Schaumburg, Ill.—Nearly 50 sales executives heard ways to improve their selling techniques and managerial roles during a seminar titled "Driving Sales Beyond" at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield, May 6.

INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION and 4th Generation Systems, a sales-training firm, produced the one-day workshop. Georgia-Pacific North American Commercial Business sponsored the event.

The session began with Jack Keough, editor/associate publisher of ID, presenting an overview of the distribution market in 2004. Keough identified trends occurring in the marketplace and showed how distributors can take advantage of those changes to compete more effectively.

Dirk Beveridge of 4th Generation Systems told attendees that distributors must be able to identify exactly what their mission is and how it fits into their overall business strategy. He said the number one priority is for distributors to identify, and then satisfy, customer needs. But those needs should only be met if they can be done profitably, he added.

Beveridge also stressed the importance of sales managers becoming coaches to their employees. He advised sales managers to spend 60 percent to 80 percent of their time on the road working with their sales staffs. He also recommended that managers have regular one-on-one meetings with their sales representatives.

This is the first in a series of executive sales seminars that will be conducted around the country.