Sales training firm honored with Sales Training Practice of the Year, Sales Training Program of the Year with SAGE Publishing, Business Development Achievement of the Year with Chatham Financial; VP Bob Croston named Sales Training Professional of the Year

 

RAIN Group, a global sales training company, announced today that it was presented with four Gold Stevie® Awards in the 14th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service last week in Las Vegas.

 

For achieving outstanding client results, the firm received top honors in the categories of Sales Training Program of the Year with SAGE Publishing and Business Development Achievement of the Year with Chatham Financial. The company also won Gold Stevie Awards for Sales Training Practice of the Year and Vice President, Bob Croston, was named Sales Training Professional of the Year.

 

“For the last 18 years, our firm has helped clients around the world unleash their sales potential,” shared RAIN Group’s President, Mike Schultz. “To win in these competitive categories is truly remarkable. Kudos to our entire global team for always being committed to the best client results and to our research division for providing the insights to develop industry-leading programs.”

 

The firm was honored in the Sales Training Practice of the Year category for producing and delivering training that works, sticks, and transfers to the job. Offering a full suite of sales training programs across the sales cycle, all of RAIN Group’s programs are research-based with insights from the Center for Sales Research and their learning system focuses on driving real behavior change and results.

 

Winning the Sales Training Program of the Year category, RAIN Group delivered 9 Habits of Extreme Productivity to SAGE Publishing’s sales team after discovering its sellers were spending too much time on non-sales related activities and not enough time with customers. Following the program, including robust reinforcement, customer outreach increased by 31% and the publisher overcame successive years of decline to grow 20% year over year.

 

RAIN Group and Chatham Financial were recognized in the Business Development Achievement of the Year category for successfully building the financial advisory and technology company’s business development skills and driving revenue growth. Trailing the RAIN Selling training, coaching, and reinforcement program, the average deal size increased over 180%, its sales cycle shortened from 150 to 81 days, and they experienced a sharp uptick in $500K opportunities.

 

With more than 25 years of experience, Croston locked up the Sales Training Professional of the Year award for his successful career as a sales consultant. The veteran leader tackles complex challenges for clients worldwide, including Toyota, Hitachi, Fidelity Investments, and Harvard Business School.

 

“RAIN Group continues to push the envelope to deliver transformational outcomes for clients and I’m honored to be part of such a talented team,” said Croston.

 

In addition, RAIN Group and client Spry Roughley earned Bronze in the Business Development Achievement of the Year category for improving lead conversion rates by 87% and securing a record high number of new clients. 

 

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world’s top honors for customer service, contact center, business development and sales professionals. The awards were presented to honorees during a gala banquet on February 28 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. More than 600 executives from the U.S. and several other nations attended. 

 

More than 2,600 nominations from organizations in 48 nations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition. Winners were determined by the average scores of more than 180 professionals worldwide serving on seven specialized judging committees.

 

“Stevie Award winners from around the world should be very proud of their achievements.  The judges were impressed with the vast range of nominations submitted for 2020 and have agreed that their accomplishments are worthy of public recognition,” said Stevie Awards Executive Chairman, Michael Gallagher.

 

Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the list of Stevie winners in all categories are available at www.StevieAwards.com/sales. 

 

About RAIN Group

Founded in 2002, RAIN Group is a global sales training and performance improvement company that has helped hundreds of thousands of salespeople, managers, and professionals in more than 75 countries significantly increase their sales results. Headquartered in the greater Boston area, office locations include Bogotá, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Mumbai, Seoul, Sydney, and Toronto. To learn more, visit http://www.raingroup.com.

 

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.