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Rebel Rebel Sound & Vision: Picking Up Weak Signals Leading into the Future

By / / AI & Data, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Sales Essentials, Sales Market Segmentation, Sales Pioneer, Sales Strategy, Value Based Selling

In 30 seconds

“Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.” David Bowie

Bowie’s genius wasn’t just artistic, it was strategic. He launched BowieNet in 1998, pioneered music videos, and created Bowie Bonds by spotting weak signals others missed. In 1995, I spotted transactional selling dying, leading to Barrett’s foundation. In 2014, another signal revealed selling needed to become an operating system, not just sales activities. Now AI is fundamentally changing how we engage and sell. Like Bowie’s evolution from glam rock to electronica, successful adaptation requires reading signals early and acting boldly. The future belongs to those who hear it coming and have the courage to act on what they hear.

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A Journey of 30 Years: Taking the Road Less Travelled with Humanity at the Core

By / / Business Growth, Everybody Lives By Selling Something, Leadership, Sales Pioneer

In 45 seconds

In 1995, with just $3,000, I set out to transform sales from soulless transactions to human-centred connections based on trust and shared value. Thirty years on, this philosophy has not only endured but become a cornerstone for navigating today’s complex business world.

The journey has been extraordinary, built on key lessons: humanity always wins, systems bring clarity, purpose drives progress, collaboration fosters change, and human-centred practices break down silos. Barrett’s Sales Operating System exemplifies this, turning chaotic sales processes into scalable success.

Inspired by David Bowie’s courage to embrace change, I’ve made it my mission to empower businesses and people …

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25 years of helping people and businesses sell better for a sustainable future

By / / Blog, Entrepreneurship, Ethics & Values, Human-centred, Sales Pioneer, Selling Better, Success, Vision, Mission & Purpose

This year we are celebrating 25 years in business.

Barrett opened on January 9th, 1995 with $3,000 and a purpose of helping people & businesses sell better now and for a sustainable future. Here’s our story in a just-over-4 minutes video about our journey so far.

Or if you prefer to read about it, here’s the transcript:

“Two years ago, I asked the Executive GM of a listed company to go out on a limb.

His business was in flux and sales falling. Like many leaders, he thought sales training was THE solution.

Training would happen, I said, but not yet.

Instead, I asked him to, …

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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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Sales Trend 1 – The Selling Better Manifesto

By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Education in Sales, Environment & Sustainability, Ethics & Values, Innovation, Mindful selling, Opportunity, Sales Pioneer, Sales Trends, Success, Uncategorized, Wellbeing

Sales Trend 1 of the Barrett 12 Sales Trends for 2018 Report is our Selling Better Manifesto. It talks about the Selling Better Movement and it explains why we have started it.

We have created 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.

The Selling Better Movement is an ethical and human-centred selling ethos underpinned by a practical selling philosophy.

The modern business landscape offers a world of possibility. More and more people are stepping out to unearth …

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Don’t die wondering, the real secret to sales success – Part I of II: the business

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Innovation, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Pioneer, Sales Process Maps, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Strategy, Sales Tips, Strategy, Success

I know, I know, I know.

How many times have we seen the ‘Secrets to Sales Success’ plastered over the internet only to be left disappointed?

Usually, these ‘secrets’, once you look into them, either leave you feeling duped because of the unethical biases they take, or you are left with lots of little bits and pieces of advice that are ok but they are not coordinated in a manner that you can manage and move forward with them.

Like the diet and wellness industries, you could spend a lifetime trying to work out what you should do to improve your chances at …

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It’s all about Opportunity: A future – disrupted & reimagined

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Innovation, Life Skills, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Pioneer, Success

On December 4 (Melbourne) and 6 (Sydney) 2017, Barrett will be attending The Future: Disrupted and Reimagined event featuring Malcolm Gladwell, author of five New York Times bestsellers — The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, and Steven Levitt, economist and co-author of Freakonomics, SuperFreakonomics, Think Like A Freak and When To Rob a Bank.

Gladwell and Levitt are some of the world’s most interesting and outstanding writers talking about the 21st century world and how we can rethink and reimagine our future in times of great …

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Why engineers, technicians & scientists might make the best salespeople in the 21st Century

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Innovation, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Pioneer, Sales Talent

It has been a long held belief that extroverts made the best salespeople; the gift of the gab, being charming and persuasive, telling a good story, people oriented and friendly, and all that. However, given the complexity of our world and the ever increasing need to make well informed decisions and manage risk before we buy, our warm, chatty, convivial friends may need to learn a lesson or two from the more ambiverted/ introverted types many of whom are deep thinking techies, geeks and nerds. More about the value of introversion in next week’s piece.

Let’s look at the merit of …

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What is Sales Enablement?

By / / Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Pioneer

The term ‘Sales Enablement’ has emerged in recent times as a hot topic in the world of sales, however it can have as many interpretations as there are sales teams which leave people feeling somewhat confused about what it really means and entails. Here are some people interpretations from online sales forums:

  • Sales enablement” means being given the tools to sell… simple as that…
  • A practice / culture of telling the client what is truthful and deliverable so that an informed buying decision is committed to by a money input from the buyer, this is effective sales enablement.
  • Sales enablement is strategic, but …

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Why Sales doesn’t have its rightful place at the boardroom table?

By / / Education in Sales, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Excellence Acadamy, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Pioneer, Sales Training, Self Development

The 8th August 2012 was a milestone for Professional Salespeople around Australia: until that day there had been no officially recognised benchmark for professional selling at tertiary level. Whereas Finance, Marketing, Production, Engineering, IT, Business Administration, Research & Design, Human Resources, Logistics, Procurement and even Entrepreneurship all have recognized tertiary qualifications, Professional Business Selling is the last role in the Value Chain to be officially recognised in this space. So here we are – It has taken over 100 years for Selling to make it on the Australian Tertiary Curriculum.

Here’s a speech given …

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