NEWTON, MASS. — Four associations are sponsoring a series of one-day workshops targeted at distributor salespeople. The Top Gun Survival School is sponsored by the Industrial Distribution Assn., Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Assn., Safety Equipment Distributors Assn. and North American Building Materials Distribution Assn.

Leading the school is sales trainer and distribution consultant Dave Kahle, president of The DaCo Corp.

"Distributors are more and more concerned about the new challenges being thrown at them," says Kahle. "The marketplace is changing dramatically with factors such as economic turbulence, the rise of e-commerce, the expansion of alternate channels and new pressure from suppliers. This means customers have less time to spend with salespeople. They have more pressure and more competition."

Workshop topics include learning to survive the struggle and succeed in a changing marketplace; how to gain the advantage over the competition; how to develop the firepower needed to succeed under pressure; learning the tactics that will put a salesperson on top; and learning Kahle's secrets of survival during turbulent times, including one surefire tactic for multiplying effectiveness, and the two Top Gun rules for closing a sale.

The one-day schools will be held in Atlanta on Oct. 8, Chicago on Oct. 15, Sturbridge, Mass., on Oct. 27, Los Angeles on Nov. 17, and Dallas on Nov. 19. For more information, visit www.davekahle.com.