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Are you really listening or just waiting to speak?

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf… – Native American Proverb How long do we actually listen to another person before we start interrupting? How quickly do our own thoughts take over and we start thinking about what question to ask or what we need to say in reply even before they’ve finished speaking? Do we find ourselves interrupting the person to give our own opinion or finish their […]

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Deep end

Stop Throwing Sales People and Sales Managers into the Deep End

Isn’t it about time we stop throwing our sales people and sales managers in the deep end and expecting them to swim – or sell and lead with no support or training in this case? Isn’t it about time that we had frank conversations with our potential recruits about what sales and sales manager roles really entail and make sure our recruits really do have the skills, mindset and knowledge

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The real secret to sales success

How many times have we all been tempted to click on a link that offers us ‘the secret of sales success’ only to find a website or article that is promising a silver bullet ‘if only you do this one thing’ which doesn’t help us at all? The business of sales excellence is like the diet industry, full of tempting offerings that lead us nowhere fast. It is only natural

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The Power of Optimism and Opportunity for Sales & Business

Bob Safian, Editor in Chief of Fast Company, said: “…Uncertainty reigns as rapid change disrupts expectations and social norms. Global leadership is fractured and economic conditions fluctuate widely. Specters loom, from climate change to cyberterrorism. The relentless pace can make you want to curl up in a corner, wary of what might come next. Or you can stare unblinkingly at this time of chaos and dig into the difficult work

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Are your sales conferences pumping or slumping?

*** Trigger Warning: May contain traces of sarcasm *** We’ve all been there: a sea of people, pulled together from across the country or region, locked in a windowless room with artificial light, seated at round tables with mints and water, patiently waiting for the parade of presenters to finish their ‘Death by PowerPoint’ presentations so we can get to the coffee station during the day and then the bar

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Salespeople beware tire kickers, IP thieves & time wasters

Selling is a very time consuming set of activities at the best of times. Now with so much choice and complexity, sales cycles are taking even longer –like 20% longer– especially with multiple stakeholders in larger businesses. So it only makes sense that we want to be sure as salespeople that a real deal is in the offering, that it is properly budgeted for, and we are in good position

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Cringeworthy: how arrogance and ‘seniority’ destroy sales

Here is a senior manager’s account of a real life, cringeworthy example of when a so called ‘experienced’ senior consultant completely stuffs up a prospective client meeting despite the young graduate, a millennial from the vendor’s company, sitting in the meeting with them instinctively knowing better and trying to do the right thing by the client and the company: “One of the graduates from our team went out with a

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Sales Trend 1 – The Selling Better Manifesto

Sales Trend 1 of the Barrett 12 Sales Trends for 2018 Report is our Selling Better Manifesto. It talks about the Selling Better Movement and it explains why we have started it. We have created The Selling Better Movement with the hope it will help people understand that there’s a better way of doing business. A way in which we can all be prosperous. The Selling Better Movement is an

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Why you shouldn’t respond to every RFP and tender

Do you have clear criteria to assess the relevance and risk of every tender or RFP (request for proposal) that comes into your business? Do you know how much it will cost you in terms of your time, effort, people resources and money to respond to a tender or RFP? Do you know what the probability of you winning a tender or RFP is? If you cannot answer these questions

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