Bestselling author, motivational speaker and sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer paid a visit to Ottawa Friday morning, dropping by the Sales Leadership Initiative's (SLI) first-ever event at Ben Franklin Place in Nepean.

Created by a host of local executives, SLI was created to help increase and develop Ottawa's sales and leadership pool, and at the same time raise the city's profile as a sales hotbed. Organizers appeared pleased with the event's turnout, which attracted upward of 200 sales professionals from the tech industry and beyond.

"Sales can't be an afterthought. It must be the only thought, and that's absolutely critical. And through education we can achieve that," said Brent Thomson, co-managing partner of Peak Sales Recruiting and a member of the SLI steering committee.

Executives from sponsors such as BlackBerry and Corel were also on hand during the morning session, in which the sharp-witted Mr. Gitomer took turns poking fun at and lecturing the enthusiastic crowd.

"For us, it's about education. We want to bring in people in who can educate," continued Mr. Thomson. "(And) it's not just the sales community – it's the tech community in general. We're great at building technology, but we need to do be able to sell that technology to the rest of the world.

Indeed, it's often been said Ottawa's business and tech communities are often R&D-heavy but comparatively light in the sales department. It's SLI's mission to attempt to change that, one event at a time, said Mr. Thomson.

"Plus he's a great entertainer, and a morning of laughter isn't a bad thing at all," he added.

SLI's next event is scheduled for this September, but their next guest speaker hasn't yet been confirmed.