Sanders Wallis is the Director of New Business Development at Wallis Printing Company, which means he is regularly put in charge of projects, particularly those related to the creation of marketing materials. He believes that all great project managers have a particular skillset that makes then suitable for the job and points to the following traits as being absolutely essential.
A Good Listener As a project manager you need to be able to communicate instructions to your team as needed, but it is also important that you are able to listen when needed. Team members will want to speak to their manager when issues arise or they have ideas that may help the project to run smoother, so make sure to offer them the opportunity to do so on a regular basis. This can be done by holding weekly team meetings and operating an open door policy for team members who need to talk. Positivity Morale is vital when working on any project, as low morale may lead to a drop in productivity, which has a direct effect on the quality of your team’s work and how quickly they can deliver. As a project manager, you need to understand that your own attitude will often have a part to play in the attitude of the rest of your team members. If you approach tasks from a negative standpoint, you are going to find it much more difficult to maintain your team’s morale and keep them enthused at all times. Strong Knowledge Sanders Wallis points out that project managers are meant to understand everything about the project and their company, so you need to make sure you offer this knowledge to your team members. If you don’t you may find that they struggle to respect you, which can have an effect on productivity. In his role as the Director of New Business Development, Sanders Wallis is responsible for making sure that the marketing materials that Wallis Printing Company puts out are up to a high standard and are capable of drawing more eyes to the business. There are a lot of things that distinguish good marketing materials from bad, including all of the following qualities.
Eye-Catching It is important to remember that each of your potential customers only has a limited amount of time in the day and they are likely not going to spend much of it perusing marketing materials from random companies. This means that you need to make sure that yours stand out from the moment a person comes into contact with them. Whether it’s a catchy slogan, the use of color of the design of the materials themselves, something needs to attract the reader’s eye to the point where they give it more than just a cursory glance. Keep It Simple Once you have the reader’s attention, you need to get straight to the point of what you are offering. Don’t spend too much time on explanations that nobody wants to read and instead keep things sharp and succinct, offering just enough information so that they understand what you have to offer, while also leaving room for further explanation when they contact you. Materials The materials you use for your marketing materials are surprisingly important. Sanders Wallis notes that materials printed on poor quality paper will reflect directly on the company and lead the reader to making assumptions before they have even really discovered anything about your service. Another thing to keep in mind is the use of recycled materials, particularly if your company makes a big deal about being environmentally friendly. Make sure to use a printing company that is able to offer a range of options and advice. During the course of his career at Wallis Printing Company, Sanders Wallis has come to understand just how important it is to have the correct project team if you are going to be able to deliver the sort of service that your clients expect. Proper management is essential in these circumstances, so he has developed the following pointers that boil down the essence of successful project management.
Set Goals Before the team gets working on the project, you need to set goals for them to work towards. This should include a final goal and all of the milestones that must be reached before you can reach that final goal. This not only allows you to structure the work accordingly, but also provides the team with the motivation that they need to keep striving towards the final goal. Without an end product in mind, you may find the team starts questioning the purpose of the project and their role in the team. Be Enthusiastic Anybody who has worked under a project manager who simply doesn’t care about the project knows how demoralizing a lack of enthusiasm can be for the team. As such, to be successful in the role you need to bring a high level of enthusiasm and positivity to the job. Never let project issues bring you down or make you lose focus and use your enthusiasm to keep morale high amongst the rest of the team. Picking The Right People Every single member of a project team has a different skillset, so Sanders Wallis always points to how important it is to assign the right jobs to the right people in order to take advantage of this. Consider what each member of the team brings to the table and the various jobs that need to be completed before assigning work. Having worked as the Director of New Business Development at Wallis Printing Company since 2012, Sanders Wallis understands how to create business plans that are robust and effective. He has the following tips for anybody who is struggling, whether they are new to the world of business or want to make improvements to their current plan.
