Ken Thoreson

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illuminator, motivator , and rejuvenator of organizations Expert

Ken Thoreson Quick Facts

Main Areas: Inspiration
Career Focus: Speaker, Consultant
Affiliation: Acumen Management Group LTD.

Since 1995 Acumen Management Group, Ltd. (AMGL) has provided business and sales management expertise and programs to organizations for generating revenue growth. Through its headquarters in Knoxville, TN. and offices in Minneapolis, MN, San Francisco, CA and Toronto, Canada, the firm creates strategic sales management programs – from assessment through implementation and evaluation – that build positive, predictable revenue for early-stage, high growth, and turnaround corporations throughout North America.

Market At every stage of a company’s growth, effective and systematic sales management is a critical factor in building the organization and guaranteeing its business success. An early-stage company entering new markets with new products must establish comprehensive sales management systems to attract, build and manage a direct or indirect distribution channel. High-growth companies that are launching new products require more sophisticated strategy and sales management for outpacing product penetration and distribution channel development. Sales management systems must be established to attract, build and manage appropriate sales channels. An organization’s declining or flat revenues are a clear indication that sales management has failed to meet the organization’s critical objectives.

Sales Leaders face many challenges in helping their organizations attain revenue goals. Since their people, time and money resources are limited, it is imperative that they arm their sales organizations with tools and techniques for identifying and maximizing every opportunity. In addition, they must modify sales plans and performance measurements to integrate the continuous flow of management decisions and communications and marketing strategies and tactics. And they must cope with the competition, product/service life cycle, and timing issues that affect market acceptance of their company’s products and services.

Other Programs & Highlights

BUSINESS MOTIVATIONThe Art & Science of Building a High-Performance Organization FOR:Executives, managers and employees who are committed to raising the performance of their organizations. OBJECTIVES:Help participants channel everyday experiences into the energy required for taking advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime during the lifetime of the opportunity; a professional and personal growth resource. SYNOPSIS:Ken cranks up the excitement, business profits, and fun as he shares lessons he’s learned from working with hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals. Incorporating his passion for the culinary arts into this memorable event, Ken demonstrates how to mold personal ingredients for success with leadership and management into a recipe for professional and personal development. Borrowing a simple recipe that’s easy to follow and provides consistent results, this compelling keynote examines why so many organizations and individuals fail to build a model/menu that drives them to achieve lifelong success. TOPICS:

The six ingredients of building belief.
How discipline, accountability and control work to create high performance.
Why its important to align the soul of the individual with the goals of the organization.
The secrets of creating a menu for life, work and personal balance.
What it means to commit to professionalism.
How to find personal ingredients for success.

TAKEAWAYS:§ Personal ingredients for life-long life success.§ Personal recipe for life, work and personal balance.

Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from Ken Thoreson

Building Belief for Sales Success
Tell the company's story to your team.

March 01, 2007

by Ken Thoreson

Are your sales inconsistent? Are you losing more opportunities than ever before? Does your sales team seem weak compared to those of your competitors? Any number of reasons-from rapid growth to hiring mistakes-could be responsible for a "yes" answer to any of those questions. But in working with our clients, we often find that the underlying problem is actually an emotional one: lack of passion. Individual team members or the entire sales organization-or both-simply don't have the combination of enthusiasm and belief that's essential for success. Salespeople have to be emotionally invested in their work with a burning desire to achieve. They must also believe that the company they represent is the best and the solutions or services they sell are of the highest quality. That belief must be genuine. It's not just a marketing message, and it's not something that they can fake. With all the new products Microsoft has launched in recent months (and will continue to release this year), that type of authentic belief is more important than ever for partners. Most sales organizations don't do any belief-building activities, though. Or if they do, they only do so occasionally. Our experience shows that the most successful sales teams constantly undertake belief-building initiatives. Examples include: Storytelling: People from different cultures and generations pass along stories about their ancestries, traditions and lore. Microsoft partner companies need to take a similar approach to capturing and preserving their histories. To do so, write down customer success stories when they occur. Put together detailed descriptions of your company's role in helping customers implement new technologies, launch or salvage important projects or earn recognition from Microsoft. Then share these stories at sales meetings and other employee events. You can also use the best stories to recruit top performers and help orient new employees. Monthly Meetings: When a company launches, its first employees typically feel that they share a mission. Everyone knows everything that's happening and what's needed to succeed. But when the staff grows beyond about 15 people, that sense of mission-along with clearly defined expectations and common beliefs-can be difficult to maintain. We believe that monthly employee meetings are crucial for keeping everyone engaged and informed. (Larger organizations and those with remote offices may want to opt for quarterly day-long events instead.) Such gatherings give you a chance to remind your staff about your business philosophies, plans and expectations. You can also use them to recognize outstanding employees, perhaps honoring a Most Valuable Player chosen by the team at each session. Remember to make the meetings fun as well. Consider sponsoring games or offering door prizes. One company meeting I attended featured a surprise visit from an Elvis impersonator, who sang several songs. Customer Visits: Each quarter, have your entire sales team visit a customer company that's successfully implemented your solutions. Ask the customer's executives to describe the impact your company has had on their competitive position or to review the savings they've gained from your products and services. You might also invite customers to share their experiences at some of your monthly meetings. Reference Letters: Ask your best customers for testimonials. While such letters are, of course, highly useful as tools for future sales presentations, they're also valuable for building belief in-house. Frame the letters and display them in your lobby or sales presentation area. Have new employees read them as part of the orientation process.In our business, it's all too easy to get bogged down with lost sales, missed project dates and other problems. Regularly reinforcing the positives goes a long way toward keeping everyone's belief and passion strong and moving in the right direction. Ken Thoreson is managing director of the Acumen Management Group Ltd., a North American consulting organization focused on improving sales management functions within growing and transitional organizations. You can reach him at ken@acumenmgmt.com.