The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, The Final

July 18, 2011 By 8 Comments
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So last night, bumbling but friendly inventor Tom Pellereau, who from now on I shall call Caractacus Potts (after the rather nice but boffin father in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), won The Apprentice and in doing so made something of a mockery of actually bothering with the weeks and weeks of tasks... Despite ten weeks of competition in which he had only been on the winning side three times and had spent more time being called nice but useless by Uncle Alan, he walked away with the top prize of £250k investment in his business. He might rue the … [Read more...]

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The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 11

July 13, 2011 By 6 Comments
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So it was week 11 and Jim was first up to answer the ringing phone which was put down on him when he asked if there was any dress code for the forthcoming task. I mean, seriously, if that’s how Lord Sugar’s PA treats you before you even start working for with him, I'd be checking out the small print. Tonight’s task was to set up, brand, briefly run and then get assessed on a new fast food shop with the potential to become a chain. Another convoluted task with not enough time to get things done. Was this task about creativity? Was it … [Read more...]

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The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 10

July 6, 2011 By 7 Comments
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So, it’s week 10 of The Sales Apprentice and we’re down to six; Natasha, Suzy and Jim facing off against Helen, Tom and Melody. Just looking at the last six I was left feeling pretty uninspired. They are none of them without their shortcomings and I don’t think I would be investing £250k into any of them from what I’ve seen and that’s before we see them torn limb from limb in the interviews and hear what crackpot business ideas they might have... And I wasn’t that inspired by tonight’s task either!  I have to admit that I … [Read more...]

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The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 9

June 29, 2011 By 4 Comments
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And for those who have been following  my Sales Apprentice for a few years you know that there’s always a week during the show when I am travelling in the evening and cannot get this done on time. Last year, my good friend Andy Smith guest stepped into the breach and wrote a superb piece but this year he has just moved to France so… If you watch the Apprentice and you have thoughts, comments or advice from last night’s show then please have your say and I will use them here in a "mash up" of your comments. I'll add mine when I've … [Read more...]

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The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 8

June 22, 2011 By 7 Comments
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Week 8 of The Sales Apprentice and it’s time for our two teams to head over La Manche to sell some wacky British products to the unsuspecting French. With only 8 Apprentices left, tonight’s task saw Suzy leading Jim, Helen and Zoe facing off against Tom “leading” Leon, Melody and Natasha. It also did a lot to clarify my thoughts about the candidates and I’m sure by now you must have your favourites too. First task of the night was to pick two products to sell. After some deliberation and some bizarre questions from Suzy (“Do the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gavin's rants, Influence & communication, Management & leadership, Motivation & mindset, Motivational speaker, Sales training Tagged With: , , ,

The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 7

June 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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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...]

Filed Under: Influence & communication, Management & leadership, Motivational speaker, Negotiation & objection handling, Sales training Tagged With: , , ,

The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 6

June 8, 2011 By 13 Comments
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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...]

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The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 5

June 1, 2011 By 8 Comments
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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...]

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The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 3

May 18, 2011 By 3 Comments
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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...]

Filed Under: Gavin's rants, Management & leadership, Motivation & mindset, Motivational speaker, Negotiation & objection handling, Sales training Tagged With: , , , ,

The Sales Apprentice 2010: Sales Training Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 12, The Final

December 19, 2010 By 3 Comments
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Welcome to the final of The Sales Apprentice and welcome to... Chris VS Stella. Actually, let me rephrase that, I have asked about 500 sales and business people over the last few days who should win the Apprentice this year and the vast majority think Stella so I am not sure that there is so much “VS” going on here. This really should be a one-way, walk in the park, a rout of Biblical proportions, a hammering that only Tiger Woods in his prime could have handed out... But, as a friend said to me, after Lord Sir Mr Alan Sugar fired Liz a few … [Read more...]

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