Programme - YPT Workshop 2010 Stuttgart

Peter Buxton and Jesper Simonsen will outline the objectives for the workshop and give the background for the Workshop theme.

Many people believe that the Yellow Pages sector to cope with rapidly changing market situation requires a change in corporate culture and a different style of leadership, from the very top of the organisation. In this session senior managers will share their views on these issues.

Yellow Pages is a people business and the Human Resource department is therefore a key success factor. But how does the role change as the market conditions change? Get new inspiration from experienced HR managers.

As competition increases the daily work of the sales consultants becomes increasingly difficult. Keeping motivation high is therefore a key success factor. Learn from sales managers from leading European publisher how they develop their motivation methods.  

The objective of the salesman’s role does not change, but the products and the manner in which he/she presents to the small business becomes more complex. In this session we will hear how this change the type of person best suited for the role of the sales consultant. We will also get new ideas how to improve the recruiting process.

In this session we will hear from the sales consultants themselves what in their opinion are the important factors in building and maintaining a high level of motivation. Hear what they expect from their managers.

The product spectrum that the sales consultants are selling is getting more and more complex. Training and re-training of the sales consultants is therefore becoming increasingly important. In this session we will get the latest ideas from experienced sales training managers.

We can measure the effectiveness of sales consultants through results. This study which was conducted in 2009 in the sales force of BT Directories in the UK found another way to evaulate the quality of the sales consultant. Listen to this new approach to identifying talent in a YP sales operation.

The Berry Company has over many decades built and maintained the reputation as the best sales organisation in Yellow Pages. The company has recently undertaken a transformation of its sales process to meet the demands of the new era. Hear from a very popular speaker from previous conferences the reasons for the changes and the challenges of its implementation. This is a recorded interview.

New products, new competitors and rapidly changing market conditions put new demands on the Yellow Pages companies. In this session we will hear how Yellow Pages managers are changing their organizations to meet the changing conditions. Hear e.g. how structures are changed and which new positions are being introduced.

Peter Buxton and Jesper Simonsen bring the Workshop to a close by summarizing the messages received during the day. In this final session they will highlight the conclusions that we can take away and adopt in our own markets.