On March 16, the ARA of Pennsylvania hosted a webinar designed to help event rental companies close more sales and increase profits.
“Shut Up and Sell More” was presented by Alan Berg, a Certified Speaking Professional™ with more than 25 years in sales and marketing leadership roles. During his session, Berg delivered the key takeaways of how and when to ask the right questions, learning better listening skills, identifying strong buying signals coming from the prospective client and selling more efficiently.
The benefit of being an avid listener when it comes to customers resonated with those who participated.
“My main takeaway from the presentation was to slow down,” says Anna Yohman, marketing and sales coordinator, MHR Equipment and Event Rental, New Wilmington, Pa., and ARA of Pennsylvania president. “Traditionally, I can get stuck in my way of flying through my questionnaire to quote events and it is important to slow down and have a full conversation with every customer.”
Yohman, who as an ARA of Pennsylvania board member helped organize the staging of the online offering, says the presentation of an event-related educational offering was intentional given the timing of the American Rental Association’s (ARA) new ARA Certified programs for the equipment segment, which were launched in March.
“We wanted to provide an educational event for the ARA of Pennsylvania membership that was geared toward the party side due to the new equipment certification training that was just released,” she says. “We felt Alan Berg was a good fit because he has vast knowledge in the wedding industry and in sales, which is applicable to many people. I hope that members were able to learn something new or at least see things from a different perspective.”