Desperate Times Don’t Call for Desperate or Deceptive Measures

By / / Brand & Reputation, Ethics & Values, Sales Culture, Value Proposition & Value Add

As markets tighten and people’s sentiment can tend towards the negative it is critical that we don’t get spooked. As mentioned before in the article about “Watch who you let near your mind” we need to examine all the evidence at hand, make informed decisions about our market and continue to ensure that our prospecting and sales efforts are targeted and at the forefront of our business activities. We also need to make sure that we continue to conduct ourselves in an ethical and professional manner working with our clients not against them.However in desperate times (and maybe it is …

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Are you really listening?

By / / Brain Science, Communication, Customer Service, Negotiation, Neuroscience in Sales, Sales Skills, Value Proposition & Value Add

Ever misinterpreted or missed hearing important information which meant that you missed a vital opportunity? You’re not alone. Listening has always been, and still, one of life’s most vital skills. With so much competing for our time and attention I have found the effectiveness of mine and others’ listening skills are being increasingly challenged.

Where I notice my deficit in this area the most is when I go home after a busy day and my children want to tell me all about their day and I realise my head is still full of my work and other priorities …

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Be Consistent & Keep Your Customers Happy

By / / Brand & Reputation, Collaboration, Communication, Competition, Customer Service, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Value Proposition & Value Add

One of the things that frustrate me the most as a customer is inconsistent service standards, inconsistent procedures and people’s inability to deal effectively and honourably with different types of people. If left unchecked this leads to confusion, frustration, wasted time, wasted effort, impaired brands and reputations, lost revenue and lost customers.

These issues don’t seem to be as much of an issue when you deal with very small companies because usually everyone knows what everyone else is doing and how it should be done even if it is only via word of mouth. However as businesses expand and …

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Making Decisions

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Sales Leadership, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Skills, Value Proposition & Value Add, Wellbeing

Several years ago I read a great book called ‘Kids Are Worth It – Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline’ by Barbara Coloroso.

This book has served me very well as a parent giving me guidance in how to raise self-aware and self-disciplined children. In particular, I learnt by heart the following questions which I ask myself whenever I make decisions and in turn, have taught my children to ask whenever they make decisions.

The 3 Decision Questions are:

  • Is it life threatening?
  • Is it morally threatening?
  • Is it unhealthy?

For instance, when my then 7 year old son asked if his 2 …

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An Audience with Procurement

By / / Brand & Reputation, Negotiation, Procurement, Sales Relationships, Value Proposition & Value Add, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Recently I was approached by the head of CISP Australia (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) www.cipsa.com.au (broken link), Jonathan Dutton to be their after dinner speaker at the Women in Procurement Conference on 19 June 2008.

This was a new event on CIPSA’s calendar which provided a unique educational and networking opportunity for those interested in the advancement of women within the procurement profession. While procurement has traditionally been a very male-dominated profession, an increasing number of women have achieved success and recognition in recent years. The conference aimed to examine the challenges women face as they try to make …

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First Impressions

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Customer Service, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics & Values, Networking, Prospecting, Sales Relationships, Value Proposition & Value Add

Picking up from my recent posting “We’ll meet again” I thought it would be worth looking at how First Impressions can impact our opinions of other people and their opinions of us. In turn first impressions can affect the desire to work together or not. Have you ever regretted a time when you didn’t make a favourable first impression? Did you wish you could have your time over again to make a more positive impression? I am sure you are not alone. We can all think of a time when we messed up. As the old saying goes: ‘You don’t …

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The relationship of revenue growth to your job?

By / / Customer Service, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Value Proposition & Value Add, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Every sales person knows the relationship of prospecting to sales is critical. Without prospecting you are not likely to get a sale. We all know the relationship of sales to revenue growth is high. But how many people in your company know the relationship of revenue growth to their specific job?

The sales people do. Owners do. They think about it every day.

Yet many people not working directly with customers don’t often think about how their roles impact sales and revenue growth. Even in some customer service teams they don’t realise the connection either. How many sales …

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Culture and Communication

By / / Brand & Reputation, Communication, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Relationships, Value Proposition & Value Add

Selling and servicing across cultures is more common now than it has ever been. And as more and more of us come across international sales opportunities I thought it would be worth while looking at some of the challenges we may come across when trying to communicate effectively cross culturally in sales or other business areas.

In many of the articles I have written I advocate for open, honest, trust based relationships. And I still do, however being a direct, no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is person that is what I value most. Therefore, by contrast, I can often find indirect, seemingly non-committal, …

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Sustainability – the new criteria

By / / Brand & Reputation, Ethics & Values, Sales Strategy, Sustainability & Environment, Value Proposition & Value Add

What is your position on SUSTAINABILITY?

What community improvement activities is your company involved with?

These are questions, among many others, that my team and I are responding to for a Request For Proposal (RFP) document for a sales training project with a large Australian Corporation. This is the first time we have been asked to respond to these questions in a formal manner and legitimise our position on ‘sustainability’. As sales people and as business owners, not only are we being asked to legitimise our product offering, our service standards, etc. we are now required to articulate our stand …

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Great Story Tellers

By / / Brand & Reputation, Communication, Marketing, Sales Skills, Sales Talent, Value Proposition & Value Add, Vision, Mission & Purpose

I have noticed that good sales people are often great storytellers. They have the ability to find the right story to resonate with your situation.

They speak from experience and you know they know their stuff. They can paint a picture that is your picture and get you visualizing success in partnership with them.

They seem to be able to connect disparate situations, events or feelings and find the common thread that binds them all together – together for you to connect with. And even if the story they are telling is not directly relevant to your business or market, the situation …

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