Could you be Albert?
Business posture means you have a firm unshakable belief that you provide real value and deserve to be respected by your clients. Positioning involves being seen as a credible authority in your [...]
30
05, 2023
23
05, 2023
Deadlines – how do you react?
We’re moving house. There’s a defined date – stuff has to be packed and ready to move. Which brings up an interesting topic – deadlines. I’ve been mulling over why we take [...]
20
05, 2023
Could your leadership be toxic?
Over 40 years I’ve come across a wide variety of leaders. Some great, others positively toxic. I vividly remember one particularly toxic individual back in the 1980’s. Completely autocratic, he [...]
13
05, 2023
Could swimming improve your sales performance?
I’ve just started swimming again. Or should I say, attempting to . The last time I was in a pool was decades ago. I’ve always had trouble breathing so getting [...]
2
05, 2023
Challenged?
What happens when you get challenged? As a leader not everyone will agree with you. How you respond is critical. Do you get defensive? Feel resistance? Push back? Or do you encourage [...]
30
04, 2023
Reframing failure…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship rocket exploded. Maybe not quite the result they’d want. What’s enlightening is their reframe. The SpaceX engineers class the mission a success. They test early and often. They’re [...]
25
04, 2023
Decisions…
Decisions, decisions, decisions. How comfortable are you making them? Especially the hard ones. Ones where you may not know the outcome. I’ve been reflecting on my own decision-making process. Under what circumstances [...]
22
04, 2023
Decisions…
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” “I don’t much care where –” “Then [...]
18
04, 2023
Sports leadership lessons
I’ll be the first to admit – I’m not that interested in watching sport. Having said that, I am very interested in leadership and the lessons you can learn from top coaches [...]
15
04, 2023
Turning a blind eye?
When working with business leaders, we emphasise that everything starts at the top with your leadership. Leadership ultimately is creating a space where people want to belong. And you as [...]
11
04, 2023
Leadership & self awareness
Let’s talk about leadership. At its core, we’re all leaders on some level. No matter what you do people are watching and evaluating you. Some choose to follow you. This is especially [...]
8
04, 2023
False expectations?
Let’s talk about leadership. Over the years I’ve seen a common theme with expanding businesses when it comes to employing staff. As business owners the buck stops with us. Ultimately, we’re responsible [...]
4
04, 2023
What are your clients really buying?
What are your clients really buying? It’s tempting to say your product or service. But is that really true? Sure, your product or service has to fulfil a need. Provide an outcome [...]
1
04, 2023
What’s your exit strategy?
When speaking with business owners I ask what they really want from their blood, sweat and tears. The often long hours, financial risk and stress that comes from running a business. Many [...]
28
03, 2023
Using a wedge strategy
As buyers when dealing with an unknown vendor, most of us most of us have a natural level of suspiciousness. Unless we know the brand’s positive reputation or we’ve received a recommendation [...]
25
03, 2023
The true art of leadership…
The art of true leadership is developing a framework that has people genuinely wanting to come with you on your journey. It's not about coercion, which only breeds resistance and resentment. Let's [...]
21
03, 2023
Why one size doesn’t fit all in sales…
In sales one size definitely doesn’t fit all! Every organisation is different. So who you initially target is critical. There are two schools of thought. The first is to target the highest [...]
18
03, 2023
Leadership: Handling difficult conversations
As a business leader your job is to set the vision and direction for your organisation. Create and support a team which produces results for your clients. Your job as a leader [...]
14
03, 2023
Overdone Passion
One of the fundamentals in any sales conversation is your own conviction, and your own passion for what you do. Because passion and conviction and enthusiasm are infectious. And while [...]
11
03, 2023
Shooting the messenger?
If Covid has shown us anything, it’s that every business needs to constantly look to the future and innovate. But you cannot innovate without challenging the status quo. Which starts with your [...]
7
03, 2023
Inferential thinking…
Thought this quote from James Clear is very apt in today’s world. "When you need to learn quickly, learn from others. When you need to learn deeply, learn from experience." To this [...]
4
03, 2023
The dark side of empathy
We’re all taught to play to our strengths. However, a strength overdone often becomes a weakness. Take empathy. In sales, empathy is extolled as a strength. “Get into your clients’ shoes” “Understand [...]
28
02, 2023
Can you let go?
A client recently asked me how long it would take to get “beyond” their business. By which they meant when the business could run without their involvement and provide options. To either [...]
25
02, 2023
Liked or Respected?
Given a binary choice – be liked or respected, which would you choose? Could choosing one over the other enhance or hinder your professional results – both from a leadership or sales [...]
21
02, 2023
Will you put your ego aside?
Recently attending a Mahler concert highlighted an important leadership lesson about courage and confidence. Let me set the scene. We were at the newly refurbished concert hall at the Sydney Opera House. [...]
14
02, 2023
The value of something isn’t…
Recently watched the movie “The current war” about the competition between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse around the viability of DC and AC current. Westinghouse made a profound observation. “The value of [...]
4
02, 2023
Simplicity Rules
One of the things that saddens me is seeing great technological innovations fail, mainly due to a lack of marketing and sales. I've seen that happen in many guises from inventors tightly [...]
31
01, 2023
How to become an “order taker”
Which would you prefer? Having to constantly prospect for new business, have lots of meetings and hopefully win some business. OR Have your ideal clients come to you asking how you can [...]
24
01, 2023
Standing out…
We all have competition. How do you stand out? Why would someone come to you over everyone else? Research from Harvard Business Review revealed potential clients are 57% of the way through [...]
20
01, 2023
For Want of a Nail
“For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider [...]
16
01, 2023
Selling technical solutions?
If you sell technical solutions one of the biggest mistakes is to sell your technology. Huh? But surely that’s what your clients are buying? They’re not! Over 30 years working with technology [...]
14
01, 2023
Stop doing Demo’s – until…
You sell a SAAS service and have just received a lead asking for a demo. What you do next is crucial to winning the business. One of the biggest mistakes we see [...]
9
01, 2023
A life lived in fear…
A couple of nights ago, Barbara and I were watching “Strictly Ballroom” – the classic Ugly Duckling story of the young “beginner” dancer convincing a ball room champion to take her on [...]
13
12, 2022
Project Whitespace
One of the easiest and neglected ways to increase sales is to go back to your current and old clients. Think about it this way. You’ve already built up a relationship and [...]
9
12, 2022
What drives you?
For many of us - coming into December can be really hectic. There are lots of things you want to get done before taking a break. And while it's really important to [...]
5
12, 2022
You’re NOT Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali famously spruiked himself – “I am the greatest”. Which is fine if you’re a world-famous boxer trying to intimidate your opponent. But it’s hardly something to emulate in a sales [...]
25
11, 2022
Is complexity killing your results?
We live in a complex world. And there’s a tendency to think the greater the complexity the greater the value. So we make our products and services increasingly complex and sophisticated thinking [...]
21
11, 2022
Unleashing your inner Venus
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus is a classic book by John Gray. In it he describes how both sexes interact. I’m going to put this into a sales context. [...]
19
11, 2022
I was an idiot!
Years ago I vividly remember sitting in a conference where the speaker proclaimed he’d never had an original thought. To my (now) shame I thought, “Gee – what an idiot The [...]
12
11, 2022
Are you combining efficiency and effectiveness?
I have a background in Engineering. Something I’ve observed with my ilk is we’re often lazy. I don’t mean we don’t work hard. I mean we look for the most efficient way [...]