Sales Talk… with Francois Pulzone

It’s hard not to be inspired by LFP Training’s Head of National Sales, Francois Pulzone.

Francois truly lives out our values of Leadership, Focus, Passion and Integrity in his daily dealings and over the past eight months, Francois has worked hard to create solid sales structures and open lines of communication.

We caught up with Francois to find out more about how the sales team has expanded and evolved over the past eight months, and what they are currently up to.

Q: How has the company’s sales strategy and focus shifted since you joined the team?

With 26 years of sales experience under my belt and under the careful guidance of our Group CEO, Louis Pulzone and insights from Senior Strategist, Pierre Human, I have worked hard to create and implement efficient sales systems and structures within LFP.

Fast-forward to now and we have a telesales department and a market research analyst to best support our sales strategists. By finding the most driven and skilled people for the job, we have grown significantly and have developed a team who supports one another. In most sales environments, you will not find a team who shares ideas and strategies, communicates and works together like our team does.

Q: Describe the characteristics of a good sales person in the eyes of LFP?

We look for big picture thinkers who are team players. It’s all too often that we find sales people operating in silos. We encourage a culture of ‘team spirit’ that is built upon our four values of Leadership, Focus, Passion and Integrity. It’s a journey… so why would you want to do it alone?

An ideal candidate should not only be passionate about our business but about our client’s businesses too! We are exposed to the top companies and top leaders in South Africa and we can learn so much from them.

Q: February was a record-breaking month and was also the end of LFP’s financial year, tell us more about this and elaborate on your sales plans for the next year?

We enrolled an excess of 450 learners this month and signed up more than 26 NEW clients, excluding renewals. The success of February and us meeting our target for 2017/18 is all thanks to a very hard working team – not only externally but internally too as we rely heavily on our support team. In addition, our sales systems and structures have propelled us to next-level success.

Of course training has a lot to do with it but I believe that communicating with my team and having an open door policy also played a part in our success. We are growing a confident and skilled sales team but I always remember that we are all people – we have problems, we have personal lives and I try my best to ensure that my team is motivated and cared for.