An amazing event regarding SALES & MARKETING in the new era.

The 10th International Sales & Marketing Management Conference organised by?HamayeshFarazan ?in Tehran. It took place at IICC , during 3&4 August 2023, with 700 CEOs, Entrepreneurs, Sales, Service and Marketing Leaders in attendance.

The 4 conference speakers delivered 2 keynotes each and created the new environment that Sales & Marketing is taking place. It was Carlos Escario ?from Spain,?Giulio Toscani ?from Italy, Jonathan Low from Malaysia, and?Yiannis Kalogerakis ?from Greece.

On the first day,

The 1st keynote by Carlos was about “THE BATTLES IN THE MARKET PLACE – Identify and win them”.

He contemplated that ‘In few years your company will arrive … the question is where?’. He proceeded to give examples of Clarity in SALES STRATEGY & healthy SALES CULTURE. ‘Let’s not be running about like zombies or headless chickens’ he said, with vivid examples of failed, and successful strategies. ?TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE will be constant from now on and helped the audience to understand how to deliver more value than anybody else. Laying down the new rules of the marketplace, some vivid examples of best practices gave him repeated standing ovations. He helped participants to understand the ‘inner’ & ‘outer’ circles of any successful business and with a variety of practical exercises and industry case studies, everyone understood the concepts.

The 2nd keynote by JMK , was about HEQ. “Highly Effective Questioning – Unleashing the power of Staregic Inquiry in Sales ”. Basically, a presentation about Strategic Selling, the emphasis was on how to ask the appropriate questions, to build trust, gain understanding and start long-term relationships with customers. The new mentality ‘We do not close a sale; we OPEN a relationship’ is the basis of every relationship: Listening – Asking – Listening Asking etc. Many question techniques were presented with practical examples. ?Questions are not just ‘open or closed’. Questions can and must be: Probing questions, Clarifying questions, Quantifying questions, Investigative questions, Fact-finding questions, Strategic questions, Funnel questions, Leading questions, Rhetorical questions, Hypothetical questions, and many more. A number of effective listening techniques were detailed (including Encouraging, Paraphrasing, Summarizing, Reflecting Emotions, etc). Finally, it was stressed that our AUTHENTICITY, UNIQUENESS & INDIVIDUALITY needs to be cherished if we are to have successful Strategies and build long-term relations with our customers.

The 3rd keynote by Jonathan was about “Developing a winning PERFORMANCE CULTURE”.

He vividly explained the Growth & Fixed mindsets, and how we must all ‘help our customers to buy – not sell them’. He also described the top 10 skills needed for the future, as described by the World Economic Forum, with particular emphasis on the growing and declining skills. He also passionately supported the case for cultivating Emotional Intelligence at all levels in any organization with particular emphasis on Sales & Marketing. A number of ‘Mathematical’ formulas were presented regarding CHANGE and personal Responsibility, for amazing results. Finally, he detailed the 8 Human Motivational Drivers.

The 4th keynote by Giulio was about “Artificial Intelligence practical applications into Sales & Marketing”. He explained very clearly AI, and those not so familiar with the topic were impressed with the clarity of his presentation, while the experts in the audience got various ideas on how to improve their AI running programs in their companies. He stressed that VALUE IS PERSONAL and that EMOTIONS DETERMINE VALUE. Understanding what is valuable for whom is what it is all about. Business models must create and capture value, in order to exploit future business opportunities. With practical examples of AI Marketing from Starbucks, Nike, and their market segmentation, he also discussed Digital Awareness and how it provides insides into what customers want. His particular emphasis on developing our MINDSET and ECOSYSTEM left the audience with a good sense of the future and what lies ahead of us. He emphasized how and why we all need a Digital mindset for Digital Success. His final remarks for THINK ECOSYSTEM resonated very well with the audience. ?

On the second day,

The 1st keynote was by Jonathan, about “The Competences needed to improve Customer Service”.

He referred to his book ‘Winning Clients Loyalty’ and gave many practical examples of EQ at work. Referencing Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions/Feelings, gave the audience various resources for further reading and personal development. Various examples from the hotel industry that he has a solid and lengthy experience complemented his presentation, and the audience identified with him on several occasions.

He also referred to a variety of other worth reading books like John Maxwell's: ‘Everyone Communicates, few Connect’. He closed with his tips for future success such as: ‘Serve it Forward’.

The 2nd keynote by Gulio was about “STRATEGY & VALUE CREATION”.

He detailed the Customer (User) Journey and emphasized that all success begins with ‘Know Thyself’ (“Gnothi safton” in Greek). He encouraged participants for ‘self-evaluation’ proposing to visit www.applymagicsauce.com ?His practical examples included how a Bus company can create value for its passengers and made everyone think that we can and must do it for our own companies. Emphasizing again that we must all think ECOSYSTEM and NOT just Supply Chain which is binary (Charge your users more, Pay your suppliers less). In ECOSYSTEM, other parties benefit when your innovation succeeds. He invited participants to think WHO ELSE IS IN YOUR ECOSYSTEM? He prompted the audience to follow P&G’s example and ‘fall in love with the problem, NOT the solution’. His particular explanatory examples included the ‘Power Toothbrush’ model and presented to the audience his 5 final takeaways: Finding the value, Planning the campaign, Activating the omnichannel journey, Empowering the seller, and Selling better.

The 3rd keynote by Carlos, was a crescendo of useful business advice that took everyone to a higher level. “BUSINESS IS A MAGICAL GAME. WE MAKE HAPPEN WHAT DOES NOT EXIST YET”.

With case studies from ZARA, ABN-AMRO, and other companies he worked with, he explained very clearly the values of the Emotional & Rational Client as well as the ones of the Account Manager. ‘Customers do not care about your product; they care about their problem’. He closed his amazing presentation by detailing the ‘5 Ingredients for business success’, namely: 1. Achievement & Progress, 2. Passion & Mastery, 3. Close Relationships, 4. Positive Emotions and finally 5. Sense of Purpose and Meaning.

The final keynote of the conference was by JMK, about how to move “From Sales Manager to Sales Coach – Mastering the art of inspiring Sales Excellence”.

The difference between Sales Training and Sales Coaching was presented with a variety of vivid examples. It was also explained, the differences between Coaching, Mentoring, Consulting, Counselling, and Psychotherapy. Various movie clips complemented and stressed the successful sales coach strategy. A number of KEY QUESTIONS were presented with typical answers that we usually get, and details of their further deep explanation were presented. Various AI & IT tools were presented, including the OWIWI Soft Skill Assessment Tool. The conference closed with the belief of JMK, that all those present will succeed. They came, they participated, they care. They will succeed. Those who ‘know it all’, those who did not attend, are those in big need. Only the continuously developing minds have a place in the future. The audience was swinging between laughter and tears throughout the keynote.

All presenters received standing ovations and the CEO of HamayeshFarazan ?(the organisers) Dr?Sepehr Tarverdian , honored all speakers with a traditional (huge) Iranian cup and accompanied conference trophies. Overall, it was an incredible experience for all participants and invited keynote speakers.