About Us
Tom Reilly Training is a St. Louis-based, privately owned company that specializes in training salespeople and their managers in the principles, strategies, and tactics of Value-Added Selling. Tom Reilly founded this company in 1981 as Sales Motivational Services—a general sales training company. As Tom pioneered the Value-Added Selling philosophy in 1984, he sharpened the focus of Sales Motivational Services to reflect his passion for selling value. The company name officially changed to Tom Reilly Training in 2001. Tom Reilly Training offers public seminars and in-house training. What makes us unique is that Tom and Paul Reilly literally wrote the book on Value-Added Selling.
Paul Reilly
President
Paul Reilly is a speaker, sales trainer, author of Selling Through Tough Times (McGraw-Hill, 2021), co-author of Value-Added Selling, fourth edition (McGraw-Hill, 2018), and host of The Q and A Sales Podcast.
Paul Reilly began his training career by joining Tom Reilly Training.
Paul attended the University of Missouri – Columbia, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Business Marketing. He went on to earn his MBA from Webster University.
In 2020, Paul earned his CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation. Fewer than 18 percent of professional speakers have earned this designation. Paul is a frequent contributor to a variety of online and trade magazines. He is also a faculty member of the University of Innovative Distribution—UID.
Paul is a salesperson at heart. He began his “sales” career at the age of 16 in St. Louis, MO. During high school, he sold car washes for Waterway Gas & Wash. During college, he started a painting company through the franchise organization, College Pro.
Paul has over 15 years of professional sales experience. His first professional sales job was selling propane for Ferrellgas. After several months of exemplary performance, he was given an opportunity to sell in one of the largest territories in the country.
For six years, he sold tools and fasteners for the Hilti organization. A majority of his time was spent selling to customers in the petrochemical and power generation markets. During his tenure, he joined the Hilti Master’s Club in 2010 and was recognized in 2011 with Hilti’s Three Million Dollar Sales Club.
Paul also sold medical gas equipment for Allied Healthcare Products, a St. Louis-based medical supplier. He was able to grow his business by increasing distributor sales and re-penetrating the Canadian market.
Paul’s training methods draw from his diverse sales background. He can relate to your salespeople because he has faced the same challenges and opportunities they face on a daily basis. Paul was a top performer in his sales career because he embraced the Value-Added Selling message.
Tom Reilly
Chairman Emeritus
Tom Reilly has built a company that is dedicated to helping sales and marketing executives achieve their strategic objectives by helping their salespeople achieve tactical sales goals.
Tom began his career as a salesman for Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, a manufacturer of industrial and specialty chemical products for the petrochemical and medical industry. After his second year in sales for Mallinckrodt, Tom was named “Salesman of the Year.” Tom left Mallinckrodt and started his first business in Houston—a stocking distributor for major brands in the laboratory supply industry. He sold this business in 1981 to start his second business—training salespeople and their managers.
Tom has a B.A. in Psychology from St. Louis University and an M.A. in Psychology from University of Missouri in St. Louis with a special emphasis in work motivation theory. Tom’s education goes beyond academia. He spent four years in the United States Army where he honed his leadership skills as a drill sergeant. Tom is a past board member of Sales & Marketing Executives of St. Louis; past president and board member of the St. Louis Gateway chapter of the National Speakers Association; Certified Speaking Professional (National Speakers Association earned designation); and faculty member of the University of Innovative Distribution—UID.
Tom is a prolific writer, author and researcher. He is an award-winning columnist of the Northeast Business Editors Silver Award; author of twelve business books; editorial contributor to several industry trade journals; and director of a renowned, best practices research project of top-achieving salespeople.