Yesterday I made some changes in the way I run my business. They're not significant changes in many ways but in others they will make positive differences for my clients, my prospects and my readers. Hopefully, HUGE ones! There will be more tips, more strategies, more inspirational stories and more ways for you to read, listen, watch and get involved and get better results in your sales and in your life. One of the things I am going to do more of this year is blog posting. I already do quite a lot some might say but it's something that I … [Read more...]
Ignore Doom-Mongers & Naysayers! Have Dreams, Set Goals & Take Action…
January 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Death Of Cold Calling? Not Today Thanks.
October 21, 2011 By 3 Comments
I had an amazing day at the ISMM's Successful Selling conference yesterday making several amazing video interviews (watch this space... you're going to love them), meetings many interesting people and all culminating in a motivational sales keynote talk to 500 motivated and professional salespeople. What a great day! Clearing my emails, catching up from a week away and planning for next week, I just received this into my inbox... Just to confirm our shared opinion on the best days to call, I’ve just made an absolute gem of an appt. … [Read more...]
Sales Partner Or Dancing Puppet?
September 25, 2011 By 3 Comments
After closing a sales conference this week, one of the audience approached me to ask about a sales presentation that they had recently failed to win. They wanted to know what they could have done about it and how they could improve their chance of winning a similar pitch next time. After asking a few questions it became patently clear that the reason why the sale had failed was that the salesperson had never been treated as an equal by the client and was never really in the running. Many things had not gone perfectly… Prior to the … [Read more...]
Do Manners Still Matter?
September 20, 2011 By 16 Comments
This morning I was on my way down to London on the train and I had the “pleasure” of travelling in rush hour into Central Leeds. It’s been a while since I have travelled in rush hour (something I try and avoid when attending motivational talks where possible!) and like many activities it was good for a bit of people watching! The train was already full when it pulled into my home town station with many people standing and commuters crowded into the seats. I struggled onto it with my laptop, kit bag and suit carrier and sought to find a … [Read more...]
Does Cold Calling Work, 2?
June 22, 2011 By 7 Comments
I hope that you’re having a good week, speaking to lots of new clients and winning lots of new business. I want to start this blog post by asking you a question, “What do you think about cold calling?” Now by asking that, what I don’t mean is do you like being rung at home when you’re eating your dinner (tea for us Northerners) and someone trying to sell you timeshares? No, what I mean is, “Do you think cold calling works?” Now I know that this is a very divisive question. It’s divisive for a whole variety of reasons. It’s … [Read more...]
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...]
Feedback! The Food Of Champions!
May 18, 2011 By 1 Comment
To be a good salesperson you need to have a fair amount of resilience and, some might say, a modicum of ego. Certainly, when you are being rejected or told, “No” you need to be able to shake it off, refloat your boat and steer your way back on course. But you also need to hear what’s being said by the people rejecting you so that you can learn from it and improve your approach, techniques and strategies next time. As a sales motivational speaker (and in my past lives as a sales trainer, sales director and sales manager), I have had the … [Read more...]
Stand Up & Yell, “I Am Proud To Be A Sales Professional.”
May 10, 2011 By 3 Comments
I was watching The Apprentice last night and as Sir Alan Sugar fired Edward the boy’s team leader he told him never to be ashamed of what he is best at doing. This was great advice and it reminded me of the many sales and business people I have met over the years who are ashamed or embarrassed of selling. If you are ashamed or embarrassed of being a sales professional is it hardly surprising when you’re not very successful at it? Who’d want to do something whole-heartedly and well that they were ashamed of? Selling is a noble … [Read more...]
The Power Of Saying, “I Was Just Thinking About You”…
March 21, 2011 By 3 Comments
I have just arrived home from Spain and, whilst it is nice to be back and see my garden waking up, I am this morning swamped by post, emails, to-do lists...You know what it's like. And underneath this avalanche of things to do were several "parcels" addressed to me personally so I thought I'd open them whilst syncing my laptop with my PC... After opening several that were nothing like as exciting as they looked I opened one which was a "motivational" DVD from one of my seminar clients. He had bought it for me and had it sent to me from … [Read more...]
