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19 June 2016
Perhaps the greatest sporting icon of the twentieth century, Muhammad Ali deserves to be remembered around the world for his flying fists and indomitable persona. “Muhammad Ali was the greatest” wrote Barack Obama in one of the more significant tributes to the late superstar athlete: “He shook up the world, and the world is better
20 May 2016
With previous claims to fame relating largely to an association with Walkers Crisps and to the unexpected discovery of the remains of King Richard III, Leicester City – an East Midlands city which lies on the River Soar – has suddenly been inundated by top journalists from all over the world.
6 February 2016
David Bowie has appeared all over the press in recent weeks. Every newspaper and media outlet in the country seems to have been celebrating the life of the late singer-songwriter who inspired so many millions of people over the course of his career.
18 December 2015
When Disney paid $4 billion for Lucasfilm three years ago, it was surely only a matter of time before Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill would be donning leathers and lightsabres again, due to return to a long time ago in a galaxy far far away…
12 November 2015
Starring Robert de Niro and Anne Hathaway, comedy drama The Intern was released in cinemas across the UK in October. ‘The intern’ of the film, Ben Whittaker (de Niro) is a 70-year-old widower growing restless in retirement who decides to apply as a senior intern at an online fashion site founded and run by thirty-something entrepreneur Jules Osten (Hathaway).
3 October 2015
Since it was first published, millions of people worldwide have read The Energy Bus. Overall, it is a good read: well-written and light-hearted, The Energy Bus introduces the importance of positivity to anyone wishing to get more out of their life and work.
1 October 2015
We each have two voices in our head – one says you’re great, you’re having a good day. The other says you’re going through a weak patch, you’re not at your best. Which is the stronger? The one you feed.
15 September 2015
Your ability to get going rubs off on other people and boosts their performance. No question. The more energised, joyful and alive you feel, the more energised, joyful and alive those around you will feel – just as a result of working with you.
26 August 2015
You’re involved in a major sales pitch. After months of work you’re told, with regret, that you have not won the business.
16 June 2015
In sport, the performing arts and business, focus is essential, but what exactly is focus? Focus is a quick form of mental preparation. To use it, simply lock your mind on to the picture of the outcome you want.
2 June 2015
Imagine you sell telecommunications solutions and you are making your final presentation to the board of a call centre provider.
19 May 2015
New research in psychology and neuroscience has confirmed a hard link between mindset and success. Positivity in the workplace produces measureable results.
3 March 2015
So you have identified a potential customer, built rapport with them and used your sales skills to get them to want to buy from you. But once they have decided to buy, they turn their attention to getting the best deal, the best price, the best terms. They start to negotiate.
6 February 2015
One person tells you something kind and respectful, another person says something critical and negative. Which will you remember longest?
25 January 2015
Since time immemorial, converting features into benefits has been ground zero for sales skills. But it’s no longer enough. Your customers have heard it all before and they’ve stopped listening.
9 December 2014
When you cut away the layers selling against competition, comes down to one core concept – Sell The Difference.
5 November 2014
Resilient people in leadership and sales roles cope well with high levels of pressure and bounce back quickly from setbacks. Resilient people cope well when the going gets tough.
20 October 2014
Imagine your business in five years’ time. Assume you have six new competitors all offering the exact same product at a similar price. These organisations have set up in your vicinity and market themselves in a similar way. Competition is massive.
16 October 2014
To better understand the structure of the sale it is useful to visualize a conceptual black box. This black box has four separate controls. It’s portable and weighs about three pounds. At the start of every sale you take it out and begin by turning control ‘1’. You continue to turn it until you get the desired reaction.
15 October 2014
Leadership is about building emotional intelligence. A key attribute of this is the ability to listen and learn from others.
13 October 2014
If you’re like most people, you target your sales efforts on the relevant departmental manager: head of IT, head of manufacturing, head of finance. However, if one of these managers has a proposal that requires funding, who is their only source of funds?
30 September 2014
Successful sales managers know that the sales person who masters follow-up, masters selling. Just like a golf or tennis shot, the power is in the follow-through.
8 September 2014
Focused leaders set high goals and are intolerant of shortfalls. That’s normal. However beware the trap of everyone feeling pressured and no longer enjoying themselves.
12 August 2014
How we say things is often more important than what we say. Communication and energy cannot be separated. Communication is an inside-out process.
29 July 2014
People who procrastinate miss things; they may be late for an appointment, they may miss a train, but more importantly they may miss an opportunity that could change their lives for the better.
15 July 2014
Many salespeople still regard objection handling as vital. If only they had better answers to objections their results would quickly improve. This emphasis is misplaced. It doesn’t matter how brilliantly an objection is answered, it has still created a gap between buyer and seller at the end of the presentation.
12 June 2014
‘A premium return to the customer is all the justification you need to require a premium investment’ says Mack Hanan in Key Account Selling.
28 May 2014
Consider this dialog: John’s lawnmower packs up one Sunday afternoon, so he goes around to his neighbour to ask if he can borrow his.
5 April 2014
Leaders think progress. Believe in progress. Push for progress. Everything around us is growing. We can’t stand still, we can either move forwards with it or drop back. It is impossible to be in business today, use yesterday’s skills and expect to be in front tomorrow.
22 March 2014
It is always advantageous to view the sales process through the buyer’s eyes.
Once the buyer decides they have a requirement, which they want to fix, they then move to the evaluation of options stage – put simply – they have decided they are going to buy but they have NOT yet decided who from.
