U.S. Marine Sergeant Trains Sales People Instead Of Warriors

Sgt. Justin Shields of the USMC having recently returned from active duty in Iraq took on a temporary mission as a sales trainer for the PhoneSmart off-site sales force. Sgt. Shields worked as a sales person before entering the Marines and was responsible for helping train Marines in his unit. For six days in April, Sgt. Shields applied his life experience to helping sales reps fine-tune their rapport building, listening and selling skills.

Columbia, MO (PRWEB) April 29, 2006 -- Sgt. Justin Shields of the United States Marine Corps recently took on a temporary assignment as a sales trainer for the PhoneSmart off-site sales force in Columbia, MO. Sgt. Shields recently returned from active duty in Iraq where his unit’s team–work and training were tested every single day of his deployment. Sgt. Shields worked as a sales person before entering the Marines and applied his knowledge of rapport building, customer service and thorough follow-through to his career as a Marine. Sgt. Shields used his life experience as both a sales person and as a Marine to help the sales team at PhoneSmart Sales Solutions improve their rapport building, listening and selling skills.

PhoneSmart offers a wide range of sales solutions to property management and self storage companies including an off-site sales force to act as a back-up to leasing agents, sales training and secret shopping services and lead generation. Tron Jordheim, the director of PhoneSmart said, “We are always looking for ways to help our sales team get even better at what they do. April is the last chance for any spring training activities before the moving and storing season swamps us with call volume. After May starts, we are lucky to catch our breath between calls. I have known Justin Shields for years. He worked for me when I managed another business and I always believed in his selling skills. When I found out he would be looking for something to keep him busy and wanted to get a taste of civilian life while home for a few weeks on leave after his active deployment, I seized on the opportunity. Justin’s wife Dana Shields has worked with PhoneSmart for over five years as a supervisor and lead sales agent. Dana is one of our key people. She suggested that Justin would be a big help to our training staff if he spent a few days with both our new hires and our seasoned reps.”

It was an adjustment getting back into the civilian world where things are certainly different than in the Marines. But the same principles that make a good Marine, also make a good sales person. I want people to know that there are a lot of practices that apply to both the military and to business.

Sgt. Shields spent six days during the end of April nesting with in-bound leasing specialists monitoring their phone calls and giving coaching and training input. He helped reps pin-point areas where they were excelling and areas where they needed some additional expertise or needed a different approach. Sgt. Shields said, “ It was an adjustment getting back into the civilian world where things are certainly different than in the Marines. But the same principles that make a good Marine, also make a good sales person. I want people to know that there are a lot of practices that apply to both the military and to business.”

Sgt. Shields summed up his experiences and his impressions from his PhoneSmart assignment in a blog entry on the www.selfstorageblog.com site that would make interesting reading.

More informaiton on PhoneSmart can be found at www.phone-smart.info.

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