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The First 5 Minutes: How to Stop Sounding Like a Vendor

By / / Brand & Reputation, Buying, Communication, Sales Skills, Uncategorized

In 30 seconds

The Problem: Most salespeople sabotage their credibility in the first five minutes. They over-apologise, fill time with aimless small talk, or launch straight into a pitch deck. The moment they do, they signal “vendor” rather than “trusted advisor” and lose the peer dynamic before the conversation even starts.

The Shift: The way you open a meeting sets the entire tone of the relationship. Advisors diagnose; vendors present. Your body language, your language, and your agenda-setting either earn you a seat at the table or confirm you were never meant to have one.

The Solution: Own the room from minute one. Replace apologies with anticipation, pivot small talk purposefully, frame the meeting as mutual exploration, and check for shifted priorities before diving in. Peer dynamics are not granted, they are established, and the first 300 seconds are yours to claim.

 

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What the Hell Happened to B2B Selling in 2025?

By / / AI & Data, Buying, Call Reluctance, Innovation, Sales Trends

In 30 seconds

The Problem: The B2B sales terrain fundamentally shifted in 2025. Cold calling stopped working for 71% of decision-makers under 40. Over 70% of buyers now use AI to research and shortlist vendors before contacting sales. Buying committees exploded to 10+ influencers across 6 to 11 months. Most sales teams are experimenting with AI in isolation with no consistency, no integration, and no playbook.

The Shift: From predictable, linear sales processes to orchestrating complex, multichannel, generationally diverse buying journeys. The power shifted from seller-controlled discovery to buyer-controlled validation. Sales teams now face a generational divide in communication preferences, digitally empowered buyers making decisions before first contact, and buying committees requiring simultaneous orchestration across multiple stakeholders.

The Solution: Update your navigation system for the terrain that exists now. Build a 2026-ready sales process and playbook that’s generationally intelligent, digitally integrated, designed for buying committee orchestration, and embraces AI as a capability multiplier. The fundamentals haven’t changed. Building trust, understanding needs, creating value, and solving problems remain eternal. But your map needs updating.

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Trend 11 – Off the shelf AND Customised

By / / Blog, Buying, Customer-centric, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Sales Trends, Selling Better, Value Based Selling

This is Trend 11 from Barrett’s 12 Business and Sales Trends for 2024. You can download the full report here.

In 30 seconds

In B2B sales, we are seeing a trend where buyers seek quotes from salespeople without specifying a situation, needs, or priorities. Salespeople must strategically offer adaptable solutions, conduct thorough research, present flexible options, emphasise universal benefits, and share customised case studies. Transparent pricing and language implying customisation build trust. Highlighting modular features reinforces adaptability. This approach navigates the challenge of providing value-based quotes with limited buyer information. It positions sales professionals to later …

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supplier beware

Big Fish, Small Bait: Suppliers Beware

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Blog, Buying, Procurement, Uncategorized

In 20 seconds

Small businesses beware. Big company contracts often favour the buyer. Watch out for red flags like unfair IP ownership, exclusivity clauses, and unclear payment terms. To negotiate a fair agreement, research industry practices, seek expert advice, build relationships with the procurement team, and be prepared to walk away if needed. Protect your IP and business, even against what it can look like tempting offers. Don’t be afraid to stand up for your business’s worth.

In (just over) 2 minutes

At the heart of Barrett’s Selling Better philosophy is creating the conditions for a fair exchange of value and mutual prosperity …

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Humans at the Centre of Buying & Selling

By / / Blog, Buying, Customer experience, Customer Service, Human-centred, Sales Process Maps, Sales Trends, sales-process-map

Sales Trend 10 of the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2023 is about the importance of designing human-centred buying-selling-servicing processes.

In 30 seconds

Buying-selling-servicing processes are the collection of interactions that take place between buyers and sellers. In B2B, these processes often lack structure, relying on personalities rather than procedures, risking client retention. B2C giants prioritise digital channels, often neglecting the customer experience.

To address these issues, businesses are embracing human-centred engagement and design. They seek to create less stressful, more meaningful interactions that consider ease and meaning for customers. The Net Easy Score (NES) measures interaction simplicity, while human-centred design focuses on understanding people’s needs and motivations.

These approaches shift away from rigid processes, emphasising human interactions, and balancing digital and in-person engagement.

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What Consumers Want

By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Buying, Customer experience, Human-centred, Sales Growth, Sales Strategy, Strategy

In 30 seconds

Consumers now demand transparency from businesses. They want -and have the right- to know how and where their products were made, the environmental impact, how the business treats their employees, and how much tax they pay. B2C and B2B clients also expect omni buying channels with access to a human when they need or want to. With the increase in online transactions and businesses storing more of our data and behaviours, the risk of data breaches is growing, clients want to know how their data is used and protected. Transparency can be the great equaliser. Consumers –B2C and …

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Our Fragility Has Been Exposed. Now What?

By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Attitudes & Behaviours, Blog, Buying, covid-19, Environment & Sustainability, Procurement

Sales trend 2 from the 12 Sales Trends for 2021 Report is about what Procurement can do to help businesses become thrivers and survivors.

By guest author Ben Shute, CEO of Comprara

For Barrett’s 12 Sales Trends Report last year, my article – We change, or we burn – argued that the Bronze Age collapse was a warning we should heed. Due to the complex logistical nature of the procurement process behind the production of bronze, the world of the Bronze Age was highly interconnected and interdependent. A drought in the Indus Valley, for instance, …

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