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Why Your Sales Playbook Needs a 2026 Upgrade

By / / AI & Data, Communication, Sales Methodology, Sales Process Maps, Sales System

In 30 seconds

The Problem: Most sales playbooks were built for a world that no longer exists. They’re linear, assume predictable buyer paths and universal cold calling success, and were designed before AI, before digital and in-person merged, and before buying committees exploded to 10+ people. Teams often confuse sales process (the stages), sales methodology (the philosophy), and sales playbook (the complete navigation system bringing both together).

The Shift: From static step-by-step sales guides to comprehensive sales navigation systems. Your sales process is the map, your sales methodology is the compass, your sales playbook is the complete navigation system. “Add AI” bolted onto old processes doesn’t work. The entire system needs redesigning for how business actually gets done now.

The Solution: Build a 2026-ready sales playbook that’s digitally integrated from the start, navigates buying committees not single decision-makers, embraces AI as a capability multiplier, and is customised for your market and team. Use summer to get sorted in January, train in February-March, and hit Q2 ready to dominate.

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Growth Stalled? The Absence of a Sales System in Founder-Led Businesses

By / / Business Growth, Entrepreneurship, Sales Methodology, Sales Strategy, Sales System

In 30 seconds

Founder-led businesses often start with the founder driving sales through vision and hustle. Early success comes quickly but scaling stalls due to the absence of a sales system inside the business. Sales rely on the founder’s instincts and relationships, hard for others to replicate. Telling the team to “be like them” fails—new hires lack guidance, and the founder bears too much. Growth demands more than one person’s effort; it needs a process-driven system. Over many years we have been implementing Barrett’s Sales Operating System, auditing the founder’s approach, defining processes, and training teams to engage, communicate and …

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Why Quick Fixes Fail: Unleashing Sales Growth with a Sales System Approach

By / / Business Growth, CRM, Sales Growth, Sales System

In 30 seconds

In today’s fast-paced business environment, many organisations fall into the trap of seeking quick fixes to complex sales challenges. Point solutions—single-focus tools or training programs—promise immediate improvements but often fail to deliver lasting results. While these approaches might seem like a convenient answer to pressing sales issues, they overlook the intricacies of a dynamic sales operation. To truly excel and sustain growth, businesses need to move beyond these isolated fixes and embrace a Sales System Approach, a comprehensive operational framework that aligns every element of the organisation’s sales strategy and sales processes with broader business goals. This shift from short-term solutions to a holistic, integrated framework is essential for long-term success in sales.

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Does Your Sales Methodology Deliver?

By / / Blog, Human-centred, Sales Culture, Sales Methodology, Sales Results, Sales System, Selling Better

In 30 seconds

Sales Methodologies define the “how” of selling – the approach, principles, and practices. Finding a sales methodology that resonates with your clients AND unifies and empowers your sales team to sell better is paramount. Barrett’s Selling Better Sales Methodology is a step-change to a collaborative, emotionally intelligent approach that addresses what clients want in a conventional sense and places a strong emphasis on understanding and responding to the client’s emotional, social, and relational needs. It creates the foundation for solid mutually beneficial and trust-based partnerships that go beyond transactions and conventional sales methodologies.

In 2 minutes

The topic of sales …

Does Your Sales Methodology Deliver? Read Post »

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Audit Your Sales System to Sell Better Faster in FY 2023-24

By / / Assessments, Blog, Business Growth, Case study, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Growth, Sales Operations, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Sales System, Selling Better, Strategy

As many businesses and sales leaders look to finalise their business strategies, sales and training budgets for FY 2023-24, they are likely putting their minds on how to help their sales and client-facing teams improve productivity and performance, customer service standards, sales pipeline, attraction and retention of the right kinds of clients, their competitiveness, profitability, revenue, and so on.

Often their minds will drift to some form of sales training to improve sales. And sure, the right kind of sales training is essential to stay sales fit and deliver sales results; however, many businesses and sales leaders miss the opportunity to …

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Decarbonised Systems & Strategies

By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Blog, Decarbonising, Environment & Sustainability, Sales Strategy, Sales System, Sales Trends, Strategy, Sustainability & Environment, Uncategorized

Sales trend 6 of the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2022 is about the key role a Sales System and a adaptive Sales Strategy have in decarbonising our sales operations.

This is a condensed version of Sales Trend 6, to read the original version you can download the report for free.

We cannot hide from the fact that we are now heading toward a decarbonised future.

A decarbonised world isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore, it’s a strategic imperative, a collective life-or-death decision we need to make on behalf of our planet and we have about 10 …

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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 …

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Why your company needs a Sales Strategy & Operations Audit NOW

By / / Assessments, Blog, Case study, Role Clarity, Sales Benchmarking, Sales Consulting, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Market Segmentation, Sales Strategy, Sales System, Strategy

Despite the pandemic it looks like the GDP will be off the Richter Scale in Australia in 2022. So how will businesses set themselves up to navigate the sales growth opportunities?

The answer: Conduct a Sales Strategy & Operations Audit.  

However, sales strategy is too often neglected, and it can be the difference between business failure and profitability.

For example, in December 2017, I met with the newly appointed Executive GM of a $4B publicly listed company operating in an essential wholesale and distribution channel. The business was in a whole world of pain including sales and share price …

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How healthy & resilient is your sales system?

By / / Blog, Resilience, Sales System, Systems Thinking

When it comes to sales systems, most people usually associate them with some sort of platform, application, or CRM, from pipeline management to post-sales calls, or anything in between.

At Barrett, when we talk about a ‘sales system’, or a ‘systems-approach to selling’ we refer to something different, more holistic, more resilient.

Let’s begin with some definitions so we’re all on the same page.

A system is a collection of organised things, a whole composed of relationships among its members.

A resilient system protects its critical capabilities (and associated assets) from harm by using protective resilience techniques to passively resist adverse events and conditions …

How healthy & resilient is your sales system? Read Post »

Case Study – Human-centred Sales Systems Transformation

By / / Blog, Case study, Human-centred, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Sales System, Strategy, Success

The client: a $4B division of a listed corporation specialising in Wholesale & Retail. The division is a combination of B2B sales (wholesale), B2C sales across several retail brands, service areas, marketing, and procurement and it includes 200+ people.

The challenges when we started working with them late 2017-early 2018:

  • The business had acquired a mix of companies over the years and there was no integration, no common language, no consistency, etc.
  • The business was in flux and sales and share price were in decline.
  • There was poor customer retention.
  • Several key brands were being disrupted.
  • Sales and services teams were not trained to deliver to …

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