Think you can get away with it. Think again

By / / Brand & Reputation, Ethics & Values, Mindful selling, Sales Relationships, Value Proposition & Value Add, Vision, Mission & Purpose

In the world of sales there has always been the following advice for customers and for good reason:

  • Buyer beware
  • Read the fine print
  • If it’s too good to be true then it is

And so on.

As much as I advocate for and encourage healthy, trust based, open transparent customer relationships I am fully aware of the ‘dark side’ in the profession of sales.

In my travels, sadly I hear of many stories about people being ripped off and taken advantage of often with no idea about what is happening to them until it’s too late. All under the guise of selling.

There will always be …

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Prayer and purposeful action

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Ethics & Values, Sales Relationships, Wellbeing

I awoke early this morning to the sound of gentle rain falling and found myself immediately praying for more. This prayer came automatically during one of the most tragic weeks in Victoria’s history with the tragedy of the bush fires in many parts of our state.

As a Victorian I have found myself upping my prayer quotient for rain for some time now, not just for the bush fires but for the many people whose lives are affected by the drought here and elsewhere. In addition to my prayers, like many families, my family and I have been doing our best …

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What’s in a relationship?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Collaboration, Communication, Ethics & Values, Sales Relationships, Self Development

 

 

The term ‘Relationship Selling’ is often bandied about by sales managers and sales people without properly defining what it really means.I often hear “We are in relationship selling” or “We need relationship sales people” however what I do not hear being asked is:

  • What type of relationship are we talking about?
  • What type of relationship are we looking for?
  • What do we mean by relationship selling anyway?

Relationship selling happens in any place where relationships are important. Thus when a husband and wife are negotiating about something, they will be more successful if they both consider the relationship as well as whatever it is …

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Leadership, Sales and a Clear Message

By / / Brand & Reputation, Communication, Ethics & Values, Marketing, Prospecting, Sales Consulting, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Strategy, Sales Training, Strategy, Success, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Welcome to 2009.

Over the summer break I was talking with a number of friends about what 2009 will hold for us, our families, our communities and our businesses. Without exception, we discussed the current and possible effects of the GFC (global financial crisis) on our markets and especially on our thinking and our actions moving forward. We discussed the importance of open, clear and honest communication and decisive leadership, clear goals and defining what we stand for.

We discussed the fact that it would be very hard for people to make ‘easy’ money this year i.e. playing the stock market, etc. …

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A Test of Character

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Ethics & Values, Mindful selling, Neuroscience in Sales, Resilience, Sales Psychology, Sales Talent, Self Development, Success

I can honestly say I did not enjoy the early years of my sales career. I initially found it hard, relentless and sometimes really distressing. I was asked to do things I didn’t always understand that significance of. I often felt overly scrutinised by the constant monitoring of activity and performance by my managers. I worked in tough markets in tough times and sometimes wondered if it was worth it. I felt under pressure and sometimes wished I didn’t have to sell at all, however I came to realise that this tough introduction to …

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Punished by Rewards

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics & Values, Neuroscience, Neuroscience in Sales, Performance Management, Sales Leadership, Sales Motivation & Rewards

Punishment and reward proceed from basically the same psychological model, one that conceives of motivation as nothing more than the manipulation of behavior.

As part of my own development and in an attempt to keep my mind as open and fresh as possible, I take to reading all sorts of things. On my current reading list is a very interesting book called “Punished by Rewards” by Alfie Kohn, author, speaker and educator. He writes about the trouble with “gold stars, incentive plans, As, praise and other bribes”.

In light of current discussions and debates about the issues surrounding CEO performance bonuses and …

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Do Not Call

By / / Brand & Reputation, Call Reluctance, Ethics & Values, Prospecting

Last week www.smartcompany.com.au ran a story saying that the Federal Government may include business numbers in the Do Not Call register. What are they talking about?

Prospecting for new business via the telephone (referred to as unsolicited phone calls) is still a legitimate and critical business activity necessary for anyone in sales and in business, especially in business to business sales where consumer marketing and advertising strategies do not work effectively. It is a vital activity any business or sales person worth their salt should be doing on a regular basis. Therefore I do not believe that the …

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Desperate Times Don’t Call for Desperate or Deceptive Measures

By / / Brand & Reputation, Ethics & Values, Sales Culture, Value Proposition & Value Add

As markets tighten and people’s sentiment can tend towards the negative it is critical that we don’t get spooked. As mentioned before in the article about “Watch who you let near your mind” we need to examine all the evidence at hand, make informed decisions about our market and continue to ensure that our prospecting and sales efforts are targeted and at the forefront of our business activities. We also need to make sure that we continue to conduct ourselves in an ethical and professional manner working with our clients not against them.However in desperate times (and maybe it is …

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First Impressions

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Customer Service, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics & Values, Networking, Prospecting, Sales Relationships, Value Proposition & Value Add

Picking up from my recent posting “We’ll meet again” I thought it would be worth looking at how First Impressions can impact our opinions of other people and their opinions of us. In turn first impressions can affect the desire to work together or not. Have you ever regretted a time when you didn’t make a favourable first impression? Did you wish you could have your time over again to make a more positive impression? I am sure you are not alone. We can all think of a time when we messed up. As the old saying goes: ‘You don’t …

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Sustainability – the new criteria

By / / Brand & Reputation, Ethics & Values, Sales Strategy, Sustainability & Environment, Value Proposition & Value Add

What is your position on SUSTAINABILITY?

What community improvement activities is your company involved with?

These are questions, among many others, that my team and I are responding to for a Request For Proposal (RFP) document for a sales training project with a large Australian Corporation. This is the first time we have been asked to respond to these questions in a formal manner and legitimise our position on ‘sustainability’. As sales people and as business owners, not only are we being asked to legitimise our product offering, our service standards, etc. we are now required to articulate our stand …

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