New Sales Training Paradigm Uses Jazz Improvisation and Principles of "Silent Communication"

April 21, 2011 - PRLog -- Do you know how to “Outfluence(r)?”  It's "the better way to influence."  

A new next-generation sales and customer service skills training combines the principles of jazz improvisation with the 70 percent of human communication that is silent.  Teaching and publishing organization, Outfluence, LLC’s (http://www.outfluence.com) newest program, “Encore Selling(tm),” (https://www.outfluence.com/store/outfluence-products/outfluence-2011-seminar-series-encore-selling-registration/) will answer the unexplored question for most people, whether in business or personal relationships: Do you know what your "silent communicators" are saying about you?

Traditional sales skills training typically covers pitching and closing, but not how the effective use of “silent communicators” can build customer loyalty, attract new business, and shorten the sales cycle for sales professionals.  Outfluence educators have allied with internationally acclaimed jazz pianist and vocalist, Eric Byrd (http://www.ericbyrd.com), in an unconventional move to teach stock brokers, real estate agents, retail and customer service professionals, and others to become aware of what their behavior is communicating, to use silence to their advantage, and integrate their new knowledge in a natural way of “24/7 selling.” “Encore Selling™” is based on Outfluence’s proprietary methodology that uses a variety of silent messages, called Constant Messaging™.

What could “silence” possibly have to do with jazz improvisation?  Everything, according to Byrd and Outfluence’s co-founder, Kay Betz, MBA.  Silent spaces are essential for music to communicate.  The deliberate silent spaces in music composition and improvisation allow the tempo, beat, and message to be expressed and received. After all, according to Betz, “It’s a fact we’re all ‘selling’ something, all the time. Whether you’re a sales or customer service professional, an entrepreneur, a manager or C-level employee, and regardless of your product of service … you’re selling you.”  

Dubbed “The Better Way to Influence,” Outfluence is a communication model that emphasizes an others-focus along with awareness of our own personal silent communication, the silent communication of others, and a commitment to inspired performance in business and personal relationships.

Byrd, who is a college Music Lecturer, and Betz, also an educator and business consultant, have teamed up to present an Encore Selling workshop on May 10, 2011, at the New Windsor Conference Center in Westminster, Maryland (https://www.outfluence.com/store/outfluence-products/outf...).  In the workshop, Eric and Kay will blend musical improvisation with the Outfluence sales communication model that is grounded in the 70 percent of communication that is delivered and received “silently”: silent communication techniques that embody essential skills to become aware of what one’s behavior is communicating.  

Eric Byrd has been playing jazz and performing professionally and composing music for over 20 years.  He is considered the “Jazz Ambassador of the United States Department of State.”  His performance style integrates swing and be-bop, rousing gospel-tinged chords and trilling blues.  Byrd has performed with luminaries and legends, including Wynton Marsalis, Ethel Ennis, and Charlie Byrd.

Kay Betz is also a principal in and Chief Financial Officer of Al Betz & Associates, Inc. (http://www.albetzreporting.com), a nationally recognized litigation support services company.  Kay is a consultant to nonprofit organizations and teaches management to graduate students at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, who are entering the human services profession.  Al Betz, co-founder of Outfluence, is the president of Al Betz & Associates and is nationally recognized for his long and distinguished career in the court reporting profession.  He is a professional speaker and the author of several books on the subject of communication and inspired performance, including “Outfluence: The Better Way to Influence,” and “PowerWriters,” which honors the profession and history of court reporters and captioners.  

Outfluence, LLC will debut a series of new books which apply the principles of Outfluence to specific needs, interests, and life roles.  The first two releases in the series, “Outfluence for JobSeekers” and "Outfluence for Sales Professionals," are expected in May 2011.

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Outfluence, LLC is a teaching and publishing organization that espouses a communication model that emphasizes an others-focus along with awareness of our own personal silent communication, the silent communication of others, and a commitment to inspired performance in business and personal relationships.