The most dangerous number in your business…
I grew up watching Lost in Space. Just about every episode had Dr Smith getting up to no good and the Robot waving his arms with Danger, Danger, Danger. Which [...]
17
12, 2020
11
12, 2020
The circle of client acquisition
Who would have believed the Lion King is a great metaphor for business. Particularly the lyrics of the circle of life. I’ve taken the liberty of modifying it slightly so [...]
4
12, 2020
Why you should NEVER send proposals UNLESS…
Have you ever sent a proposal only to never hear from the prospect ever again? Crickets. Your prospect ghosts you. If so, listen up. Let me paint a common picture [...]
26
11, 2020
Is your message jumbled?
I have a couple of questions for you. What do you know and is it what you are actually known for in your market place? Most of us have a [...]
20
11, 2020
Why camels are a great metaphor in business
Camels. I think they’re pretty ugly and they spit. But that aside they’re one of the most resilient creatures on the planet. They survive in stinking hot deserts all [...]
12
11, 2020
Hitting the ground running in Jan 2021
It's almost the end of the year. What you do now will set you up for a great 2021. You either relax and take a break after all your hard [...]
6
11, 2020
Do you stand out?
Look around you. Unless you have a completely unique product or service which is highly unlikely, you’ll have myriad competitors. So what distinguishes you from all of them? The answer [...]
15
10, 2020
Life is too short to…
As business owners, life is too short to work with people we don’t like, don’t appreciate the value we provide and are just painful to deal with. One of [...]
8
10, 2020
Moving from crisis to opportunity and choice…
Every crisis and period of disruption such as Covid-19 has seeds of opportunity within it. As a leader you can either curl up or you can double down and figure [...]
1
10, 2020
How the 80/20 rule will help you prospect more effectively
Commercially smart business owners understand the concept of leverage and the 80/20 rule. Concentrating 20% of your effort to give you 80% of your results. In sales this translates to [...]
24
09, 2020
5 critical questions you must ask every prospect
In sales I’m sure you realise the importance of qualification. Whether a prospect has a need or not. Which starts with prospecting, a number’s game. You have to sift through [...]
17
09, 2020
How to warm up prospects
There are very few professional consultants who like cold calling. In fact, I’d say 99.9 percent hate it and would do anything to avoid it. But the reality is unless [...]
10
09, 2020
Tread your own path…
It’s an understatement to say we live in uncertain times. The pandemic has thrown a spanner in the works for a huge number of people. We have no idea what [...]
3
09, 2020
The sales drama triangle
Are you familiar with the drama triangle? It’s a social model of human interaction developed by Stephen Karpman in 1968. And it has a lot of applicability in sales situations. [...]
24
08, 2020
Will you accept this challenge?
I have a direct challenge for you. I want you to raise your prices. And keep doing so until you find major resistance from your prospects. And yes, I can [...]
13
08, 2020
Are you making these 2 common sales mistakes?
What do you do when a prospect expresses interest in your product or service? How do you handle the conversation? Could you be inadvertently be making two major mistakes which [...]
7
08, 2020
The power of positioning!
In business it's not who you know but who knows you. If you're well known as an expert in your market, potential clients will seek you out and ask if [...]
30
07, 2020
Are you communicating at cross purposes?
Any salesperson worth their salt knows we all buy on emotion and justify with logic. From complex to completely transactional, impulse purchases, emotions drive buying decisions. And it doesn’t [...]
15
07, 2020
A dumb business killing mistake!
There’s an old saying, It’s not what you know it’s who you know. However, I firmly believe in business it’s not who you know but who knows you. Imagine you [...]
9
07, 2020
Why taking a piecemeal approach is dangerous
A big mistake we see is when businesses take a piecemeal, ad-hoc approach to client acquisition. Which means they struggle to have a steady stream of incoming clients. To consistently [...]
25
06, 2020
Do you have deep compassion for your prospects?
When coaching people in sales, we stress the axiom, “I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care”. We all want to feel heard [...]
16
04, 2020
To call or not to call… that is the question
Should I call? Should I not call? Should I actively sell? Should I hang back? In the words of Henry Ford, “If you think you can or think you can’t [...]
2
04, 2020
Are you choosing fear or expansion?
Right now the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. Fear and uncertainty rules. Having said that, you have a choice. You can retreat, bunker down [...]
26
03, 2020
Do you empower people?
What sort of leader are you? My name’s Rashid Kotwal. Over 40 years I’ve come across a wide variety of leaders. Some great, others positively toxic. I vividly remember one [...]
19
03, 2020
Sleep with one eye open…
Fires, floods, now pestilence with Covid-19. We live in an age of disruption. So it’s not a case of if, but a case of when something unforeseen will come up. [...]
12
03, 2020
Why your organisation’s culture matters…
Your organisation’s growing rapidly. How do you hire the right people? What should you be looking for? My name’s Rashid Kotwal. There are three predominant ways companies hire people. But [...]
5
03, 2020
As a leader you job is to…
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 [...]
27
02, 2020
Do you need a checkup from the neck up?
In business as well as life in general, one of the greatest predictors of success is your mindset. Something understood by every elite athlete. Talent will only get you so [...]
20
02, 2020
Starting with the end in mind…
Does your business provide you with short, medium and long term income? My name’s Rashid Kotwal. When working with growth focused business owners we emphasise it’s crucial to keep the [...]
13
02, 2020
Are you charging enough?
Do you believe your clients buy on price? So you feel you have to keep your prices low to win the deal? Or that they’ll negotiate you down hard? My [...]
23
01, 2020
When do you quit following up?
How often do you contact a prospect before giving up? Once, twice, three times? And by not persisting are you missing out on closing deals? Years ago I had a [...]
16
01, 2020
Are you coming on too strong?
In business there’s ultimately no difference between making sales and starting a personal relationship. My name’s Rashid Kotwal. Let’s say you’re looking for a new relationship. That special other in [...]
9
01, 2020
Turn cold prospects into warm ones by….
2020 is upon us. I’m sure you have big plans. Lots of sales growth. But it’s one thing to set a sales target, but quite another to have a strategy to achieve [...]
3
01, 2020
Why you should celebrate “no’s”
The late Ziz Ziglar was a consummate salesman who loved hearing the word “NO!”. That may sound ridiculous, so bear with me. Zig knew that when prospecting it took a certain number [...]
19
12, 2019
How are you keeping score?
Imagine playing a competitive game with no scoring mechanism. No way of determining a winner or loser. It’s an oxymoron and there’d be no point. So why wouldn’t we apply this to [...]
12
12, 2019
A “Vision” without [this] is just a pipe dream!
According to Hebrew proverbs, Where there is no vision, the people perish. And as the Cheshire Cat said to Alice, if you don’t know where you want to get to, any road [...]
6
12, 2019
Are you an eagle or a pigeon?
I’m sure you’ve heard the sayings, “Like attracts like”, “Birds of a feather flock together” and “As within, so without”. Your business is a direct reflection of who you are. And that [...]
21
11, 2019
When you need clients fast!
Ever been in a tight spot with cash flow? Where you need clients fast? Here’s what you need to do. Transcript Ever been in a tight spot with cash flow? [...]
14
11, 2019
Opportunity dances with those…
Are you someone who needs all your ducks lined up before you take action? Everything to be perfect? The i’s dotted and t’s crossed? In business nothing happens unless you take action. [...]
7
11, 2019
A check up from the neck up!
In business, your success is in no small part a direct reflection of your mindset. In my experience, business owners come in two flavours. People who have abundance thinking. Where they’re willing [...]