Understand Your Budget Before you start considering any other aspect of the business you need to take the financial side of things into account. You need to understand the budget that you are working with, how this is going to affect the services that you offer to clients and how your various revenue streams and outgoings will affect the business going forward. Create a comprehensive plan based around the budget that you have now, while taking into account future developments that will affect that budget in the future. Know The Competition Competition is vital for business and it pushes companies to constantly strive towards offering the absolute best services that they can. However, it is also one of the most difficult things a company is going to have to face, as too much competition can have a direct effect on your bottom line. You need to conduct comprehensive research into your area of operation to find out what demand looks like and how that demand is currently being fulfilled by existing companies in your sector. Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses You should already understand the good things that your company is able to offer to its customers, but to create a truly great business plan Sanders Wallis always recommends paying close attention to the company’s weaknesses. You should always create a business plan with the intention of improving the company, so failing to consider areas that need a little work will result in the business not growing in the way you expected. As a business offering a valuable service, you will make your bread and butter by generating leads and following up on them. Clients need your services, and it’s your job to find them and bring them into the fold. Your business will only survive if you can bring in clients that will do business with your firm for years to come. Building this loyalty takes time and a leap of faith by the customer. In order to get the client to take this leap of faith, you will need to be able to not only present your company and brand in a succinct, positive way, you will also need to be able to close the sale with your follow-up.
Good Salespeople have a roster of clients they can pull up and show as proof they are bringing in more clients. In the end, it doesn’t matter how they know the people on their sales lists, just that they convinced them to do business with your company. Account managers and salespeople have to be able to generate leads from almost everywhere, family connections, friend groups, in addition to traditional ways of finding leads like trade shows and conventions. Sanders Wallis has been generating leads for his company, Wallis Printing for many years. He worked his way up in the company from an account executive responsible for bringing in new business and keeping clients happy to become the Director of New Business Development. Wallis has always shown a talent for bringing in clients and works with the CEO and the COO of Wallis Printing to evaluate the sales staff. The printing industry is more competitive than you might think. With the world turning to digital solutions for almost everything, businesses still need printed words on paper to operate, and they need those printed products to be exquisite. Although analysts have said that the business world has turned into a digital landscape, small businesses still need many printed materials. Restaurants need menus, churches need brochures, lecturers need pamphlets, and so on. For a printing business to survive, it needs to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack. Some printing businesses do this by offering the most comprehensive printing services they can. They upgrade their printing equipment whenever possible and always keep up with changing technologies as they hit the market. These companies wow their clients by being flexible and ready for anything. They have to be constantly aware of new technologies and have the capital to spend on their printing capabilities at all times. As these companies grow, they start trends in the printing industry that other businesses follow, and the cycle of innovation starts all over again. Other printing companies make their clients feel like they’re the only clients on the planet. They offer excellent customer service and work extra hard to handle all of their personal needs quickly. Sanders Wallis is the Director of New Business Development for Wallis Printing. He tries to shape the company to bring in clients both ways--with excellent services and exquisite customer service. He is a former Account Executive with the company and works with company leadership to evaluate the sales staff. Being a salesman can be difficult. Sales do not come naturally to most people and are a skill that can be acquired and developed. If you are good at sales or have the patience and desire to learn, it can be a very desirable and profitable career. Here are four tips for being successful in sales.
1. Your Customer’s Needs Are Important You need to be aware of your customers’ needs and what they believe to be true and not true. You could say something or present something in a way that you think is the best sales pitch ever, but your customer could believe the opposite. Be acutely aware of what your customer needs and believes. 2. Always Have a Plan When you are about to make a cold call or discuss something with a new or existing customer, you always need a plan. Never expect to be able to wing it. Most importantly know exactly how you plan on closing a deal. This does not mean only have one plan. In fact, it means you should make a couple plans depending on what your customer says, you should react to that. This tip ties back to the first tip. 3. Organize Yourself and Make a Schedule Organizing yourself and making a schedule is incredibly important because it helps you keep up with yourself and your customers. Being unorganized leads to inefficiency, low productive, and low profits. Scheduling includes making sure you show up on time for appointments. Being late sends the wrong message and if you're not organized chances are you will be late to some things. 4. Believe That You Are Helping Your Client If you believe, they will believe, it's that simple. Confidence is attractive, and it sells. Sanders Wallis is a successful salesman with seven years of sales experience with Cbeyond, Inc. and the Wallis Printing Company. He is currently the Director of New Business Development for the Wallis Printing Company. Skiing is the world's most popular winter sport. People around the globe share a passion for racing down the glistening white slopes. You can find people skiing in Austria, Switzerland, and Italy in the Alps, or in Colorado and Utah in the Rocky Mountains. Opinions differ though on who has the best skiing in the world may be an impossible task to figure out. For the time being, let's find out where the Top 3 Skiing Resorts in the North America can be found.
