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 [...]
20
01, 2023
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 [...]
8
11, 2022
Walk a mile in their shoes…
I believe one of the most important attributes we can have is empathy and compassion. Especially in sales dealing with prospective clients. We all want to feel accepted and understood. Your ability [...]
1
11, 2022
Controlling the controllable
Right now a lot of businesses are facing challenges. High inflation, high interest rates. Difficulty finding people resources. Buyers avoiding making decisions. A lot of these things are out of our control. [...]
29
10, 2022
Leadership lessons from Star Trek
I'm a big fan of Star Trek. Both the original and Next Gen series. What strikes me in both are the leadership lessons from both captains, Kirk and Picard. Lessons which apply [...]
25
10, 2022
Mistakes I’ve made…
Over 20 years running a business consultancy I've made a lot of mistakes. Frankly when we started I had absolutely no idea what it would take. I'd moved out of the corporate [...]
21
10, 2022
Who’s driving your bus?
As a business leader, one of your most important tasks is to be strategic and lead. You are the one that sets direction. You are the one that is ultimately responsible for [...]
17
10, 2022
Moving up the value chain
Why do your clients work with you? When was the last time you asked yourself how you create value for them? When I coach partners and consultants in professional services firms in [...]
11
10, 2022
Selling authentically…
Last week coaching a technical team moving into sales roles, I stressed their job was to bring insights to clients. Highlight issues clients might not know they have - yet! That they [...]
8
10, 2022
Who are you listening to?
There's an old saying, "If it's to be, it's up to me". It's applicable in business and life generally. Right now Federal Reserves are putting up interest rates. The media talks about [...]
3
10, 2022
Aligning your pitch to different stakeholders
Sales 101 teaches the importance of features and benefits. But before you talk about them, you need to identify the value an individual stakeholder is looking for. And they're going to be [...]
5
09, 2022
What makes for sales effectiveness?
What do you believe makes a really effective salesperson? On a continuum, is it someone with deep product knowledge at one end or someone with the gift of the gab [...]
26
08, 2022
The “Key” in KPIs
KPI’s – Key Performance Indicators are a term bandied around in every organization. What people are responsible and accountable for. Having said that, I think many KPI’s are overthought. We tend to [...]
22
08, 2022
The 90 day rule
If you provide any form of consulting, one of the most neglected (and arguably easiest) ways to grow is to go back to your previous clients, telling them what else you can [...]
13
08, 2022
Who’s driving your bus?
Who’s driving your bus? I’ve been thinking about self leadership. What it takes to succeed in business. To be both emotionally and financially rewarded for the risks we take. In transactional analysis, [...]
6
08, 2022
What constitutes leadership?
It’s probably an understatement to say we live in interesting times. There’s a lot of uncertainty with everything from the pandemic to high inflation, the cost of living going up, the war [...]
30
07, 2022
Intersecting rapport & credibility in sales
Ultimately sales is a people business. We want to buy from people we like and trust. So most sales training focuses on people skills. How to create rapport, make people comfortable with [...]
25
07, 2022
How to ensure the right person is in the right role
This video is part of a business advice series focusing on leadership and strategy. It comes out of recent conversations I've had with business leaders regarding staff not working out for various [...]
21
07, 2022
Security – Opportunity – Prosperity
I'd like to talk about the relationship between security opportunity and prosperity and the chasm of possibilities this opens up.
12
07, 2022
Silence
Many people have an issue with silence. It plays out in sales conversations where one of the biggest mistakes that I see people constantly make is they ask a question, [...]
9
07, 2022
Clean meetings…
Trust is a key ingredient in business. It takes time to build up and can be destroyed in an instant. A common scenario occurs when arranging meetings with people you know, possibly [...]
2
07, 2022
4 questions to higher profits
Taking a transactional approach to sales is a classic mistake which will severely impact your revenue and profitability. Ask these 4 questions to increase your deal size. Transcript: Do you [...]
21
06, 2022
What’s your expertise worth?
What is your knowledge, expertise and experience worth to your clients? meter level expert 3d rendering The clients we work with are experts in their field and unconsciously competent. They [...]
17
06, 2022
5 minutes more…
When do you give up? Could success be just 5 minutes away? The next phone call? What's your level of grit, determination and resilience? My thanks to Greg Woodley for reminding me of this [...]
21
05, 2022
Challenge
Would you challenge a client if you firmly believed they were going down the wrong path? How about a prospect during a sales conversation where you know they’re barking up the wrong [...]
17
05, 2022
Sales enemy number 1
The biggest impediment to a sale is the status quo! It’s often easier to live with something than spend the emotional energy on changing. Even if it’s in your best interest to [...]
14
05, 2022
Clarity to Commitment
There’s an old axiom that a confused prospect never buys. Well, the same applies to us as vendors. The first sale is always to ourselves. If we’re confused as to the problems [...]
10
05, 2022
Efficiency vs Effectiveness
A major mistake I see in business is confusing efficiency with effectiveness and productivity. Streamlining a process without considering if it produces the results you want. Especially in sales. 20 years ago [...]
25
04, 2022
Business or Pleasure?
Have you ever caught up with a friend for “coffee” only to find they launch into asking you for business? You weren’t expecting this so how did you feel? Possibly somewhat misused? [...]
1
04, 2022
Who do you trust?
Want to get your message heard? To masterfully persuade? Build your business by attracting high quality clients? People buy from people they trust. When buyers trust sellers, they depend on them, listen [...]
21
03, 2022
Never a truer word was spoken
Donkey’s years ago I heard this from a friend’s mother, “The man may think he’s the head of the household, but we’re the neck that turns him”. Never a truer word was [...]