Lights! Camera! Action! We were down to 10 but by the end of the show these 10 were to become 8! What went on in tonight’s Apprentice and what sales training and business development tips, if any, could we learn from it?
At the start of tonight’s programme I was concerned for Sir Alan… Could it be that there is no-one remotely worth hiring in the show at all this year? I’m really not sure and not much occurred to change my mind tonight although there could yet be some dark horses to watch for…
Last week I was on the train travelling back from London having run two of my sales seminars – No Fear Cold Calling and Professional Selling Skills – and I was reading the Evening Standard.
On page 12 (Comment - Thursday 1st May 2008) there were a few pieces written by Charlotte Ross and a picture of Kevin and Sara from The Apprentice. Underneath it was written the following…
A bunch of true believers
Salespeople have always mystified me. This year, most of the Apprentice contestants are drawn from that world, so every Wednesday we witness team hugs, air-punching and yells of, “We’re going to smash them!”
Are you in recruitment or do you run a recruitment company? Do you want to see myself, James Caan and Humphrey Walters speak in London on the 5th June this year?
You can at the largest sales conference in the recruitment industry. The ATSCo members’ conference (non-members can attend) is market specific, content rich and enlightening for both sales and sales management professionals in the technology staffing industry. The focus is on providing information, techniques and tactics that will help to improve sales success for even the most experienced recruiters.
Today I am pleased to share with you some motivational thoughts and ideas from a good friend of mine Jim Rees. Jim is an endurance athlete who has achieved some amazing feats including the Race Across America endurance race in both 2005 and 2007. Jim is also a triathlete, executive coach and keynote speaker.
Whether you’re a salesperson, a business owner, an entrepreneur or a manager / director, there is something in this interview for everyone…
Tonight’s Apprentice was an interesting one although perhaps not from a sales training perspective but more from a business development angle. The task tonight was to create a range of new greetings cards and then make a sales pitch to three of the biggest suppliers in the industry – Clintons, Tesco and Celebrations. The team with the most number of cards ordered after the presentations would be the winner.
Over the last few years, sales pitches, tenders and presentations have more and more become the norm in business. Many small and large businesses and corporations spend huge amounts of time and energy preparing for and delivering sales pitches of this type. Many win large amounts of business by pitching their offerings in this way.
Week 5 and Sir Alan is still looking for a new apprentice but what exactly is he looking for? With Claire in the frame to be a project manager for the second time in 5 shows tonight, this should be interesting.
730am and Sir Alan turned up at the house. Maybe he has, but I cannot remember him doing this before. Interestingly, the vast majority of the wannabees were still in bed. Now I have nothing against people grabbing some extra shut eye but I thought this was “the job interview from hell”?
This week the teams were sent by Sir Alan to Blue Water, Europe’s largest shopping centre to photograph customers and to sell them their photos. To try and shake things up a bit Sir Alan mixed the teams up a little sending Jenny, Sara and Claire to the boy’s team and Raef, Lee and Kevin over to the girl’s team.
Their task this week: to set up photography stands, charm customers into posing for them and then convince them to pay for their pictures. The winner as usual, the team with the most profit.
In the new sales and marketing paradigm individuals, consultants, entrepreneurs and small businesses can play on a level playing field with the big boys. Anyone can embrace the power of the internet, couple this with a powerful sales and marketing strategy and bootstrap their way to success on minimal expenditure.
In fact, minimal budgets, far from being a barrier to success, can actually focus your mind on what you really need to do to get more sales. Minimal budgets make you ask the question all of the time, "What will get me the best sales results?" Minimal budgets don’t lure you down the the tempting path of spend, spend, spend!
OK! OK! So I borrowed part of the title but so what, it’s a good one and I like it! If you’ve been following my missives on goal setting so far, you’ll know that I have already alluded to the fact that when setting goals you ought to set them big.
So here it is for the record, think big and set big goals!
If you’ve ever read a book on goal setting or personal development you will have read this somewhere or other. If you’ve ever had a boss who told you to set goals he will have said this to you at some point. If you’ve ever listened to a motivational speaker you will have heard this woven into the fabric of their talk…
Many people know that they ought to set goals but they don’t for a variety of reasons. One that comes up frequently is that they don’t know what to set goals about. There are three distinct groups of people that this article will be of use to…
The first are people who are new to goals, goal setting and personal development. If this is you and you are thinking, “What goals should I set?” don’t worry! This is a very common question and a good one to ask. This article will help you to answer it and to get started setting some goals that can you more of what you want in your life.
