Pay-off: Eliminate ‘laziness’ and strengthen your team Investment: >2 minutes Sign up to weekly posts here Think about the lazy people you know. Grrrrr…they’re so annoying aren’t they? Lazing about. Who do they think they are? Except…many of the “lazy” people I know have gone on to become more successful than just about everyone else…
Pay-off: Understand your blindspot if you like to be likeable Investment: 30 seconds for the short version, 5 mins for the long Sign up to weekly posts here The short version Should you be likeable to succeed in sales? Well, honestly, is your customer trying to buy your likeability? Ultimately, is their main purpose to…
Pay-off: A short guide to what it’s worth learning next Investment: 4 minutes Sign up to weekly posts here Here’s my top five: How to think (far beyond your default level of thinking) How to learn fast How to identify and solve the right problems How to lead How to sell These, I think, are…
Pay-off: Avoid recruiting BD imposters who like to look good, but won’t deliver Investment: 2.5 minutes Sales / BD leaders: Do your BD people want to be good at BD? Or do they want to appear to be good at BD? Good at BD Do they prioritise their own performance improvement, and remain honest about…
Pay-off: Quickly spot potential sales talent for B2B/nonsales/technical/start ups/professional service sales Investment: 4 minutes How would you go about identifying potential sales talent in your nonsales people? I’m increasingly asked to help businesses do this and it’s certainly a healthy question for businesses to ask: “Who could and should be contributing to developing our business,…
Pay-off: prevent pushing clients away Investment: 4 minutes The final post in a series of four about the types of people whose approach to sales may appear to work, but will probably cost them sooner or later. If you identify with any of these, read up, and plan accordingly. So far we’ve looked at: the…
aka how to build a win:win BD ‘system’ Pay-off: a reminder on getting balance in the world of BD/sales Investment: 4 minutes Meet the ‘takers’ No one likes a pushy person do they? Our radar is always on for people who are out for themselves, or as Adam Grant refers to them in his excellent…
Pay-off: understand the costly problem, find the fix Investment: 4 minutes Last week we looked at two types of people who might appear to be good at sales, but who might not be good enough at sales to survive long term. The point of my post was to urge those people to purposefully develop their…
Simple. Be ‘pully’. Do all you can to get alongside your customer. Get up on the platform with them. Scope out the scene with them. Define and agree on the problem. Consider your options, side by side. Then, alongside them, “pull” the right solutions in. Simples.
(plus an important bonus 8th one) Pay-off: avoid being an average/mediocre sales person Investment: >1 min Persistence “Never give in! Never never never…”….except…when flogging a dead horse. Better to know when to adapt, when to quit and move on, and when it really is right to persist. Likeability “People buy from people they like”…except…when they…