Our Story

Way back in 2006, I decided that I need a career change. I had been in sales and sales management my entire career, and while I loved sales – and still do – I just needed a change of pace. 

I decided, without any evidence to support it, that I would love to be, and could be, a great sales trainer. I had taken a number of sales training courses in my various roles, and always admired the person at the front of the room. I thought to myself, this is something I could do.

So I sent my resume out to a number of the top sales training firms – Achieve Global, Franklin Covey, Impax and others. And what I discovered was that my sense that I would make a great sales trainer was not shared by anyone else. So I broadened my search, and eventually I was contacted by a very small, two person operation, that was not looking to hire, but was looking to sell their sales training business. That business was called SalesForce Training & Consulting, Inc.

The founders were Lorraine and Brian Jeffrey of Ottawa, Canada. They had started the business in the early 90’s and had named it SalesForce Training, well, because why not? That’s what they did afterall. Brilliant!

Lorraine and Brian had started the business from scratch, including writing all of the training material for the various courses and designing all of the processes, from workbook production to name tents. Brian was the trainer and Lorraine was the production manager, bookkeeper, and pretty much everything else. Oh yes, they also had their own website, www.salesforcetraining.com. So after some in depth examination, and a heart to heart with my wife and my banker, I acquired the business, website and all, and set sail.

I moved the business to where I live, Toronto, Canada, and immediately started selling and performing sales training. It went quite well, as the brand and the material were second to none – in my, admittedly, fairly biased opinion. (An opinion shared by the ultra-talented founders Lorraine and Brian).

Our Story - Salesforce Training
Our Story II - Salesforce Training

However, an interesting development occurred. Almost immediately, I started getting random calls to help train sales teams on Salesforce.com. The calls went from once every so often, to monthly, to a couple of times a month. Companies were visiting my website, and even without any acknowledgement that we trained Salesforce.com (which we did not), they inquired anyway.

It was finally in 2009 that I decided there must be some reason so many companies needed help with Salesforce, and so I went to my first ever Dreamforce event in San Francisco, to see what this Salesforce thing was all about. And, man, what I saw changed everything.

I decided then and there that Salesforce.com was the way of the future, and that it was an essential tool for any organization that was serious about growing.

So we made the slow, sometime arduous transition from being a sales training company to being Salesforce.com training company. Along the way, we decided to keep effective selling as the hallmark of our instruction, with an eye towards both the soft skills of consultative and relationship selling, blended with the awesome technology and power of Salesforce.

So, if you or your team are struggling with how to get the most out of this awesome tool, please reach out and ask to speak with me. I’d love to listen and learn, and then see if we can help you.

Our Story

Mark Christie, Salesforce Trainer & Adoption Consultant

Salesforce for Sales

“This was a great training session and I know that our staff will benefit greatly with this new knowledge.”

Margaret Wanca Daniels, Testimonial

Margaret Wanca-Daniels

VP, Business Development, LeadingAge