Realigning and powering up sales for the unique landscape presented by 2023

This event was held on April 12, 2023 at the Manchester Country Club.

Learn the most crucial strategies for successful sales, sales management, as well as recruitment and retention, and the newest, most-effective sales marketing trends. And most critically, come together in dynamic networking sessions that will truly drive revenue growth for your organization.

Agenda:

8-8:30: Check in, coffee and networking

8:30-8:40: Introduction from NH Business Review’s publisher and editor

8:40-9: Opening presentation from Jason Alexander

9-9:45: Women in Sales Panel, moderated by Heidi Solomon-Orlick

9:45-10: Brief Break

10-10:45: Session A: Building a High Value Biz Dev Team with Kevin O’Connor and
10-10:45: Session B: Moving From Pest to Partner with Shannon Herrmann

10:45-11:30: Session A: Finding, Recruiting and Hiring Sales Talent in 2023 with Kevin Hallenbeck and
10:45-11:30: Session B: Generating Sales Leads Using Technology (ChatGPT, Dux-Soup, Social Media and More) with Dennis Boyle

11:30-12: Networking

12-1:30: Keynote by Heidi Solomon-Orlick and lunch

Seminar and keynote descriptions

Panel: Women in Sales

The Women in Sales panel will highlight and amplify the voices of female sales leaders in New Hampshire. In this lively discussion, the panel will address the impact of diversifying a sales team and discuss the relevance of positioning sales as a viable career choice for women. We will address current pipeline challenges in attracting and retaining top female sales talent. We will provide actionable advice and guidance on training and recruiting strategies that will assist companies in creating the sales team of the future. And finally, we will discuss how critical male allyship is in support of our mission to change the face of sales.

Panelists: Jennifer Delisle, Darien Cascio and Lisa Carter. Moderated by Heidi Solomon-Orlick.

Training Session: Moving From Pest to Partner

What does your prospect think when your number pops up on caller ID? Are you going directly to voicemail and being ignored? Would you rather have their personal cell and get a return text message right away? It takes a focused effort to separate yourself from all the other vendors out there, and be a valued partner to your client. In this session, we will explore moving client relationships from the beginning stages to deep personal connections that result in improved business outcomes.

Training with Shannon Herrmann 

Training Session: Building Better Biz Dev Teams

Traditional Business Development functions are part of a sales organization and solely focus on winning new business. Winning new business, by obsessing over customer outcomes, is critical in today’s experience economy. This session will share how market leaders are building Business Development organizations into high-performing customer engagement teams that get to the root of what it takes to satisfy new and existing customers. With an improved understanding of your customers’ needs, you can refine your go to market approach, align your product/service investments to impactful customer outcomes, and expand your business through new and existing accounts.

Training with Kevin O’Connor

Keynote:  To SELL is to SERVE

The sales profession gets a bad rap, and rightly so.  With a “Wolf of Wall Street” mentality, sales has traditionally been associated with salespeople who are pushy and self-serving. It is time to break down some of the myths and to change the perception of what professional sales is, and what it isn’t.  In this keynote, Heidi Solomon-Orlick, a 35-year sales veteran and founder of GirlzWhoSell, will tackle the top three myths and introduce the concept of “servant selling.” She will provide guidance on how to  shift the sales mindset from selling to servicing. She will talk about why a “one size fits all” sales process and solution no longer works and discuss the importance of active listening and centering the needs of the customer to solve business challenges.  Servicing is the evolution and the future of sales.

Keynote by Heidi Solomon-Orlick

Keynote Speaker

Heidi Solomon-Orlick
Founder and CEO
GirlzWhoSell, LLC
SVP, Business Development
Arise Virtual Solutions Inc.

Heidi is an award-winning BPO industry veteran with over 35 years of global sales and executive leadership experience. Heidi currently serves as senior vice president of business development for Arise Virtual Solutions, a $300 million multi-national GigCX outsourcing company.  She is founder and CEO of GirlzWhoSell, an organization that is committed to democratizing professional sales and to building the largest pipeline of diverse, early-stage female sales talent.

GirlzWhoSell offers training, scholarships, mentoring, experiential learning opportunities and career placement to college and high school-aged women interested in pursuing a career in professional sales.  Heidi is host of the GirlzWhoSell Spotlight podcast, is a 2x author who recently released “Heels to Deals: How Women Are Dominating in Business-to-Business Sales.”  She is a 2x Gold Stevie Award Winner for Women of the Year in Sales and Worldwide Sales Executive of the Year.  She was listed in the Top 100 Women Magazine, the Top 100 Women in Sales published by Demandbase and was featured in the July – September, 2022 issue of Global Leaders Today.  Heidi and is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist supporting women in sales.  Heidi has three boys and currently resides in Henniker, NH, with her husband of 28 years, David Orlick.

Women in Sales Panelists

Jennifer Delisle
Co-founder
Inspire Realty Group

Jennifer Delisle is a realtor, broker associate and co-founder of Inspire Realty Group, Keller Williams Realty Metropolitan in Bedford, New Hampshire.

