Avoiding a Kodak Moment: A positive Case Study on managing change for better sales & business

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Case study, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Selling Better, Success

A positive Case Study on managing change, pain and quick wins in line with a Long Term Strategy

Human beings, by and large, are notorious for staying with what is familiar to them and not wanting to ‘rock the boat’, instead chasing the familiar quick fix, the easy option, that which feels safe and comfortable.

‘Why not get as much out of today as I can and to hell with the future’. Boom and bust mentality.

‘We’ve always done it this way, no need to change’. Staying in our comfort zone mentality.

‘If it’s not broken, why fix it?’ Not keeping an open mind …

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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 …

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

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 …

It all starts with Opportunity Read Post »

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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Ignore customer relationships at your peril: The demise of out-of-touch political parties

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Communication, Optimism, Selling Better, Strategy, Success

Even in the advent of big data, the nature of developing genuine customer relationships is generally not understood well enough by most businesses, and is not often on the agenda for thorough examination.

This got me thinking about political parties and the nature of their relationships with their party members and the broader communities upon which they rely upon to get elected.

In speaking with Leslie Roberts, Principal of ERM Advisory, he states that ‘In advice-based professional practices, such as accounting, financial planning, legal services, etc. it is all too common for the topic of customer relationships to be subject to gut-feeling, …

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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 …

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

    Less IS More when it comes to Sales Planning & Market Segmentation

    By / / Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Market Segmentation, Sales Planning, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Selling Better, Strategy, Success

    Less Is More when it comes to doing good strategy, sales planning and market segmentation.

    As Michael Porter, Professor and ‘Father’ of Competitive Strategy (Harvard Business School), says:

    • The essence of good strategy is choosing what not to do;
    • The essence of strategy is that you must set limits on what you are trying to accomplish; and
    • Strategy 101 is about choices. You cannot be all things to all people. It’s about making choices, trade-offs. It’s about being deliberately different

    This is the essence of good strategy, yet time and time again we see many sales teams experiencing …

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    The 5 Dimensions for Sales Alignment, Harmony & Success

    By / / Assessments, Education in Sales, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Success

    As CEOs and sales leaders, we understand that there are many factors that make for a successful sales strategy, operating system and sales team in the competitive, complex, variable world of selling. Leading a sales team and operation is like bringing together an orchestra where there is a fine line between success and failure, being harmonious or out of tune.

    As sales professionals, we can often find ourselves either ‘firing on all cylinders’, ‘kicking goals’ and ‘getting the job done’ or feeling ‘not quite right’, ‘out of sorts’, or ‘off our game’ and often not really sure as …

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    This didn’t happen in my time …

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

    Today it happens it is the same
    to be decent or a traitor
    To be an ignorant, wise, a pickpocket,
    a generous person or a swindler
    All is the same, nothing is better
    They are the same, a fool
    and a professor
    There are no failing grades or hierarchy,
    the immoral people have caught up with us.
    If one lives in deceit
    and another, in their ambition, steals.
    It’s the same if it’s a priest,
    a mattress maker, a king of clubs,
    a rascal or a stowaway.

    Currently this seems to be the world we live in, and everywhere we turn, …

    This didn’t happen in my time … Read Post »

    Is your organisation your worst ‘Sales Blocker’?

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Collaboration, Customer Service, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales performance, Sales Results, Strategy, Success

    Many articles have been written about the many, many excuses salespeople come up with as to why they haven’t hit their sales targets, why they find it hard to sell, and so on.

    The accusatory finger always seems to be pointing at the salespeople. And sometimes this is fair, however, there are many reasons why it’s not always the salesperson’s fault.

    There are many reasons why salespeople are prevented from carrying out their sales duties effectively. This article is about highlighting the blockers or blockages in their way – intended or unintended.

    Let’s explore these blockers and see how we can remove them …

    Is your organisation your worst ‘Sales Blocker’? Read Post »

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