Dear security colleagues. On this occasion we wish to take stock of the most important activities that have been developed or are being developed in the field of security. On the one hand, there is the successful culmination of the 8th Edition of Expo Seguridad México 2010, which was held from April 21 to 23 and where ALAS as sponsor of the event and GRIPEX as organizer marked a new milestone in attendance, participation of exhibitors and quality of the presentations in the different topics that were exhibited during three intensive days.
On behalf of ALAS we present the new two-day course of Systems Integration, as well as seminars for operators of monitoring centers. Personally I had the opportunity to give the conference on Security Sciences, the new business discipline of the XXI century, where we exposed the new trends of sociology in the risk society and the culture of risk applied to the new needs of managerial security and defined the science of security as the social science that studies the causes and circumstances of the different risks to foresee the actions aimed at their mitigation.
The second major event to be held this July 21 and 22 is the ALAS Management Summit, where, at the Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel, we will meet more than two hundred and fifty owners, managers and directors of security companies from all Latin American countries, to generate business synergy for two days and see the main issues that from the point of view of management interest us to improve competitiveness. Entrepreneurs will also share their experiences, actions and secrets, which made them successful and survivors in times of crisis.
I look forward to seeing you in Miami at the ALAS Management Summit.
Luis Gonzalez Nogales
President ALAS
Some corporate sales secrets
How to Manage Security Vendor Time (Part I)
In organizations there are different types of sellers. The differences lie not only in the charism and the ability to take advantage of opportunities but in the formation he receives.
By: Augusto Diego Berard*
The marketing of security products and services demands specialization, clear objectives and action.
There are many types and classes of people engaged in sales but very few take the activity as a profession.
Sales can be the result of a good advertising or promotion campaign and in this case the role of the seller is only limited to receiving that order and charging a commission for that sale. In these cases, we talk about salon sellers or pick up orders.
This type of situation occurs in all companies, in which there is no concept of proactive work, aimed at going out to look for opportunities and carefully analyze the requirements and needs of the market.
The case of the star seller
The star salesperson is one who, due to his personality or training, stands out in the company, obtains results and achieves goals higher than the average.
This salesperson is always motivated and takes on his job with love and passion. In addition, it transmits to the customers you visit or contact that positive energy that assures you the best sales within the organization.
Charisma and his ability to understand human behavior allow him to differentiate himself from the rest. Handle customer issues or complaints as opportunities to generate business.
He knows that every complaint hides an opportunity to improve and to respond to the customer. In addition, he has an objective vision of the business and his work within it; he does not assume the rejection of his presentations as something personal, instead, he uses it to improve.
But the truth is that the star seller is not born, it is made. In the world of corporate business, charisma and personable personality are not enough to achieve sales goals.
Every human being who wants to improve and grow can stand out in the field of sales.
The training takes many years of study and has to be accompanied by experience in the field of work. For this type of professional training it is ideal to have a good manager or a sales director who can bring to his people the experience and knowledge of traditional sales techniques that are in all books.
It is also very useful to have the support of sales consultants or coachers, who guide and train salespeople.
The point of view of a person outside the organization provides new alternatives and generates creativity within the work team.
Studies in tertiary and university institutes, in careers related to economics, marketing and business administration, are also fundamental to obtain new points of view and grow professionally.
Time management means money management
We know that time is scarce and limited. They say out there that time is money. The truth is that it is the most valuable resource of the sales man.
And that is why you have to take advantage of it in the best possible way, to avoid distractions and detours. Sales must be achieved and, for this, time is of the essence.
The answer to proper time management lies in agenda planning. If the working day is eight hours a day, for five days a week, we have to methodically define what times to allocate to the sales activity.
The first step is the database survey, with 50 or 100 potential customers to contact from day zero. As a next step, the companies that make up the target market of the business must be put on the payroll.
The companies selected to be contacted have to qualify according to the product to be marketed.
Knowing the benefits and applications of the products we sell will give us the names of potential customers. It is also important to use sources of information provided by our current clients, chambers of commerce, industrial chambers, the internet and affinity groups to search for candidates.
For example, a company dedicated to providing monitoring services for trucks and cargo vehicles with a GPS satellite system should have a base of potential customers in the logistics and transport sector.
You can also contact companies that transport valuable cargo (those preferred by asphalt pirates), which despite not having their own fleet of trucks, have an interest in protecting loads with tracking technology.
vehicular by GPS.
So for a company that integrates CCTV security systems, alarms and access control, the target audience is banks, financial companies, commercial offices, warehouses of valuable goods and factories with a certain size or a certain number of operators.
For all this it is required to plant, it is the basics to start working.
Planning, the first step
Planning allows you to conceptualize the business and see it from a general market perspective.
There is a phrase that sums up this thought and that applies in many aspects of professional life: "For a sailboat or boat without direction, all wind is favorable."
If there is no work plan and a course, we will work adrift. Working poorly in commercial and sales activities is equivalent to not working. Discouragement and frustration plague in these cases.
*Augusto Diego Berard is a business consultant. You can be contacted in the mail [email protected]
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