A Realtor since 2006, she is consistently a Top Producer in the New England Region, selling over $20 Million in property each year and in the top 3% of agents in her office. In 2021 and 2022, she earned the Top 5% Homesnap Award from agents nationwide.

Darien Sacco
Manager, Sales Development
Udacity

Darien has a double major in marketing and management and has been in sales and marketing her whole career. She started in retail sales early, working for her father at his pharmacy, and she obtained her national pharmacy technician certification as soon as I was legally allowed to take the exam. She worked as a tech full time through college.  

After college she went on to corporate sales and marketing and has worked with B2B, B2C, tangible goods (lighting), and has spent the last 10 years in SaaS. She has managed top performing, award-winning teams for the last 12 years.  She has a passion for helping people to realize their strengths and facilitating their growth in their careers. She lives about 45 minutes north of Boston, Mass., with her husband, 8-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. 

Lisa Carter
Owner
Drinkwater Marketing and Productions

Lisa Carter is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for building brands. As the owner and chief engagement officer of Drinkwater Marketing and Productions, she works with small businesses and large enterprises to develop brand, digital and event marketing strategies to drive revenue. Prior to launching Drinkwater, she spent 20+ years in the corporate sector building product and brand strategies for top Fortune 500 companies such as The Limited Corporation, Timberland Footwear and Staples, Inc.

Breakout: Moving From Pest to Partner

Shannon Herrmann
Sr. Recruiting Manager
Alexander Technology Group

Shannon partners with local businesses to help them hire top technology talent. With nearly 10 years of experience in staffing and an additional five in sales-related roles, she is passionate about building long-term relationships. In 2018, Shannon was a co-founder of Women in Sales NH, a networking group designed to connect local sales professionals, provide career development and share best practices. She serves on the NH Tech Alliance’s Board of Directors, and the Governors Council on Family & Medical Leave.  When not working, Shannon enjoys spending time with her husband, 11-year-old daughter and French bulldog.  

Speaker: Building Better Biz Dev Teams

Kevin O’Connor
Product Manager
Amazon Web Services

At Amazon’s Web Services division, Kevin leads product management in the EC2 Compute Launch Services division. Before joining AWS, he led the System Integrator business at Spectrum Enterprise (Charter Communications), where he drove the unification of their telecommunication and Cloud Service provider lines of business. Kevin has a track record of leading successful technical product strategy and go-to-market initiatives during his time at EMC/Documentum, Connection, Macromedia/Allaire and Borland/Segue.  

Panelists and Speakers

Dennis Boyle
President
Seacoast Dx, Sales Xceleration

Dennis has over 30 years of experience with large corporations such as E.I. Dupont, Dade Behring and Siemens AG as well as startup companies such as Exalenz Bioscience and MedTest Dx.  Dennis’s experience includes both sales and marketing, and he has held multiple senior executive roles in business development, corporate accounts, strategic management, corporate/commercial training and development, private equity and operations.  In his last role, he served as president of Spectra 254, in Danbury, Conn. 

He earned his BA in economics from Middlebury College and also holds a master’s in business administration and a master’s in business education from Southern New Hampshire University.  Dennis also received graduate certificates in negotiation and public speaking from the Center for Management Research in Waltham, Mass.  He also has a certificate from the Emily Post Institute on business etiquette and ethics. 

His current company, Sales Xceleration, provides commercial consulting within small to medium-sized businesses to build sales systems and infrastructure to help the firm achieve record revenue growth. 

Dennis has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire.  He also leads a local charitable group called the Newfields Helpful Hands, and a military charitable organization called the New Hampshire Military Mentoring and Coaching Group. He resides in Portsmouth, NH, with his wife, two dogs, and three kids scattered all over the country. 

Kevin Hallenbeck
Owner
BestSalesPeople LLC

BestSalesPeople LLC — a licensee of Sandler, a global consulting firm specializing in business development strategies, sales, and sales management training — offers virtual and hybrid training solutions, servicing clients in New England and across the country. In addition to maintaining top rankings locally, on a national level, Sandler has consistently been named the No. 1 management training program in Entrepreneur Magazine, as well as the top-rated sales and sales management training organization in the country by Inc. Magazine.

Jason Alexander
Chief Revenue Officer & Co-Founder
BANKW Staffing

Jason works to drive new revenue opportunities, foster marketing and PR strategies, and participate regularly in public speaking opportunities. If there was one word to describe Jason’s nature, it would be “driven.” This is displayed not only in his affinity for facts and figures but also in his people-first leadership style. This combination of strengths has helped Jason lead BANKW to ongoing growth and success, even during challenging times. 

Jason was named one of Business NH Magazine’s top leaders for the future and received a Business Excellence Award from NH Business Review. He has also served as a director/advisor on the boards of the Massachusetts Technology Council, the NH Tech Alliance, the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, Southern New Hampshire University, NHTI, Granite State College and Pinkerton Academy.