Engaging with words and stories to find common ground

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Collaboration, Common Ground, Environment & Sustainability, Ethics & Values, Gratitude, Opportunity, Sustainability & Environment, Trust, Wellbeing

Using words & stories to find common ground & progress towards a better future together

As mentioned previously, finding common ground is indispensable to our progress, especially if we are to move forward as communities and solve the most pressing issues we have to deal with as humans inhabiting an abundant but vulnerable and finite planet.

In this article we explore how words, language and the stories we tell can help us find common ground or tear us apart, and look at some examples to demonstrate how things can go either way.

Have you ever shared a story or anecdote that sounded perfectly …

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Trust me, I’m a salesperson

By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Opportunity, Sales Relationships, Sales Results, Sales Trends, Trust

Sales Trend 6 from the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2019 is about how successful salespeople are rising to the challenge of rebuilding trust at a time when trust in business is particularly low.

When trust in business and organisations in general is low, no one is more affected by it than salespeople. Salespeople are at the frontline of the business. They are the visible face. So when things go pear-shaped, the ones who lose credibility and trust are salespeople themselves. The famous Edelman report and a study conducted by Roy Morgan reveal that trust in businesses is at …

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2019 Sales Trends Event  – Trust me, I’m in Sales

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Business Acumen, Collaboration, Environment & Sustainability, Ethics & Values, Gratitude, Innovation, Opportunity, Optimism, Procurement, Sales Consulting, Sales Leadership, Sales Pioneer, Sales Research, Sales Trends, Selling Better, Strategy, Success, Sustainability & Environment

On 27 March 2019 we hosted our 7th Sales Trends Business Breakfast celebrating the 10th edition of the Barrett Annual 12 Sales Trends Report with Trust as our central theme.

Over 120 people attended the event, mostly business people but we also had the Year 11 International Baccalaureate Student Representatives of the Melbourne Montessori School attend to further their knowledge and education as they study Business Management.

The attendees heard from our special guest speakers, Suzanne Paynter, Strategy and Policy Advisor for the Future Business Council, and Andrew Smith, Head of Business Customer at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and myself, where we …

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It all starts with Opportunity

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Ethics & Values, Gratitude, Opportunity, Optimism, Resilience, Success

Life is all about opportunity.

It’s about the choices we make on a daily basis.

We are all presented with opportunities every day whether we see them or not.

Some people are lucky enough to have opportunities served up to them on the platter of life not having to work very hard for them. And even then, these people may not realise their opportunities and let them sail away.

While others are given very little or nothing by way of opportunity, yet they are determined to make the most of their abilities and surrounding circumstance to create and realise opportunity where none may have …

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Someone has to sell, or you don’t have a business

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Education in Sales, Entrepreneurship, Life Skills, Opportunity, Sales Essentials, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Sales Training

Someone has to do the selling or you don’t have a business.

I have met many people over the years who have great ideas, skills, processes or inventions but hate the thought of selling.

They usually come from two camps:

Camp 1: Those people who understand they have to sell in order to have a business but just do not know how to do it. They often harbour some fears and anxieties about selling because of its bad public reputation and can feel overwhelmed about what they have to do. However, I find these people are willing to have a go.

I will gladly …

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If I was Prime Minister for a day

By / / Environment & Sustainability, Ethics & Values, Innovation, Opportunity, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Imagine you are asked to complete the statement ‘If I was Prime Minister for a day…’ what would you say?

It is a very interesting task. It gets you thinking big. It got me thinking big.

So in honour of International Women’s Day, 8 March 2019, I thought I would share with you my response to that statement and I encourage women, men and children to reflect on what they would say too. It can make all the difference to the choices we make in life and business.

In November 2014, I was invited by the then Federal Minister for Small Business, Bruce …

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24 years in business and 24 Big Lessons to share

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Entrepreneurship, Ethics & Values, Opportunity, Optimism, Selling Better, Success

This week marks the 24th anniversary since I founded Barrett and, over the summer break, I had some time to reflect upon myself, my business’ journey and the many, many lessons learned over the last 24 years.

We often get our ‘business lessons’ from big corporates about how to do this or that; however, I have found that many of these corporate lessons do not always translate well into small (few than 20 employees) to medium sized businesses which make up over 90% of all business in Australia.

So given that I fall into that 90+% category and have managed to …

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The road less travelled – Selling Better

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Entrepreneurship, Ethics & Values, Opportunity, Selling Better

On 9 January, 1995 I took the road less travelled when I chose to start my business dedicated to Selling Better rather than follow the traditional path of Selling More, and that has made all the difference.

As a business owner, entrepreneur, and pattern systems thinker amongst other things, it has been a fascinating and interesting journey of discovery on many levels: personally, professionally, intellectually, culturally, ethically, philosophically, and systems-wise.

While I am originally a science graduate who specialised in medical and biological subjects, I have adapted and evolved into an architect, engineer, behavioural scientist and philosopher who focuses …

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12 things we’ve learned so far about Selling Better in a 21st Century world

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Ethics & Values, Life Skills, Opportunity, Optimism, Sales Culture, Sales Results, Selling Better, Success

My team and I have been studying sales teams, salespeople, sales operating systems, sales strategies, sales processes, and sales cultures across a wide variety of industries in the public and private sectors, N4P and government since 1995 and we have seen and learned a lot of things.

Here is some of what we have learned:

  • Selling is everybody’s business and everybody lives by selling something
  • Selling starts with opportunity and purposeful optimism
  • Selling is the vehicle that allows opportunity to flourish and people to prosper; nothing happens until something gets sold
  • Selling at its best is when humans solve …

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