Navigating the Brave New World of Sales

Navigating the Brave New World of Sales

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Blog, Business Growth, Human-centred, Hybrid Selling, Innovation, Leadership, Opportunity, Remote selling, Sales Trends

In 45 seconds

Key Insights from the Barrett Event (28/11/24) with Alex Fein, RedBridge and Sue Barrett, Barrett:

Erosion of Trust:

  • Alex Fein discussed growing public scepticism toward institutions, media, and corporations, driven by a disconnect between personal expectations and failing public systems
  • Businesses need empathy and qualitative insights to understand and address these sentiments effectively

AI in Business:

  • Caution against over-reliance on AI; it enhances operations but cannot replace human connection
  • Leaders should use AI selectively to complement human-centred practices

Building Trust:

  • Sue Barrett emphasised long-term value creation over short-term wins
  • Businesses should focus on solving real problems to foster trust and deliver meaningful value

Modern Sales Practices:

  • Hybrid selling is …

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hybrid-selling is here to stay

Hybrid Selling is here to stay

By / / Blog, Education in Sales, Hybrid Selling, Learning and Development, Remote selling

We have been saying this for a while, and now the numbers are in. Research from McKinsey shows that 94% of B2B decision makers say the hybrid sales model -combining in person, video call, online chat, etc.- is equally or more effective than the traditional sales model -mostly in-person meetings- from before the pandemic. It seems that buyers had been waiting for some time for sellers to offer more alternatives than face to face meetings.

This is great news for sales teams, there’s much to gain from a hybrid selling (or buying model). We can now do business …

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Online-Only-Training-Case-Study

Selling Better in Extreme Conditions – Case Study

By / / Blog, Case study, Learning and Development, Remote selling, Sales Essentials, Sales performance, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Training, Selling Better, Success

Updated: February 2023

Case Study – Multinational Client B2B team  

In February 2020 – before many of us knew we were not going to be able to work in person face-to-face over 2020 and 2021 – we were contacted by the Vice President – Sales & Business Development of ACG, a multinational supplier to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. One of their four divisions was looking to become one of the top players in the world for their category and to achieve that they needed to raise the level of professionalism in their sales team and leaders including transitioning from transactional …

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Achieving a better ROI on Sales Training

By / / Blog, Education in Sales, Learning and Development, Remote selling, Sales Essentials, Sales Growth, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Training, Selling Better

It’s that time of the year again when businesses start budgeting for the next financial year, and with that many wonder how much they should spend in sales training. Of course, the answer to the question is different for each business, but using a simple example, here are 3 basic options currently widely available and the results you can expect from each:

  • Do nothing but expect improved results
    Hope is not a strategy.
    Investment: zero.
    ROI: uncertain
    This is still very common across businesses and prevalent in a number of industries because …

    • Achieving a better ROI on Sales Training Read Post »

    What is your top sales concern in 2022?

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Blog, Communication, Remote selling, Sales Culture, Sales Process Maps, Sales Relationships, Sales Tips

    In August 2020 I wrote an article about where businesses had been exposed during the pandemic crisis.

    At that time, having conversations with business leaders across Australia and internationally, we found the following 11 ‘cracks’ as the most common to have appeared in their sales systems:

  • CRM – The lack of quality and accuracy of customer data
  • No Sales Strategy – zip, nothing, zero
  • A reactive and short-term approach to sales
  • No proactive prospecting activity, capability, and discipline
  • Lack of support and training for sales team to help them keep selling while at different stages of lockdown
  • An overreliance on networking events to get …

    • What is your top sales concern in 2022? Read Post »

    Sales tips for uncertain times – Here’s how

    By / / Blog, Recruitment & Sales Recruitment, Remote selling, Sales Assessments, Sales System, Sales Tips, Sales Training, Success

    Uncertainty has been our permanent companion over the last two years, and as business and sales leaders and professionals, ‘adaptation’ is -or at least, it should- be our way of doing business. We can shift our thinking by leveraging all that we have learned to propel business forward.

    Here are 3 things that have helped our clients adapt in these changing times:

    1. Remote Sales Training

    Here’s how a remote blended learning approach works and delivers results

    More businesses are coming to terms with the fact that in some cases a classroom setting is not feasible for the foreseeable future, or they prefer to …

    Sales tips for uncertain times – Here’s how Read Post »

    adult-training-session-salesessentials

    3 Sales Myths Busted

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Blog, covid-19, Education in Sales, Remote selling, Uncategorized

    In the era of fake news, conspiracy theories, and opinions galore, it’s important to get our facts straight. Speaking with sales and business leaders, salespeople, and service teams over 2020-2021, we are finding many are rapidly changing their beliefs, minds and opinions about the true value and benefits of remote selling and remote sales training and, as a consequence, reaping the rewards. However, there are many ‘traditionalists’ still holding onto myths and outdated sales and training stereotypes that negatively affect their bottom line.

    What we do know is that change is in the air, opportunity is everywhere, and no one wants …

    3 Sales Myths Busted Read Post »

    world-gratitude-day-21-09-2021

    World Gratitude Day: The Moral Case for Gratitude, especially in uncertain times

    By / / Blog, Common Ground, covid-19, Ethics & Values, Gratitude, Life Skills, Remote selling, Resilience, Sales Psychology, Self Development, Value Based Selling

    Tuesday 21 September 2021, is World Gratitude Day

    In March 2019, I published my first paperback book: 142 Days of Gratitude that changed my life forever 

    It is part memoir, part self-help, part business book all underpinned by science and philosophy.

    In it I wrote a chapter about the moral case for gratitude. Given we are living in uncertain times I thought we could reflect for at least a few minutes, the time it takes you to read this article, on the power of gratitude to change our lives for the better.

    So here’s my contribution to World Gratitude Day.  

    The Moral Case …

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    kick start your sales growth

    Seven Things to Kick Start Sales Growth in the New FY

    By / / Assessments, Attitudes & Behaviours, Blog, covid-19, Customer Service, Education in Sales, Learning and Development, Opportunity, Remote selling, Sales Growth, Sales Leadership, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Strategy, Sales System, Sales Tips, Sales Training, Strategy

    No mucking around. Let’s get straight to the point.

    Things have changed -dramatically- as a result of COVID with new opportunities and markets emerging, old ways of doing things in decline, leaders and teams needing to rethink how we do business, and customers trying out different ways of buying and engaging with suppliers. There’s no time to stand still it seems, but that is what we need to do sometimes to catch our breath, reset, and look at what we need to do next.

    So here are 7 things you can do to get real sales traction and sustainable sales and business …

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    Hybrid Selling – rebuilding how we sell and buy

    By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Attitudes & Behaviours, Blog, covid-19, Remote selling

    Sales Trend 6 from the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2021 explains how and why remote selling is here to stay.

    COVID has completely reshaped how we do B2B sales with an almost exponential rise in the number of digital / remote client meetings being undertaken on video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Teams, Skype, or Google. Video conferencing and chat has replaced face-to-face encounters overnight. By now, most of us would have experienced video conferences through a number of those platforms, helping us stay in contact to buyers and sellers. What started out as a crisis …

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