure that I could match delivery with expectations’.

Method:- ‘For someone with as busy a life as I have been able to do a lot of the study on-line allowed me to really get involved and schedule this course into my life. The bit size content made it easy for me to keep on top of the course and the quarterly workshops kept me focused on my assignments’.

‘The content in the programme is very relevant in today’s busy business world. It has reminded me that our clients are people who make decisions every minute of every day and we as Sales people can influence these decisions by learning and putting into the practise the content of these fantastic courses’.

‘I have found that my selling skills have become more polished, I am now very proud to say I am a Sales person and it has certainly made me more aware of how important my role within the company I am employed in is’.

‘I am new to computers having learned only three years ago the absolute basics. Access to the courses has been made very easy and any questions I have had were answered by both of my tutors both promptly and efficiently’.

‘As someone who has been in the sales industry for over 10 years, I have attended numerous sales courses of various lengths and content.  Each of these courses provided a broad spectrum of content with varying degrees of appropriateness to the workplace.  This course however, really breaks the ‘broad, sometimes fluffy’ content of ad hoc courses by drilling down the detail in manageable ‘bites’ of content.  These ‘bites’ offer a social dynamic, psychoanalytical and completely practical observation of real situations and people’s perceptions of them – all of which transfers smoothly and appropriately to the work situation’.

‘In addition to this, I have also found that the literature provided to support the course serves as an easy-to-use reference on a day-to-day basis in my workplace, both as a personal reminder and indeed as training material’.

‘From a course point-of-view, the online access is a perfect medium for someone in my position.  Taking 15 minutes a day is easier for me to manage than a single assignment with a 4 week deadline.  Again, there is an excellent use of links to relative information on websites should I wish to pursue a topic further’.

‘I was very apprehensive in taking on this as I am working full time as well.  I am a Sales Manager in a Regional Newspaper and have worked in sales for over twenty years.  At the age of 46 the thought of going back into a class room and a study environment was very daunting.  But I decided to accept the challenge.

I am now six months into my course and I can honestly say I am enjoying every minute of it - primarily because it is so relevant to my work.  The content of the course is excellent and would benefit anyone that would be in sales or hoping to take on a sales role as a profession.  I think it is very important that Sales as a career needs to be recognized and be given a proper certification.   Over the years I have taken on people in a sales role who have degrees in various disciplines.  These people have no formal training in sales because to date sales has never been taken seriously as a profession’

‘I have learnt so much from this course; I have applied it to my work over the past six months and have reaped the benefits from it.  I would have no hesitation in recommending this course to anyone that would be interested in sales. I will also be insisting that all my sales staff will, at some stage, get the opportunity to attend this course’.

‘I believe the content of the material covered in the diploma course was very beneficial for the sales role that I am currently in, all information covered was very interesting and I was able to apply all aspects covered to my everyday work... I particularly enjoyed such things as drawing up the business case, completing the learning logs & meeting up as a group as it was great to exchange ideas. I was able to access all information very easily, the website is very user friendly and the tutors were also very helpful’.

‘The diploma course has had remarkable effects on my role in my organisation’.

‘When I started I was an Assistance Food and Beverage Manager. During the early stages of my study, I moved into sales as an executive and was promoted to sales manager shortly. The course work has been great in that it has provided me with a solid grounding as well as provided answers to a number of questions. The content has been relevant to not only my industry but will be useful to me in any industry sales role’.

‘Applying what I have learnt has been very easy as everything comes with so many examples as well as discussions as to how to apply the knowledge. The tutorials themselves are also superb as they allow us to get into a group and discuss how we can apply what we have learnt’.

‘I have found that by having access via the Internet that I am far more able to get on with what I need to and then concentrate when I can set some time aside each week. It also means I can do this while travelling for work’.

‘After attending the course there was a 25% increase on my 2004 sales figures. This year to date I have a 23% increase growth on this time last year. As I have goods operating out of 3 trucks in my area, there is one run I'm very happy with because in the last 3 weeks there has been on average a 61% growth on the year previous’.

‘The course was excellently run and administered. Content was pitched at an acceptable level to provide a good grounding in sales skills. Delivery medium – internet was excellent’.

‘I have found this course to be most relevant to my job that I have participated in. I look forward to continuing on the pathway’.

‘I found the course very enjoyable. I believed it was of great relevance to me and my role. I found doing up the business plan was very interesting and I learnt a lot from it. My tutor was also very helpful which helps’.

‘For me it was superb!’.

‘I was reluctant to sign up for the Sales Coaching programme as I thought it may not give the desired result from managing a team of sales people. How wrong was I, it was everything I needed it to be, interesting, captivating, and most of all a truly learned experience in something that businesses need to embrace’.

‘It was also very interesting to hear the varied challenges other companies had, as varied as they were there was consistency throughout’.

‘Well worth the time and something I will recommend to others’.

‘I found the course very beneficial and would have no problem recommending it to anyone in the future. It certainly will benefit me and my team going forward’.

‘For me after nearly eight years in sales management the programme has provided me with a spring in my step as I am now focusing on outputs not inputs as well as specific parts of a defined process rather than trying to solve “world hunger”. Finally I am getting people to fish rather than catching fish for them. The last nine months have been a very interesting and very rewarding journey’.

‘This course is so suitable and worthwhile for all Sales Managers. Whether you have been on sales management courses are not before this course is an ideal starting point for going forward in Sales Coaching. It was well presented and the format of the course is such that you have to learn and develop your Sales Coaching knowledge and practice. For anyone who has not done a formal course in Sales like me, there is nothing to fear and the benefits are tremendous. I highly recommend the course’.