zoe daniel in front of crowd

A Teal Test of Character

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Collaboration, Common Ground, Ethics & Values, Leadership, Sales Driven Organisations, Teamwork, Vision, Mission & Purpose

As the saying goes “A crisis doesn’t develop character, it reveals character”.

And there is nothing like leading and working on a political campaign to test one’s character.

In early November 2021 I accepted the offer of becoming Zoe Daniel’s campaign manager for the seat of Goldstein at the 2022 Federal Election.

I didn’t accept the offer lightly. Truth is I have never run a political campaign of any kind before, but when I thought about it, a political campaign is the ultimate example of an on-the-ground human-to-human sales led campaign and I have helped run many successful sales led campaigns before …

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the-need-for-change

Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes… why it pays to be an early adopter & change agent

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, covid-19, Decarbonising, Entrepreneurship, Environment & Sustainability, Ethics & Values, Leadership, Opportunity, Strategy, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Welcome to 2022. Each year I write a reflection piece on achieving another year in business. On 9th January 2022, we celebrated 27 years, and I couldn’t think of a more appropriate theme than David Bowie’s song, Changes.

These song lyrics seem rather apt given the current times and the journey that my team and I have been on over the last nearly 3 decades, especially the last two as we all navigate and enter yet another covid pandemic year.

To me Changes is about finding your voice, your purpose, and not accepting the status quo. Changes is about not being bullied …

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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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Storytelling for Better Sales & Enriching Relationships

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Call Reluctance, Communication, Ethics & Values, Gratitude, Self Development, Self Promotion, Vision, Mission & Purpose

The truth is we all tell stories every day in a myriad of ways in varieties of situations for a variety of reasons.

In ancient times, oral storytelling was the original way we passed down our knowledge and wisdom to the next generation.  Here in Australia, First Nations people call it The Dreamtime.

Storytelling is inherent in human nature. Storytelling is inherent in sales.

Stories told and aligned to the organisation’s purpose and principles, enrich, transform and sell.

Storytelling like Selling, is ubiquitous. 

How well we tell stories, the right stories at the right time for the right reasons to the right people well that’s a whole other story.

This is what I would like to focus on here, especially as it relates to selling.

But I have to set the scene with you first.

Over 10 years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Sandy McDonald, an author, TEDx speaker, and a clarity and storytelling trainer and coach. I was presenting to a group of people at a public seminar on The Psychology of Call Reluctance and the Fear of Self Promotion. Sandy was in the audience. The reason I remember Sandy so well is that a few days post this session, she sent me a blog she had written about me, my topic and the stories I shared and the positive impact it had on her. This had never happened to me before and I was very moved by her narrative.

We connected on Linkedin, chatted every now and then but it wasn’t until early 2019 that we reconnected again on a much deeper level. You see I had just released my book ‘142 Days of Gratitude that changed my life forever’ and posted a chapter excerpt which explained what prompted me to write the book. Sandy reconnected with me again posting her story about what my story meant to her.

What became clear is that our relationship was being forged on storytelling and that storytelling is at the heart of every human relationship. Which is why we are now working together to help other people develop their craft in storytelling to build meaningful connections and forge better relationships that drive better business and create better outcomes personally and professionally.

I’m a storyteller by default because I have never studied the craft of storytelling like Sandy has. For instance, Sandy’s been working with us to Barrett to help us further develop our stories. She’s been working with us on how we tell the story of our 25 years of evolution at Barr

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Brand and Purpose Come Together

By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Brand & Reputation, Ethics & Values, Marketing, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Sales Trend 7 of the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2019 is about how purpose, employee and customer experience, and the promises you make contribute to the brand result.

By guest author, Michel Hogan, Brand Counsel.

While the general thinking about brand remains dominated by marketing tropes of visual identity and high-profile campaigns, among the logo makeovers and high-profile ad campaigns a shift is happening to a broader and more encompassing view.

The evolving nature of brand will continue in 2019, and both organisations and individuals will need to grapple with the move beyond markers of …

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If I was Prime Minister for a day

By / / Environment & Sustainability, Ethics & Values, Innovation, Opportunity, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Imagine you are asked to complete the statement ‘If I was Prime Minister for a day…’ what would you say?

It is a very interesting task. It gets you thinking big. It got me thinking big.

So in honour of International Women’s Day, 8 March 2019, I thought I would share with you my response to that statement and I encourage women, men and children to reflect on what they would say too. It can make all the difference to the choices we make in life and business.

In November 2014, I was invited by the then Federal Minister for Small Business, Bruce …

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Sales Trend 2 – The case for long-term focus

By / / 12 Sales Trends Pages Category, Attitudes & Behaviours, Environment & Sustainability, Ethics & Values, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Strategy, Success, Sustainability & Environment, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Sales Trend 2 of the Barrett 12 Sales Trends for 2018 Report is the case for long-term focus and strategy.

It’s no news that most businesses are focused on the short-term, living from quarter to quarter, and that although there’s ongoing argument about whether there’s enough evidence or not to say that long-term businesses perform better, most of the arguments against it (pro short-term) focus only on profits.

However, this sales trend reports that there are increasingly louder calls for businesses to be more long-term focused in their planning and strategies. The power of long term planning can be found in …

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Insights into why I started my own business – Part 1

By / / Ethics & Values, Life Skills, Success, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Recently, I was invited to be a part of the judging panel of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – Victoria Young Business Hustler competition 2015. The programme is designed to give young business entrepreneurs the chance to further develop their capabilities and their businesses.

As part of this initiative and as an entrepreneur myself, the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award chapter interviewed me about how I started my own business and what continues to drive and inspire me today.

Interviewer: You completed a Bachelor of Science degree at Monash University, but have now ended up founding one of …

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20 years of improving sales teams & operations. What’s changed?

By / / Collaboration, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, CRM, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Excellence Acadamy, Sales Management, Sales Skills, Sales Strategy, Social Media, Vision, Mission & Purpose

The 9th January 2015 marks 20 years in business for Barrett Consulting Group.

Twenty years of helping companies, sales leaders and their salespeople improve their sales operations and their sales capabilities.

Twenty years of helping salespeople and buyers have better, more mutually rewarding experiences, setting a fairer exchange of value.

As I moved toward this 20th anniversary, I started to muse upon what the sales world was like 20 years ago, compared to what it is like now. Here are just some of my initial musings and observations.

A lot has changed in the sales world over the last 20 years, some changes for …

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