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October 15, 2010

Sales Innovation Appoints Academic Director

John F. (Jeff) Tanner, Jr., has been chosen as academic advisor to Sales Innovation, LLC.

His role is to ensure that all sales and business development training programs offered by Sales Innovation and its university partners have a solid foundation of academic excellence.

As the academic advisor, he will work with the Sales Innovation team to create a conceptual framework that shows how tactics are grounded in quality research by psychologists, sociologists, economists, and academic scholars.

“We are so excited about what Jeff brings to the team,” said Kathy Apanowitch, executive vice president, business development. “He has all the right credentials: an MBA and a PhD who has been working in the field of sales and marketing his entire life. He came out of sales at Xerox. He has been a professor of marketing for over 20 years and has written more than a dozen books on sales and marketing. His experience on the business side and as an educator will be a tremendous benefit.”

A professor of marketing and the associate dean of Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business in Waco, Texas, Jeff is the author of textbooks used to teach selling and sales force management at colleges and graduate schools around the country.

See Jeff's complete bio on the About Us page.

October 2, 2010

Fellinger Leads Sales Innovation’s Expansion in Healthcare Arena

Leif Fellinger has been appointed director, healthcare practice at Sales Innovation, LLC.

He is responsible for developing Sales Innovation’s deep bench strength in healthcare. He and his team teach healthcare organizations and their representatives to compete effectively for quality patient referrals.

Healthcare organizations face challenges and financial stresses that require them to bring in more patients and be more efficient. “Nursing homes, short-term and long-term care facilities, hospices, and other specialty healthcare providers are all vying for referrals,” Jay Moniello, Chief Executive Officer, said.

Yet many of the individuals responsible for generating referrals typically receive no training in the process. “The healthcare curriculum that Leif is developing will help nurses, doctors, representatives, and managers take a systematic, measurable approach to building and expanding their organization’s referrals network,” he said.

He noted that Leif has over 25 years of experience working within healthcare, on the payor side with insurance companies, and in corporate training and education. “Leif understands the business of healthcare from many different perspectives, and that will enrich our healthcare curriculum,” Moniello said.

Prior to joining Sales Innovation, Leif worked with healthcare clients as an independent sales performance consultant and held staff positions as a sales manager, sales trainer, project manager, and process leader with Fortune 100 companies. He earned a bachelor of arts in economics from Trinity College in Hartford.

See Leif's bio on the About Us page for more details about his expertise.

April 6, 2010

Former GE Executive Joins Team as Vice President

As the new vice president of Sales Innovation, Brian Sheridan will work with the firm’s affiliate, the University of Pittsburgh’s Pitt Business Center for Executive Education, to achieve continuous growth of the Program for Business Development InnovationsSM serving the region’s business community.

In his new role, he will also oversee the sales and business development improvement programs currently offered in Pennsylvania by Sales Innovation, LLC, and its subsidiary, Business Development Innovations, LLC.

“Brian has a 15-year track record of sales success as a vice president at GE Commercial Finance, so he’s a very strong addition to the Sales Innovation team,” Kathy Apanowitch, executive vice president, business development, said.

“In addition to his experience presenting to Jack Welch and other C-Level executives and making multi-million dollar sales, Brian has had the ‘blue chip quality’ sales training that GE is so famous for providing to its employees. Our clients will gain a tremendous advantage from working with Brian.”

She added, “We believe professional services firms such as law and accounting practices will immediately relate to the sales challenges he faced at GE. How do you differentiate an intangible commodity to beat the competition whose fees are lower? Brian and his team found innovative ways to add value to companies with revenues of $10 million to $10 billion.”

In addition to his corporate background, Brian was a business entrepreneur earlier in his career, running a franchise that he sold for a substantial profit.

He earned a BSBA degree in marketing at John Carroll University in Ohio and an MBA at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. While in college, he worked in sales and marketing during internships at Nabisco, Bally’s, and Legent Corporation.

“Since Brian grew up in Pennsylvania and went to college in Pittsburgh, he has an extensive family and personal network that is already proving to be a valuable asset,” she said.

See Brian's bio on the About Us page for details about his expertise in consultative selling, cross-selling, and sales training.

December 9, 2009

Leadership Team Welcomes Seasoned Executive

Jay Moniello, Chief Executive Officer, is very excited to announce that Frank E. Hall has joined the leadership team as Ombudsman.

Previously, Frank and Jay worked closely together for 20 years at The Mathog and Moniello Companies, where Frank was executive vice president in charge of the company’s Technology, Human Resources, and specialized operational functions. Frank also served on the board of directors. When Webster Insurance, a subsidiary of Webster Bank, acquired Mathog & Moniello, Frank was asked to remain on the leadership team during the transition. He retired from Webster Insurance in 2008.

"Frank brings a work ethic that is second to none,” said Jay. In explaining what an Ombudsman does, he said Frank looks out for the best interests of everyone inside and outside Sales Innovation. He streamlines client deliverables and tailors solutions to the needs of all of our stakeholders including clients, employees, university partners and vendors.

"Through his diligent efforts, our employees will continue to work with state-of-the-art technology. Our clients will have better educational and business development tools to support their companies and sales goals. With Frank on our team, Sales Innovation is assured of staying on the leading edge in technology for many years to come,” said Jay.

See Frank's bio on the About Us page for details about his previous experience and role at Sales Innovation.

October 7, 2009

Coach Dixon on Leading a Winning Team

More than 90 business leaders from diverse industries such as manufacturing, energy, health care, technology, professional services, financial services, and banking, were treated to breakfast and insights on leadership from the winningest coach in the history of the Big East Conference, Pitt Head Men's Basketball Coach Jamie Dixon.

The breakfast, hosted by the Pitt Business Center for Executive Education, served to launch the center's newest portfolio of offerings and partnership with Sales Innovation, LLC.