3. Alpine Valley, White Lake, Michigan Alpine Valley, White Lake, Michigan is located in eastern Michigan, North West of Detroit. It's not by any means a large ski resort like you may find in the Rocky Mountains, but its quaintness is what makes it appealing. It spans 118 acres and has 25 trails. The town itself is great for families and is a great spot to get your cocktails when you're done skiing. It may not be the most challenging skiing, but it's good for beginners and is a beautiful environment. It's been open for over 50 years for a reason. 2. Alta Ski Area, Utah Alta is the oldest ski resort in the country and spans 2,200 acres. It offers the lowest ski lift prices in the country and is known to have the best snow in the country in large part to its high elevation of 8,530 ft. It’s an excellent resort for intermediate skiers. 1. Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, Canada Whistler Blackcomb is the largest resort in North America and was the co-host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. It's open year round and friendly to beginner, intermediate, advanced and pro skiers. It's located a mere two hours north of Vancouver making it easy to get to. Whistler Blackcomb's village is lively featuring pedestrians, shops, and restaurants year round. Sanders Wallis is the Director of New Business Development and an avid skier. Sanders Wallis holds a Bachelor of Business in Management degree from the University of Georgia. He received the degree in 2008, and went to work right away for an Atlanta company called Cbeyond, Inc., a telecommunications firm. He stayed there for a year and a half and became one of its top producers, and then went to work for the Wallis Printing Company, a firm that was founded by his grandfather in 1953.
As the company's Director of New Business Development, Sander Wallis works hard to provide the company with guidance in strategic business plans, marketing materials, and organizational structure. He enjoys getting away from it all by playing tennis and running, but says that what he really looks forward to most are his annual ski trips to Beaver Creek, Colorado. "I go to Beaver Creek every year for a couple of days," he says. "You fly into Eagle-Vail, and it's about thirty minutes away from there." Beaver Creek is one of the most popular ski destinations in the Rocky Mountain State. The ski area operates on part of the National Forest System under a special use permit to the White River National Forest. Operated by Vail Resorts, the ski resort consists of three ski villages. The Beaver Creek ski area very nearly hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1976. Plans had been approved and were in the works but derailed by a voter-approved referendum that stopped state funding for the Olympics. The Winter Games were then re-assigned to Innsbruck Austria. It is only a minor coincidence that Sanders Wallis has a small connection to Innsbruck. He took several classes at the University of Innsbruck in 2006 in a program set up through the University of Georgia. Sanders Wallis is the Director of New Business Development at the Wallis Printing Company in Atlanta, Georgia. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in Management from the University of Georgia, a degree he received in 2008. He has been at Wallis Printing since early in 2010.
His interests include following politics. Sanders Wallis got a rare inside look at national politics in 2007 when, as a college student, he was involved in the Rudolph Giuliani Presidential Campaign from July to September. "I assisted in administrative duties and actively contacted notable donors in the interest of their continued support," he recalls. "Collaborated with key event coordinators in planning and execution in numerous campaign fundraisers." Giuliani was running as a Republican and wound up bowing out of the race to endorse Senator John McCain, the eventual 2008 Republican nominee. Sanders Wallis is also interested in following the financial markets. "I actively invest in the stock market," he says. "Follow it every day." Financial news is reported daily in the news and on many different websites, usually as prices, indexes, or interest rates. This is all-important, direct information, and can give indications of where the economy is headed. By following the ups and downs of this information it is possible to forecast directions in consumer spending, educational loans, and retirement plans. As he knows, financial markets are important to everyday life because they help millions of people make good business decisions. Sanders Wallis holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in Management, which he received from the University of Georgia in 2008. |
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