What we cannot control in sales

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Competition, Resilience, Sales Research, Sales Strategy

Last week we talked about what we can control and influence in sales, especially in uncertain times.  This week is looking at what we cannot control in sales and how to learn to live with it.

What (and who) we cannot control

Let’s face it, we operate in a complex world where many things are outside our direct control and influence, yet these very things can influence and affect ourselves, our clients, markets, and communities. There are some very interesting frameworks that can help us separate out a range of factors that affect our market places, communities, and countries.

  • [1]PEST analysis (‘Political, Economic, …

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How to give your sales force a competitive advantage

By / / Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Strategy, Sales Trends

Which sales trends will most affect your business?

How can you make the most of these changes?

How can you steer your sales strategy to deliver sustainable results?

How can you give your sales force a competitive advantage?

These questions were posed at the inaugural 12 Sales Trends Annual Business Breakfast hosted by Barrett.  Focusing on what to do in light of the 12 Sales Trends for 2014 – The Thinking Sales Organisation  we presented a very enlightening and informative speech on what we can do and how we can navigate our way using the 12 …

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Industry Experience and Product Knowledge aren’t enough

By / / Business Acumen, Education in Sales, Recruitment & Sales Recruitment, Sales Consulting, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Strategy

As much as people want Sales to be considered a science the reality is that Sales has always combined a collection of facts with human judgments (or estimates). What this means is that there is no analytic approach that can single-handedly guarantee sales success. Result – Sales is likely to always be a mixture of art and science. So how do you sure up your success to gain that competitive edge? For the last few decades when transactional, product-pushing sales was all that mattered, most

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What’s influencing your customers’ buying decisions?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Communication, Customer Service, Education in Sales, Neuroscience, Sales Psychology, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Strategy

Product demand and brand scores are down and the reasons are tough to manage. There are a multitude of factors influencing buyers, some are within our control and many are not. Factors such as bad experiences with retailers and intermediaries, mediocre service levels, the increasing number of competitors with similar products and brands, cheaper pricing are just some of the causes. The tricky global situation is also creating a more conservative spending climate where saving is now the prevailing consumer mindset. With all of this how do we influence our customers so that they want to buy from us? How …

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So What Does Being Strategic Really Mean?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Life Skills, Sales Consulting, Sales Strategy, Self Promotion

With sales under pressure to perform in a market where differentiation has almost disappeared and so many products and services are becoming ‘commoditised’,leaders and management are looking for an effective alternative. Everywhere you turn these days companies are (or want to be)’strategic‘. The challenge is, many business leaders and their management generally don’t say what they really mean by that, or how to do it.

So, what does being strategic really mean? Well for starters, being strategic is not …

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Top 10 Tips when Negotiating

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Education in Sales, Life Skills, Negotiation, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Strategy, Sales Tips, Sales Training, Self Development

Everybody needs to negotiate from time to time; at work, at home, as a leader, as sales person, and as a consumer. For some it seems easy, but others view the process of negotiation as a source of conflict to be resisted and avoided if possible. Negotiation is a process and a skill that can be developed. Negotiation can be described as a process that involves two or more people dealing with each other with the intention of forming an agreement and a commitment to a course of action where compromise needs to be reached in order to move forward. …

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4 rules to best validate yourself with buyers

By / / Communication, Negotiation, Sales Relationships, Sales Strategy, Self Promotion

Ever been asked straight up at the beginning of a prospective client meeting, “So what do you do?” despite your sincere intention to ask questions of your prospective buyer rather than talk about yourself?

I bet you have and I bet you found yourself on more than one occasion feeling somewhat uncomfortable because:

a) You didn’t know what to say quickly and succinctly thus making yourself feel and look a bit silly;

or

b) You ended up talking about your business, your products and yourself ad nauseam while watching your client or buyer’s eyes glaze over.

Hmm Awkward … why do …

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Move Over Marketing Here Comes Sales Strategy!

By / / Marketing, Sales Leadership, Sales Planning, Sales Strategy, Success

The pundits (including Barrett) are always reminding sales executives of the need to plan. However, a major miscalculation made by many organisations is viewing their sales operations as purely tactical functions. The result – at best, sales plans become little more than operational imperatives bumping along one quarter to the next with no strategic intent.

More and more, the high cost of selling, longer lead times and the multitude of choice that customers have – coupled with rampant (and often aggressive and diversifying) competition, diminishing product differentiation and …

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