Anita Sirianni

Imagine being a passionate Italian who loves to talk, has a great sense of humor, and a burning desire to help people excel but eight hours of your working day is spent wearing a dental mask. That spells frustration.

Anita Sirianni, The Professional Sales Coach, started her career as a dental hygienist. She loved the health field, but as Anita describes her career choices, "picking and flossing my way to stardom wasn't working!" So she decided to follow her father's path. He enjoyed a lifetime career as a top salesman and executive for one of the original Apple computers.

Health industry sales were a natural fit. Lacking traditional training, Anita focused her passion and enthusiasm on an industry she loved to quickly rise to the top. She sold a wide variety of health products and services: good oral hygiene, dental implants, the first dental intra-oral cameras, health-care educational training for hospitals, etc. Her training came from the "school of hard and fun knocks."

Company owners and managers loved her. For over two decades, Anita dominated the sales charts, achieving the top 5 percent for every company she represented. Making the transition from sales representative to sales trainer took courage, confidence, and trust in her ability to make a difference in a field she found sorely lacking in effective sales training.

"As a number-one sales representative, it was frustrating for me to go to training programs that were not consistent with what I did every day to be at the top," she says. "I found 98.5 percent of the training programs brought in to teach us to sell were cookie-cutter programs that taught watered-down concepts, manipulative techniques that didn't apply to our [sales] world."

Anita made the leap of faith in leaving a lucrative sales position to start her own sales consulting business. Living in southern California, her lifestyle and security were on the line. So she decided to train herself to be a business owner by attending a training program with Women's Economic Development Corp. The program was open to women who owned their own businesses. Anita did not.

"I wanted to be around women who could give me the best information on being an entrepreneur," says Anita. "I sold them on letting me into a program I didn't qualify for," she confesses.

Anita jumpstarted her business by offering a free, day-long sales training program to all the women in her class. Her offer was upfront. "If you like what you hear and it works, don't pay my normal rate [$650 at the time]. All I want is a letter of recommendation from each of you." Everyone in her class showed up, bringing other women with them.

The result was a portfolio of letters of recommendation Anita was able to leverage into her first client, a company that sold special dental camera equipment. With a plan to transition from sales to sales trainer, Anita took a sales position with a small territory, "telling management up front that I was going to work myself out of a job."

After she completed the company's existing sales training programs, the president asked her what she'd do differently. Impressed by her response, he hired her to be a trainer as well. Her business as The Professional Sales Coach was launched.

The "Three P's" of Successful Sales Coaching

Anita works with corporations and sales teams to improve not only their performance, but also their profitability. Her home office is in Tijeras, New Mexico, but she travels throughout the United States and Europe working with a worldwide clientele.

There are two key points that limit sales organizations: one, the fact that most companies have tapped only 25% of their sales potential; and two, an effective sales trainer must deliver at least 300 percent of return on the business owner's training investment.

Why is the sales potential of most companies, small and large, so untapped? Anita has observed that the management team or owners of companies are often unaware of the huge opportunities available to them in the marketplace.

"I've heard people say, 'Albuquerque is different.' Or, 'That won't work in Santa Fe.' That mindset is not limited to New Mexico. Many business people tend to settle for mediocrity. Companies stick their head out and take whatever comes along."

It is the sales consultant's job to take responsibility to not only assess the needs of the company and personnel, but also to be accountable for the results of their clients. Anita focuses her training expertise on the

"Three P's": People, Product and Plan.

People
A quality sales training program must be tailored to the talents and skills of people in the organization. Before a training program begins, a consultant must analyze the core skills of the organization and of each individual. The coach creates a tandem-training program for the management staff so they can create an environment everyone can thrive in. Effective training built around current skills and capabilities can make a huge difference in improving performance.

Product
A training program must showcase the unique qualities of the company's product or service. Anita travels with sales reps into the field to listen in to what they are sharing. Anyone in business is selling something, tangible or intangible. You must maintain a high level of enthusiasm for your product or service. If there is anything about your product that you question or are not totally thrilled about, that will be reflected in your attitude and in your pocketbook.

Plan
A company needs a specific vision and expectation for the sales organization. The coach works with the owner and/or management team to create a program that will partner with the organization's goals. Goals that motivate can be an empowering force. The goals are too low in a majority of the management teams Anita has collaborated with. Her general rule is to make goals "just out of reach, but not out of sight."

The Professional Sales Coach Shares Secrets of Success
Being in a highly competitive industry, Anita has experienced the pitfalls and honed the secrets of success. So what do women most need to know to be successful, not only in sales, but in business?

"That success skills are unisex." she says. "There may be a glass ceiling in some industries, but false expectations can limit a woman's efforts and results." Perhaps the most important "secret to success" for women is to tap into what's natural. "Women are typically highly enthusiastic and supportive of other women in business. There is a wonder-ful network that many women fail to capitalize on.

"One practical step for women in New Mexico is to find resources that support or showcase women in business. The Albuquerque Women in Business Directory is a tool you can take wide and deep. Call, contact, introduce yourself.

"Another key is to educate the people around you on what you can bring to the marketplace. Network to open doors to new customers and improve your skills in maintaining old customers. Customers are looking for businesswomen and organizations who keep a level of enthusiasm and concern for customer care."

With the majority of her clients out of state, Anita looks to invest more time in New Mexico helping business owners maximize their potential. "New Mexico has tremendous growth and potential. I would love to contribute to that success."

What motivates Anita most in her role as consultant is opportunity to empower others to experience success. "Luck can play a factor, but being prepared from the inside out plays an equal factor," she says. "Team up knowledge, skills, and confidence with passion, enthusiasm, and service. Now that's a winning equation."

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