Over 200 sales personnel set to revolutionise PC market

Microsoft Sri Lanka’s OEM Sales Academy recently completed their fifth workshop, garnered towards fostering OEM sales personnel of the Microsoft Partner Network across the country.

The academy which was launched to motivate OEM sales personnel is directed to help them enhance their sales and product knowledge while applying that knowledge to real sales scenarios. Another key value brought in by the academy is to inculcate soft skills and leadership qualities that will help enhance their professional status.

The OEM Sales Academy also helps participants identify the growth areas within the OEM market in order to equip them with the skills necessary to build lasting customer relationships that will help their organisations excel in the highly competitive market.

In a market where the competition levels are ever increasing and leads to price wars where none of the retailers win, it is becoming more and more important to engage the customer in a value conversation as opposed to a price negotiation.

Given this context, Academy participants are provided with the tools to sharpen their skill set that help them move their customer engagement to the next level. The training also included sessions that covered important organisational and self-development aspects such as team building and motivational counselling which targeted their personal growth as a priority.

Launched over two and a half years ago in March 2009, the first workshop saw 25 sales personnel trained to be the very best in their field.

This year’s event saw a significant increase in attendance, with 210 sales people from across the Microsoft partner network being present. These included participants from leading PC vendors and System Builder Community in the island, who made use of the Microsoft OEM Sales Academy to expose their sales teams for a career development opportunity.

“We started this initiative because we wanted to take the lead in creating professional sales people for the future and foster skills of leadership, presentation and persistence etc. We aimed to have 200 participants for our fifth workshop – eight times the number we had at our very first workshop and I’m extremely happy that we succeeded in accomplishing this task,” stated Microsoft Sri Lanka OEM Director Poojitha Rajapakse, adding, “All the sales personnel who’ve gone through the OEM Sales Academy are a part of Microsoft’s extended family and an integral element of Microsoft’s success in Sri Lanka through their ties to our OEM partner network. This training allows us to help them succeed in their careers via the skills learnt at the Academy and also help take our message to the markets they work with, ensuring that customer satisfaction is guaranteed for all Microsoft consumers.”

Speaking about their experiences at the fifth OEM Academy Training Programme, Barclays Computers Pvt Ltd Showroom Manager M. F. Rizwan stated, “This workshop really helped me learn how to do my best as a sales person who directly interacts with customers and in selling Microsoft products. We’re taught how to educate the customer on the difference between genuine vs. counterfeit software and my training here has really helped me become a more confident person as well as a professional whom my customers can trust and depend on.” Rizwan was recognised as a ‘Sales Champion’ during the recently concluded training programme.

“This training has taught me how to hone in and identify the customers need and cater to them perfectly. One of the interesting facets of this programme is that it trains us not just to be better IT sales people, but also to become trusted advisors to my customers; this has really helped us grow our customer base thanks to our skilled sales force that has completed this programme. Our sales team has been strengthened and we’ve seen growth in the organisation as a whole, as well as within the Microsoft OEM partner network since this initiative was launched in 2009,” said Malaka Wijegunarathna, Product Executive from Softlogic Trading Pvt Ltd, yet another, ‘Sales Champion’ from the training programme.

During the course of the training, participants progressed from OEM Sales Specialist, to OEM Sales Professionals, finally emerging as OEM Sales Champions at the end of the programme. The first OEM Academy saw 23 sales persons enrolling while the second programme saw an additional 25 individuals join this group. This time’s programme saw 155 people being added to the growing pool of the academy’s sales force, bringing the total up to 210.

At the completion of each stage, participants were recognised with certificates, scholarships and gifts, standing testament to Microsoft’s willingness to invest in the qualified individuals of the partner network with the ultimate goal of uplifting the overall standard of the entire partner network.