Beware the quiet one!
“Beware the quiet one in the corner. They are the ones likely to wield the power and sign the cheque” Words drilled into my at the beginning of my career almost 4 [...]
Are your people square pegs in round holes?
Growing a business isn’t easy. One of the hardest things to get right is having the right people in the right roles. Which is especially true in sales. I can’t tell you [...]
Do you have sales posture?
You’ve finally got that meeting with who you believe could be a good prospect. You turn up at the appointed time, but they keep you waiting. When you finally sit down, you [...]
Are you over-complicating sales?
People over-complicate sales. Ultimately sales is about finding people who have problems you can solve, then putting your value proposition to them. Ergo, you must be very clear on two things. The [...]
A fundamental Start-Up mistake!
AI, block chain and Fin Tech start-ups appear to be sprouting up everywhere. Founded by someone who has what they think is a great idea who then goes ahead to create a [...]
Why you must prospect!
The internet has completely changed the sales paradigm. We’ve been seduced into thinking marketing will produce all the leads we need. So we won’t actually have to go fish for prospects. Never [...]
How to pitch for investment…
If you had to pitch your product or service to a potential investor how would you go about it? I was recently asked to coach a bunch of start-ups in the art [...]
What are your blind spots?
What do you do when confronted with a new idea or way of doing something? Do you immediately go, “It won’t work” or do you stop and consider it reflectively? In business [...]
Confusing activity with outcome!
Let’s talk about the sales elephant in the room. Prospecting. We’d all love leads to magically appear ready to do business. The reality is they won’t. It’s your job to actively go [...]
How to control your next sales conversation
Have you ever found yourself rambling in a sales meeting? Losing control of the conversation? So you find yourself going down rat holes where your prospect has taken control, setting the agenda. [...]
Flawed thinking…
If I were to ask you who your market was, how specific would you be? Would you say, “potentially everyone”, or could you narrow it right down to specific people experiencing specific [...]
The myth of content marketing
Content marketing. It’s been all the rage for a few years. But has it brought the results you hoped for? Over the years we’ve written hundreds of articles and this is about [...]
Test, tweak & refine – your keys to success
Smart business leaders understand two principles summed up in these two sentiments. “No plan survives first contact with the enemy” and “Feedback is the breakfast of champions”. In business much is made [...]
Stop marketing – Do this instead!
If you’re a small business owner how much money and time do you spend on marketing? Trying to generate more leads. And how much effort do you put into sales, actually converting [...]
The VMS model underpinning business success…
Why did you get started in business? What’s your vision? What do you want to achieve? And how are you going about implementing this? Every successful business owner has a vision for [...]
How to win more deals
Sales. It’s such a loaded word for many coaches and consultants. They cringe at the thought of contacting strangers to convince them to buy. And to a large extent I can’t blame [...]
Suffering client feast & famine?
Feast and famine. Seems to be the perennial curse of small business. It goes something like this. You get clients and become really busy. As a result you stop any marketing, prospecting [...]
Who’s your real competition?
Who’s your biggest sales competitor? It’s not whom you think. It’s the status quo. Doing nothing is the easiest thing for people to do, even if the process or products they’re using [...]
Who you gonna call?
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters isn’t the answer! In an increasingly digital world there’s an awful temptation to hide behind email, messaging and social media when it comes to selling. And while [...]
Is “Selling” a loaded word for you?
Selling! It’s such a loaded word. And it’s surprising how many people hate the thought of doing it. Which is fine, unless your livelihood depends on it. And as a consultant or business [...]
Creating a “We Space” in sales
I constantly remind our clients that corporations don’t buy. People do. And people buy when they feel a level of trust and feel you understand them, their values and what they’re trying [...]
Prospects Lie. Get over it!
Over the years I’ve learned one thing about prospects. They lie! Generally not intentionally, but they lie all the same. Now before you take umbrage and reply telling me you’ve never done [...]
What would you give to get a client?
How much would you give away to get a client? What steps would you take to enable a prospect to convince themselves you’re a good fit and could solve their issues? Would [...]
Reaching out…
How often do you reach out to a prospect? Once? Twice? Three times? Even more? Would it surprise you to know that the majority of people stop after the first contact. But [...]
Will you rock the boat?
Would you challenge your client’s thinking? Put contrary opinions or question assumptions? All too often there’s a tendency to go along and not rock the boat. But is this the best approach? [...]
Why you shouldn’t send proposals
Have you ever had what seemed like a great sales conversation and had your prospect say, send me a proposal? You then spend the next however long creating and sending it off. [...]
The curse of perfectionism
Are you a perfectionist? Someone who wants everything to line up before you get out there. There’s a useful saying in business, ready, fire, aim. Which really applies to those of us [...]
Would you buy your own product?
One of the biggest reasons people don’t like to “sell” is they don’t completely believe in the value they provide. The late Zig Ziglar insisted the first sale is always to yourself. [...]
When should you fire a client?
Have you ever had a client you regretted taking on? Unfortunately it’s a scenario that many of us face at some point. Often when we’re new in business we take on clients [...]
Are you a naked salesperson?
Ever been in a meeting where the salesperson whipped out their laptop and insisted in going through a long presentation? Slide after slide of boring detail of how their solution worked. While [...]
What’s your money thermostat?
Money! It’s such a loaded word for many of us. Especially when it comes to what we can earn and how much we can charge for our services. In this video I'll [...]
Is complacency killing your business?
We’re heading into difficult economic waters. People are more careful with their money. So it’s more prudent than ever to protect your customer base, keeping them in the fold while locking out [...]
Why speech rate matters
Want to become a better communicator? Ensure you get your message through? The rate someone normally speaks at reflects the rate at which they process information. This has major implications in persuasion [...]
Are you asking deep questions?
Sell high end, complex products or services to senior decision makers? Decision makers want to feel you truly understand them and the outcomes they want. Both on a personal and business level. [...]
The only thing you can control in sales is…
A speaker in an innovation workshop kept humorously stating he was an overnight success after 15 years of hard slog. And that more often than not, things take much longer to come [...]
Why aren’t you charging more?
Imagine doubling your prices - right now! How do you feel? Did you have to stop yourself from choking? Think that no one would pay and you’d lose all your clients? We [...]
Grappling with a difficult problem? The answer might be right next door
Have you ever grappled with a difficult problem. Sat with it for days, weeks or even months getting more and more frustrated? But what if the answer was right next door. Literally. [...]
Sales team underperforming? Do this…
You’ve hired salespeople to fuel your growth. You had high expectations but time’s passed and they’re not getting the results you’d hoped for. It’s all too common a scenario, so what’s gone [...]
How contactable are you?
How easy do you make it for prospects to contact you? How about referral sources? I'm constantly amazed at how difficult people make this. LinkedIn profiles don't have phone numbers. Neither do [...]
3 Questions every prospect asks before buying…
Every prospect asks themselves 3 questions before becoming a client. Should I pay attention? Can I trust you? Is your recommendation going to work for me? In a world where we’re constantly [...]