Celebrating 25 years of Helping People & Businesses Sell Better

celebrating-25-years-of-helping-people-businsses-sell-better

The 9th January, 2020 marks 25 years in business for Barrett.

25 years of helping people and businesses sell better.

25 years of exploration, research, experimentation, creation, building, encouragement and promotion of, and learning and education in ethical human centred sales systems, strategies, processes and practices.

25 years of a self-funded research project focused on creating The Selling Better Movement with the hope it will help people understand that there’s a better way of doing business.

A way in which we can all be prosperous.

I started the business out of my home office with $3,000 in capital on 9 January, 1995 with an idea and confidence in my own ability to make this work on my terms.

Why?

I started my business because after 11 years working in big business, learning the ropes, drinking the corporate Kool Aid, I felt something was missing, something felt out of balance. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at the time but something didn’t feel right. Upon reflection the signs where there; the scales of business were stilting towards a dominant focus on money, more specifically profit maximisation and shareholder return; productivity improvements and a reductionist approach to measuring everything as single items that could be controlled and engineered to perfection while ignoring systems thinking; and race-to-the-bottom pricing strategies locking up supply chains for global corporate domination where red tape was cut and governance was lax. It seemed human workers, consumers and environmental resources were there for the taking and in many cases there for unfettered exploitation. There was also the rise of ‘Me’ as the centre of the universe; the culture of ‘individualism’ that said ‘I’ could achieve anything I wanted to and it was all about ‘me’. The rise of the Celebrity CEO and Celebrity culture are expressions of this ‘self-worship’. And all of this was before social media amplified this to the max.

Back then, it seemed to me there was very little focus by governments and businesses, especially big business, on humanity, the joy of working together and evolving as people and contributing to society by helping each other, doing good work and caring for the environment where we could all flourish together.

However, there were many people talking about these issues at the time including:

  • David Suzuki, Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist
  • David Attenborough, famous English broadcaster and natural historian
  • Rachel Carson, who wrote Silent Spring in 1962 about the future of the planet and all life on Earth where she calls for humans to act responsibly, carefully, and as stewards of the living earth.
  • Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Environment Victoria, and so on
  • The Club of Rome was already raising the issues of unlimited growth and global economic unsustainability based on 20th century economic models in the early 1990’s

This is just the tip of the iceberg but you get the gist.

Back then there were already 1000,s of validate research papers, reports, plans and programs on these matters and their impact on humanity’s survival and that of our flora and fauna. But that wasn’t the focus of those in power.

In late 1994, I felt deluded and jaded and I wanted to make a difference. I didn’t have any fully formed or deep understanding on of all of this, but I had an idea that I thought was worth investing in; an idea where I focused on understanding and promoting a better way of doing business and sales that didn’t require us to sacrifice ourselves at the corporate alter of greed, exploitation and celebrity.

So I left my well-paying job on 23 December 1994 and started on 9 January 1995.

I made over 100 prospecting calls that first week and won our first client assignment on the Friday worth $10,000. I even asked to be paid up front and they said ‘yes’ so I banked my first cheque on Friday afternoon 13 January 1995 and bought a phone fax machine the next day and I was off. I remember as if it were yesterday.

A lot has transpired since that first week and I simply want to extend a big THANK YOU to all our clients (past and present); the tens of 1,000s of people we’ve assessed, trained and coached; and all the people who have supported us to get where we are today, especially our wonderful team members (past and present), mentors, partners, suppliers and our families.

It’s a big team effort, always.

I couldn’t have done it without all of you.

So what have I come to learn and know over the last 25 years?

Over this period of time we have seen many things – good, bad and indifferent – when it comes to managing businesses and sales teams, successfully or otherwise. Fads, trends, myths, hype, well-worn facts, innovations and home-truths have all been a part of this 25 year journey.

We’ve talked with over 10,000 business leaders from the C-suite and Sales about their issues, concerns, ideas and opportunities when it comes to sales strategy, sales operations, processes, salespeople and culture. Some have been the early adopters and pragmatists – those who could see changes, took the lead and adapted, catching the opportunities early. While others were closed off and preferred to talk about change instead of taking decisive action; they bided their time and remained with the status quo until it became a crisis, which left them scrambling to secure their future. We’ve worked with them all across a multitude of industries and it’s never been boring:

  • Banking & Finance
  • Mining, Industrial & Engineering
  • Building, Construction, Interiors & Signage
  • Media, Market Research, Advertising & Digital Marketing
  • IT, Web & Telecommunications
  • Scientific, Medical, Chemicals & Healthcare
  • Professional & Business Services
  • Property Sales & Development
  • Automotive, Travel & Transport
  • Retail, FMCG, Hospitality, Exhibitions, Consumer & Packaging
  • Environmental & Agriculture
  • Education, Health Services, N4P & Industry Groups
  • Sports & Leisure

So what is one key lesson I’ve learned over this quarter of a century?

Doing Business and Sales for a better world and the common good is the ONLY way to go forward together into the future.

I’ve found that the best businesses for the planet are businesses that make a positive impact on people and the environment; businesses that give back more to the environment and communities than what they take. The best businesses for communities are businesses that stay in business, providing jobs and helping people flourish, which in turn, help the communities in which they operate prosper. These premises can and should coexist with running a viable business.

The evidence is here, organisations can be profitable and do business and sell in a way that protects the world’s finite resources and is good for the economy and society now and in the long term. Instead of waiting for governments, businesses need to take the lead and walk the talk on positive change, ditch short-termism, embrace collaboration – with colleagues, clients, suppliers, communities, and other stakeholders-, as they adapt to a post-consumerism world.

My hunch, my feelings, my instincts and experience back 25 years are being validated now.

And while there’s a long way to go and many obstacles in the way, the good news is that everything is available and ready to go and the early adopters and pragmatists have already made a start. But it requires all of us to pitch in and make an effort. It’s time to do better for our people, our businesses, our customers, our communities, and our planet now and for generations to come.

Here’s to Selling Better.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.