About Us

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About Us

We launched the Sales Institute in 2000 when we were given a contract to deliver sales and licensing training to Microsoft staff and its resellers. By 2008, we had delivered sales training in over 40 countries.

 

When the project ended in 2008, we decided to it was time to reinvent ourselves based on real concerns we were hearing from sales professionals:

 

 

·        “It is becoming more difficult to sell – the old techniques aren’t working anymore.”

·        “This is too much information – I don’t know how to apply everything I am learning.”

·        “How do I stay motivated when I am being pushed to reach spiralling targets?”

 

We are a company of experienced and highly skilled facilitators and coaches in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Our in-house team of experienced instructional designers can adapt programmes to your specific requirements.

 

We have delivered services to multiple organisations big and small, including: Dimension Data, Internet Solutions, FNB, GetSmarter, Spier, Waltons, Woolworths and Sanlam. 

 

Our approach is based on three core principles:

1.    Everything we teach is evidence based:

Our programmes are based on the latest research in the areas of neuroscience, psychology, communication theory and behavioural economics.  We model the best practices of top-performing salespeople and their managers. We teach what we know works in the real world.

2.    Our focus is always on the person:

We believe that sales success relies on finding a balance between, mind-set, skills and approach. Our programmes therefore include modules on personal mastery and self-awareness. Our facilitators are also all certified coaches.

3.    We will help our clients achieve measurable outcomes:

 

We believe learning is a journey, not a single event. For this reason, we build long-term relationships. people who attend our programmes are given additional support in the form of three months access to our online resource centre. We also offer additional coaching and consulting services to help you with implementation. 

Our Facilitators

Tim Keys “The Professor”

Dubbed the “professor” because of his passion for effective learning, Tim founded the Sales Institute in 2000. He has worked with sales teams and their leadership to increase performance for over twenty years. He has built and delivered customised sales skills programmes for several large organisations including Microsoft, Oracle, Dimension Data and First National Bank. Tim is considered a premier authority on Sales Management and Coaching as well as Key Account Management. Everything he teaches is based on proven best practices and scientific research into the fields of human behaviour, Economics, Psychology and Neuroscience. Tim is also passionate about helping start-ups set up their sales and marketing.

Tracey v d Merwe “The Visualiser”

Tracey has been with Tim right from the beginning. She is our sales productivity specialist. We call her the visualiser because she has the unique ability to make complex concepts easier to understand, normally in the form of a picture or diagram. Tracey is passionate about helping salespeople reach their full potential. Because she is so good at building effective systems, you always leave her workshops knowing how to implement what you have learnt. Tracey delivers our workshops focused on sales effectiveness, including Professional Selling, Inside Selling and Personal Sales Mastery. She is also an experienced instructional designer, enabling us to customise programmes to your specific needs.

David Watts ‘DJ MegaWatts’

David is our resident communication and presentation skills specialist. Most of David’s adult life has been spent in radio, both as presenter and station manager. He has worked at 94.7 Highveld Stereo, Radio Safari, MPowerFM and Mix FM. As a Master in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), David’s expertise is in helping people achieve unbelievable success through effective communication and persuasion skills. David has done work with Sun International, CarTrack, Tsogo Sun, Telkom Business, EXSA, GCIS and Microsoft. David delivers our “Persuasive Selling” programmes. David also runs his own digital marketing company, specialising in video production.

Palesa Moeketsi “The Voice”

Palesa is a radio personality and top 30 Idols finalist. She is multi-talented – an accomplished MC, voice over artist and part time actress. Palesa has spent many years coaching contact centre staff. She specialises in vocal training and telephone skills. Add to this her skills as an accomplished copywriter, Palesa is the perfect person to present our “Inside Sales” workshop, focused on helping close more sales over the phone and internet. Palesa also facilitates our specialist “Selling Motor Vehicles” programme having spent time as at Williams Hunt. She is passionate about developing young entrepreneurs. Every year she mentors students from CPUT’s Entrepreneurship programme.