Vohkus man launches 'self-improvement' sales firm
Dave Manners starts people-focused sales firm after 'losing his way' in high-flying sales director job
Vohkus founder Dave Manners has launched a self-improvement-focused IT sales consultancy after dedicating years to the practice since "losing his way" as a high-flying IT sales exec.
The new firm, Dave Manners Limited, will see Manners offer resellers and the wider IT channel sales training with a difference, focusing on how to improve staff personally in order to boost their performance at work.
Manners' offering includes training on commitment-based selling – which encourages staff to earn the trust of potential customers – morale and motivation training, body language tips and personality testing. He aims to target top-level staff for one-to-one coaching as well as offer one-day training sessions for bigger groups of staff.
Manners founded Vohkus in 2001 where he was its sales director until last summer.
In 2012, while continuing to work at the reseller, he began a personal "journey of self-discovery" which eventually prompted him to leave the role and set up his consultancy.
He said the lifestyle of a high-performing IT exec was taking its toll.
"I was really ambitious and determined and wanted to make a big difference to the world," he said. "I was at the top of my game, I was earning too much money and felt I was drifting off that path. I was drinking too much, taking customers out too much or taking out staff... always eating at top restaurants and drinking – I was losing my way.
"I was still doing well with the company and had respect in the industry and Vohkus was doing very well, but personally, I was letting myself down. I was 17 stone, pretty unhealthy and I had a reputation for hitting it hard. So I re-evaluated my life. I needed to make changes so I went on a big journey of self-discovery."
He initially began carrying out his new people-focused sales training with a division of Vohkus before deciding to sell his stake and dedicate his time to doing the same thing at a separate company.
"Rather than being a traditional sales company, we're focused on human behaviour and the human mind and working with people to fundamentally change them," he said. "If you can change them, they are a happier, healthier person, which creates a happier, healthier company."
Money talks
He conceded that some companies may not be receptive to his ideas at first but is convinced they will come around once they see the financial benefits it can bring.
"Changing behaviour is a struggle and a lot of people running these businesses are stuck in their ways and it will be difficult to break that," he said.
"That is why I am going with offering one-day training packages. To start with, until someone has worked with me, they might not want much high-level involvement so I started offering one-off training days to say, look, just book me for this one day and see what difference it makes to your sales staff, see the level of improvement in their commitment and dedication and then what difference that makes to the profit margin.
"Obviously when they see that working – which it will, because I have seen it and done it – then I want to get involved in other areas of the business. There will be businesses that are not interested but they are the ones which are not going to grow and will be stuck in their ways and have been the same for a long period of time."