So, we’ve reached week 7 of The Sales Apprentice and tonight’s task was to create a Freemium (Free Premium Magazine) and then sell as much advertising space as possible. The team selling the most ad space would win the task. Tonight’s team leaders were selected by Lord Alan, Jim leading Venture and Natasha leading Logic, speaking to the teams this week from a balcony way above them and I couldn’t help but think that the ultimate winner of the show might be advised to get used to exactly this sort of “partnership”. With only a few … [Read more...]
The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 7
June 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
3 Simple Sales Tips For Sales Success
June 15, 2011 By 3 Comments
I’ve had one of those weeks…. and it’s only Wednesday. I’m sure you have them sometimes too. Mine actually started 3-4 days ago with a nagging headache that built up and built culminating in projectile vomiting at 3am in the morning on Tuesday morning. In fact, I was still feeling nauseous, shaky and hadn’t slept at 615am and was due to get up in an hour to head down to London to give a sales motivational talk… Over the years, I have spent tens of thousands of pounds and invested a good proportion of my time into … [Read more...]
The Myth Of The Perfect Client?
June 9, 2011 By 2 Comments
Last night I was watching The Apprentice and I got thinking about when you should and you shouldn’t take on business and when you should and you shouldn't turn down business. On my travels as a sales motivational speaker I see a lot of salespeople, business owners and entrepreneurs who take on business that they should have never taken on. Business that is unprofitable. Business that is unpalatable. Business that is unmanageable. And most importantly, business that is unprofitable. When I ask about this people say things like, “Well, … [Read more...]
The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 6
June 8, 2011 By 13 Comments
Week 6 and 10 remain still trying to win The Sales Apprentice and a “50/50 partnership with the nation’s toughest investor”… well the most belligerent and bellicose anyway. This week’s task was in junk removal with the objective being to collect, dispose of responsibly and make money from junk. After a quick reshuffle the team’s elected their team leaders: Zoe for team Venture and Helen, who had just been "shuffled", for team Logic. In this task there were two ways to make money: 1) charging to collect waste and 2) selling on … [Read more...]
Have You Got A Question About Sales?
June 3, 2011 By 2 Comments
On my travels as a sales motivational speaker I meet a lot of salespeople, entrepreneurs and business owners who have questions about sales or selling but no-one to ask to get the answers. Some questions I get asked on a seemingly daily basis whereas others are rarer, more specialist or more complex. On of the challenges salespeople have is not knowing who to ask or where to look for the answer. To try and help with this I am currently creating a list of questions that you have about sales and or selling. These could be on any subjects … [Read more...]
Isn’t Under-Promising Going To Cost Me The Deal?
June 2, 2011 By 2 Comments
On my recent Sales Apprentice blog, I was asked the following question (see below). I get asked quite a lot of questions via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and of course my success blog and it would take up all of my time to answer all of them however I do try and utilise the themes for later blog posts. Some however are best picked up separately and this I felt was one of them as it is a question that I get asked in one form or another quite a lot when I am speaking at conferences or talking with clients... Long time reader of these blogs but … [Read more...]
The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 5
June 1, 2011 By 8 Comments
So it’s week 5 of The Sales Apprentice and tonight’s task was to make and brand a unique pet food, make a TV ad and then pitch the campaign to some industry champions. Not an easy task but one at least where the Apprentices wouldn’t be able to actually lose money again this week! Team leaders for the week were selected by Nick Hewer in Lord Alan’s absence and were Vincent and Glen. Glen wasn’t slow in shouting his credentials from the rooftops... “I’m a designer… I do it on a daily basis,” he boasted but not satisfied that … [Read more...]
What Is Brainstorming?
June 1, 2011 By 2 Comments
What is brainstorming? What does it mean to you? What does it actually mean? Who uses it? And why should you care? Let's start off with a Dictionary.com definition shall we... Brain•storm•ing Spelled[breyn-stawr-ming] –noun a conference technique of solving specific problems, amassing information, stimulating creative thinking, developing new ideas, etc., by unrestrained and spontaneous participation in discussion. Origin: 1955–60 OK. So, and just incase you haven’t got it, brainstorming is a way of coming up with ideas, … [Read more...]
The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 4
May 25, 2011 By 7 Comments
It’s week 4 of The Apprentice and so far only boys have been fired. Will another chap go this week or is it time for a girl to be ousted? With just 15 minutes to get up, out of bed and ready for action the teams are asked to meet at The British Museum. Standing near the statue of Aphrodite Lord Alan set them the task of creating their own beauty treatment service and making profit. In one of the most profitable industries this shouldn’t be difficult but as we know, our Apprentices have a God-given gift of making even the glaringly simple … [Read more...]
The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 3
May 18, 2011 By 3 Comments
Welcome back to The Sales Apprentice! It’s week 3 and we’re two boys down. The girls think that the weakest boys have gone and they will have the weakest link this week but I’m not so sure… Tonight’s task was to find 10 items for the Savoy Hotel which was just finishing a 3 year, £200 million refurbishment. The team which could find the 10 items in one day and spend the least money would be the winner. Simples. Or so you might think… Lord Alan positioned this task as one of organization, of negotiation and of buying skills … [Read more...]
